Unconsciously, Apple has also used the strategy of flooding the market with products

Apple has always been a model for other mobile phone brands to learn from. It has won the second place in the global smartphone market share by launching only a limited number of iPhone models every year. However, the reality is that it also sells older iPhone models. Now, counting its products on sale, we can see that it is grabbing market share in another way with the strategy of launching a large number of products.

During the Steve Jobs era, Apple only released one iPhone every year. However, when Cook led Apple, the number of iPhone models released increased to two or three models per year. Before launching three new iPhones at the same time last year, it also released models equivalent to the iPhone 5C and iPhone SE. It can be seen that the number of iPhone models it releases is constantly increasing.

While Apple is launching more iPhones, it is also planning to launch a cheap iPhone in the hope of winning more market share. This year, it is said that it is likely to launch a cheap version of the iPhoneX follow-up. It is said that the price of this cheap iPhone may be only US$550 (approximately RMB 3,461.48), which is second only to the iPhoneSE, which is known as the lowest price in history.

In fact, the lowest price of the iPhone currently on sale is less than 3,000 yuan, and the lowest price of the iPhone 6 is as low as 2,099 yuan, while the iPhone 5S sold through social channels is even lower at around 1,400 yuan, entering the 1,000 yuan price range. From the iPhone with a price of 8,388 yuan to the old iPhone on sale, Apple is covering all price ranges in another way, which is obviously another strategy of flooding the market with products.

Data released recently by market research firm CIRP showed that the iPhoneX, iPhone8, and iPhone8 plus released last year accounted for 16%, 23%, and 21% of iPhone sales in the first quarter of this year respectively. These three new iPhones accounted for 60% of its overall iPhone sales, and other older iPhone models accounted for about 40% of its overall sales.

According to the first quarter data released by CIRP, among the older iPhone models, iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 plus accounted for 20% of the total iPhone sales, iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S plus accounted for 13% of the total iPhone sales, and iPhone SE accounted for about 8% of the total iPhone sales.

The strategy of launching a large number of products in the market was once questioned by the industry, which believed that it led to excessively high operating costs and low profits for mobile phone companies. Apple mainly relied on the strategy of high-quality products to achieve 70% to 90% of profits in the global smartphone market. However, judging from Apple’s current sales situation, it can be seen that it is actually implementing the strategy of launching a large number of products in another way.

From Nokia, the former mobile phone overlord, to Samsung, the current global mobile phone market leader, all have relied on the strategy of launching a large number of mobile phones to achieve the top position in the mobile phone market share. This has been criticized by the industry, and Samsung has therefore streamlined its mobile phone models, but the result has been a decline in Samsung's global market share. Interestingly, Huawei, whose market share has been rising steadily in recent years and has always aimed to challenge Apple and Samsung, has also relied on the strategy of launching a large number of mobile phones to win.

From Apple, Nokia, Samsung to Huawei, they all rely on the strategy of flooding the market with devices to grab the global mobile phone market share. Faced with this reality, when facing the doubts about the strategy of flooding the market with devices, should mobile phone companies have their own thoughts and put market share first?