I recently had a discussion with my financial advisor about some of my Mutual Fund Holdings. Usually these meetings are pretty simple, he asks what I can invest, I pull some spare change from my pockets, he sighs and I drive back home feeling poorer than when I got there.
In our discussion this time we debated about one of my Mutual Funds that focus on the American retail spending sector. He advised me that with the American economy being as bad as it is, we should move my fortune (sarcasm) to another sector.
I’m for from being a financial whiz kid but I disagreed with him about whether or not spending habits of the U.S. will be changing with the economy being as bad as it is.
All the evidence you need is to see the line ups this year for the Apple iPad and the Apple iPhone 4.
In one month, the iPhone 4 had three million units sold, 1.7 million in the first weekend alone. People waited for up to eight hours in line just to have the iPhone and early estimates had projected that 77% of first day sales were upgrading from an older iPhone.
When the Apple iPad made its debut on the market similar line ups occurred outside Apple stores across the U.S. In the first three months, Apple had sold 3.3 million units far surpassing their own expectations.
Look around and everybody you know has something that begins with the famous “i”.
iPod, iTouch, iPhone, iPad and of course their home computers have always been popular with a segment of the tech world and that market continues to grow.
All this Apple hysteria made me wonder, could Apple have so much power to its brand that it could sell just about anything?
As I watched my toddler thumb his nose at his vegetables for lunch I wondered, how about the iVege?
If Apple really can sell anything, imagine targeting fussy eaters with the iCarrot, iPea or the ever difficult, iBroccolli. “Can’t get your child to eat healthy…there’s an App for that!”
Along those lines, why not the iBaby? Nowadays, who has time to create a baby the old fashioned way? With the introduction of iBaby, this multi touch child can be equipped with ultrafast USB 3.0 ports for feeding your baby with knowledge and dreams a real child would probably fail to achieve. You can upload via your Macbook Pro and the iBaby would be equipped with its own iDock, GPS kid finder and the ever important mute button. Forget sleepless nights, your new iBaby can be shut down to save on electricity bills and awake with a preset alarm controlled by you and your spouse. Powered by the Mac OS Snow Leopard system, it could be chosen as male or female, white or black with other races available in time for the holiday season. Best of all, you can swap your baby’s personality with a simple click at the iTunes store.
How about the iFish? A life-like “Macquarium” that would mimic a simple kid’s aquarium without the cleaning, feeding or dying. Best of all, types of fish can be changed to fit any décor in your house.
Other companies could hire Apple to market their products to a whole new generation of kids. Imagine lineups for the iSlinky, the iYo-Yo, or the famous iPet Rock.
Low voter turnout at election time is compounded by the fact that the youth today stay away in record numbers. Why not combine an Apple product release with voting. People are lined up anyway, may as well get them to vote while they’re there. The iVote!
Based on their marketing genius, Apple could release a simple calculator that can be purchased for $9.99, slap an Apple logo on it and re-sell it to the public for $199. “The iCalculator – it’s better than the one on your iPhone”.
The reality is, Apple could put out any product today and it will create line ups down the block.
Nice article. iRead it!