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An Ethical Approach: Apple's Course of Action

In December 2017, Apple, the consumer electronics giant, and a company valued at over $1 trillion was entrenched in a serious ethical business dilemma. It became public knowledge after many consumers brought to light that their iPhones were slowing down in their processing power. Apple, after much backlash, released a public apology stating that in fact, they initiated a software update, without consciously explaining what they were doing to the average consumer, that would slow down the CPU of older iPhones to help preserve battery degradation. The company claimed it was just a technical issue to do with aging batteries, and not a devious marketing ploy designed to encourage frustrated users to upgrade to a new phone. Critically, the company had failed to tell people that a simple battery replacement would solve the slowdown problem. After analyzing the approach the company decided to take, and what consumers, bloggers, reporters, influencers, and senators alike have said about the e...
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Buzz of the Media: Weighing in on Apple

With quite the clout in the technology world, Apple events, products, and news gets bloggers, videographers, and reporters talking. This immense coverage can be either positive or negative, deepening on the types of news that falls upon Apple. There’s been a lot of buzz about Apple recently, but its not all good. Its one of the most talked about brands in the world, but lately people have been talking about Apple for the wrong reasons. In the case of Apple throttling performance in late 2017, news sites and Youtube influencers created thousands of negative posts that tumbled their stock price to a one month low in December. In fact, the negative news about “Batterygate” scandal overshadowed one of their most innovative product launches in the past years, the iPhone X reveal, as shown below in the graph. Apple has been hit with lawsuits from consumers, as well as a wave of criticism wondering how the company could be so deceptive by purposely slowing down older iPhone models t...

Crisis Management: Apple's Response to Customer Findings

Whether a product recall for an automobile company, or corporate wrongdoing dumping oil in a lake, consumers wish for firms to be honest, forthright, and transparent in all their communication to the public. In Apple’s case, they are certainly in the business of building a reputation and creating trust. This must be done in an ethical and transparent manner to best serve your client or company’s interests. The basic equation for Apple is: The more positive news the corporate PR team generates and the better it manages the negative stories of issues and crisis situations, the greater the chance the company can increase sales and revenue, engage stakeholders, and serve the market successfully. This may sound simple, but as any experienced corporate communicator  or business person can attest, it is far from simple. To “solve” this equation the corporation must be skilled, ethical, honest, as transparent as possible, and accountable to both internal and external stakeholders. ...

A History of Apple: From A Garage in California to Worldwide Success

Chances are you would see multiple devices with the iconic Apple logo if you venture in to a university classroom, company boardroom, or even just walking down a New York city street. The Apple brand has become synonymous with innovation, prestige, and performance since its  inception in 1976. But what is Apple Inc. all about today? Their focus has shifted from strictly computing to creating and selling all forms of consumer electronics and online services. Gone are the days of the late Steve Jobs era, and with new management come new opportunity in the consumer electronics industry today. Brief History of Apple Apple Computing, founded in 1976 by college dropouts Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, started with a vision to change the way people viewed the computer. Starting with their first ever product, the Apple I computer, the pair developed and sold the device from Jobs’ garage in California. This was unlike the computers we know today, without a case, keyboard, or monitor....

Apple Battery Scandal: Backlash From Consumers

Your  iPhone  May Be Underperforming Year after year consumers flock to the tech giant Apple for the newest smartphones. Around the beginning of September Apple hosts a Keynote presentation to drive hype and media coverage for the announcement of new iPhones, and perhaps other accompanying products. But not everyone can afford the newest top of the line device at over $1000 per phone. Chances are you or someone you know is using an Apple branded device right now, with Apple selling over 216 million smartphones worldwide in 2017, and similar volumes in earlier years. Your iPhone may not have the same features, camera, size, or screen as the newest Apple devices…but they all share one commonality: the use of a lithium-ion battery to power the device. This brings us to the ethical issue Apple still faces in the news today: admittedly slowing down the performance of aging iPhone models. The  Ethical Dilemma On December 20th, 2017 Apple confirmed what many cu...