Apple is one of the most popular phone companies in the world. They are known for their high-quality products and cutting-edge technology. So, when they skipped the iPhone 9, people were wondering why.
There is one more thing the iconic line repeated yet again on the day Apple revealed the iPhone 8 and deep down I knew something big was coming Apple revealing not one.
But two iPhones at a single event was the peak of marketing at the time bringing us the all-new iPhone x amidst all the hype there was one question that shot through my mind at the time where did the iPhone 9 join me as I investigate Apple's history.
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| why did apple skip iPhone 9? |
let me dispel a misconception iPhone 9
- let me dispel a misconception before we head in to let me clear a common misconception Apple did not skip the iPhone 9 due to Superstition if that were the case then they wouldn't have released the iPhone 13 either which has been selling like hotcakes.
- but let's be honest nine isn't such an attractive number, to begin with, but was that why Apple skipped it everything that Apple has ever done has significantly impacted its sales and it'd be hard to believe if that wasn't the case here as well so I spent the last few days studying how Apple has maintained its growth as a company and the strategies that have guided every step they've taken.
A Bit Of History First iPhone
First, let me take you to 2005 when Steve Jobs revealed the first iPod Nano from his jeans pocket a Sleek device that slips right into our mini pocket now we know because this is the new iPod those tiny Pockets weren't of much use until that point but Steve Jobs the legend turned them into excellent marketing material fast forward to 2007.
- When the first iPhone has revealed an iPod a phone and the internet Communicator iPod a phone and the internet communicator an IPod phone you get it as repeated by Steve Jobs was the beginning of the era of iPhones or smartphones for that matter apple is known for breaking the traditional Norms from the beginning.
- And if we take a look at the iPhones to date they have consistently named their iPhones numerically up until iPhone x was revealed but here's the twist Apple wanted us to call it the iPhone 10 instead of x if that was the case why did they name it X I asked the same question when they named their digital media player Apple TV when it was basically just another digital media player.
- Apple wanted their customers to feel as if they were purchasing an individual product that sounded much cooler and not just something that helped them connect to our TV and it was not just the Apple TV in fact every one of their products was named smartly to give it the Branded touch like the apple pencil the iPod the iMac and lastly.
- The MacBook series is better known as just max when these were first released I was confused about how a computer had anything to do with a Mac which until then conjured an image of a burger in my mind but no more after Apple showed up as much as it confused me it intrigued me further into wanting to get that product that stood out from the rest and that's precisely what they did with the iPhone 10.
- Apple made a very bold move to show the world that it was bringing an unusual phone why did they skip the iPhone 9 now that you understand why Apple names its products a bit differently it makes it easier for me to explain why they missed the number nine 2017.
Why did apple skip the iPhone 9?
It will remain a significant year for Apple for two reasons first off it was the 10-year anniversary of the first iPhone launch I hope you're getting where I'm going with this secondly the iPhone x was a massive upgrade from the previous version and beat all other manufacturers.
Not just in terms of Technology but in terms of pricing as well of course nothing new from Apple but it was the first time that an iPhone was priced at one thousand dollars at release the iPhone 10's release bypassed the expected iPhone 9 was a bold statement it was a statement that this new iPhone.
Wasn't just your routine update coming around each year but a significant upgrade to the best tech you could get your hands on at the time it was up to Apple to ensure that people understood that the 2017 iPhone's release was significant which is why they jumped right over the expected iPhone 9 and even went the extra mile to use a Roman numeral for their product setting it aside from the standard iPhones because they would be mispronounced as X instead of the number 10.
There was an additional layer of confusion on top of this because Apple had always released its iPhones in numerical order from the iPhone 4 to the iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 and out of nowhere an iPhone model came with a letter rather than a number I called it iPhone x right off the bat and that's how Apple succeeded in clearly putting it out there that the new iPhone was nothing like its previous versions be it X or 10.
- It symbolizes the 10-year anniversary of the iPhone and they boldly stated that it was a significant upgrade would it have been half as successful if the new iPhone model had been named the iPhone 9 instead of X there you have it that's the Brilliance of marketing and that's how Apple made people worldwide believe they were getting something really good as I started to dig deeper into this I found that most people still expected Apple to bring in the iPhone 9 even after the release of the iPhone 10 and 11.
- The News was out in the open that a new budget iPhone that was supposed to be released in 2020 might be that missing model while some people thought it was going to be the new iPhone SE some still had their hopes that it would be called the iPhone 9.
- There were a fair few reasons why people thought it could be named the next iPhone SE because it was around the same price point as the original SE model of 2016 at 400 and that's precisely what Apple released many people were surprised that iPhone was named it iPhone SE instead of filling the Gap they had left out in the iPhone series by directly jumping to iPhone 10.
- It was an excellent opportunity for Apple to even the Gap right but if you've listened closely till now you'd have understood why Apple didn't go after the iPhone 9. Apple doesn't confine its product naming to logical reasoning or the norm but instead, they give significance to products that bring more value to the table and effectively Markets them because, in the end, that's what sets their product products apart from the crowd now imagine if Apple actually named their 2020 budget phone iPhone 9 to fill.
- The Gap Creator three years back directly suggests that the model was released between the iPhone 8 and the iPhone 9 which through the iPhone 9 three years back made it look old and unattractive to its customers not to mention Apple names its premium phones with numbers whereas a 400 budget phone cannot be considered premium naming the new budget iPhone, iPhone 9 would have set the wrong expectation for the product and dampened the marketing effect instead.
- The SE appeals to a completely different market than the iPhone 10 11 or 12 that came out afterward now if you're someone like me who is still not over the fact that they skipped the iPhone 9 I hate to break it to you but the number nine was not the only number that Apple skipped right after the original iPhone.
- There were the iPhone 3G and the 3Gs to make it even worse the 3G name was based on the 3G network that the phone operated on and not the actual number three and just because Apple couldn't fill in the iPhone 2 it didn't ever go back to make an iPhone 2 through all these years and technically.
- Apple only started numerically naming their phones from iPhone 4 onwards, in the end, they're just The numbers and apple sure does know how to Market those and they'll keep going against the grain if they see marketing benefit in naming a specific iPhone model differently but what do you think about this entire iPhone 9 debate and what do you think was the best marketing trick Apple has pulled off over.
We’ve reached the end of our analysis. I hope you found it helpful and informative. Do you have any theories about why Apple skipped the iPhone 9? Let us know in the comments below.