Apple are reported to be implementing extensive changes to the way iPhones are sold and marketed, and will seek to boost iPhone sales direct from Apple‘s brick-and-mortar chain.
CEO Tim Cook reportedly spoke to Apple Retail Store Leaders for three hours at a secretive summit at San Francisco‘s Fort Mason and cited the iPhone as Apple‘s central “gateway product” to other devices like iPads and Macs.
Cook‘s aim is for new customers to be immediately exposed to iPads, Macs and other devices on the showroom floor. Apple recently launched the Back to School incentive which gives a £70 App Store Gift Card if you buy a Mac for university and intends to get more customers in Apple Stores.
The move will attempt to deflect competition from smartphones running Google‘s Android operating system, and seems to have come at the right time after the operation system was the possible target of a “master key” attack. The glitch could allow cyber-thieves access to almost any Android phone and was discovered by security research firm BlueBox.
One out of every four Macs sold across the globe are bought from an Apple Retail Store, but the Apple CEO Tim Cook was dissatisfied that approximately only 20% of all iPhones are purchased from an Apple Store.
Currently 50 per cent of all serviced iPhones are troubleshooted, repaired, or replaced at Apple Store Genius Bars. Cook reportedly hinted that he would like those numbers to be more in line.
