How Has the Coronavirus Pandemic Affected the Sales of Apple Products?

The Coronavirus pandemic is definitely not leaving us the same. Many things have changed and will still change since the incidence of the virus. Every industry has been hit hard, and some are still recovering. Apple, one of the world’s greatest technological giants, was not left out of the effects of the pandemic. Their various products had their sales either jacked up or reduced to a low.

The population of people buying these products is a key factor. Many people have lost their means of earning to the virus. You may be wondering why and how this is possible. Recall that at the peak of the virus, there was a lockdown imposed. This lockdown caused an absolute dip in the economic activities in the world. While some industries adapted and continued working from home, some could not implement that change.

What are the implications of all these on Apple’s sales? What has actually changed? Let’s take a brief look at a few of them and their projections for the future.

Customer Behavioural Changes

Original apple products are quite expensive and pricy. In some parts of the world, they are considered to be luxury products. The coronavirus pandemic, hitting on consumers’ income, has made it more luxurious to buy them. Consumers no longer have the purchasing power to buy iPhone, iPad, or even Macs. Not the way they could before the virus hit. Some buyers have resorted to small loan services or payment plans to get their preferred Apple products.

As seen on UK phone retailer, Fonehouse, the payment plans can go from a month to 36 months, and contract payment plans for phones start at 18 GBP per month. For the middle class, this looks affordable and would likely be the go-to option for such buyers. This change implies that Apple will now get a fraction of the one-time payment population and change to the contract payment plans, at least until they bounce back from the pandemic’s economic effects.

Another behavioural change that must have affected sales of Apple’s products is working from home. Earlier, we mentioned that a few industries had to adapt to the pandemic changes – most of those industries needed to get an effective computer to serve the needs of working from home. The Mac PC series and the iPad were their answers. This is why Apple recorded an increased percentage of sales of these products during the pandemic.

How Has Apple Adapted to all these Changes?

Any company that wants to continue making a profit must learn to adapt. Adaptation means crazy change, and more than ever, the Coronavirus has shown us that it is possible. Apple needed to do something, or else they’ll have ended up losing a huge chunk of their market share. The first thing Apple did was to close its retail stores. They did this per Coronavirus guidelines stated across the world. Closing their retail stores meant that they had to make all of their products available online. They did this amazingly well as they adjusted their online store and made it more accessible.

Apple adopted a remote work policy. This was known in September when the CEO, Tim Cook, claimed that the period would bring about some permanent changes to how we work. To show that they truly cared about their customers, they donated $15million to various countries, including Italy. They did that to help survivors, for treatments, and to overall mitigate the impacts of the virus. This gesture must have appealed to the empathetic customers who will continue to claim their loyalty for brands that care about the people.

Also, across all their devices, they implemented a series of COVID-19 features to help detection and early reporting. Siri was improved to recommend early testing when some symptoms were mentioned. They also collaborated with Google to create a contact tracing feature for the Coronavirus on the iPhone and other gadgets. These adjustments to their gadgets and adaptations made their products attractive to some consumers, so they maintained their market share.

Projections for the Future

The changes and consequent adaptations have allowed Apple to retain its market share on the technological market, despite the Coronavirus pandemic. With Apple releasing the newest iPhone and Mac a few weeks back, they must have the consumers in mind. A lot fewer people will be buying and paying at once, a lot more people will be taking advantage of Telcos and Phone store’s contract payment plans. A huge majority of their buyers will be online, even when the pandemic is completely eradicated. If Apple keeps all these in mind and continues to innovate as we’ve known them to do, they’ll have nothing to worry about in the years to come!