This second section consists of some basic secondary research into the mobile phone market.

Introduction
I am using secondary data to research into the mobile phone market for several reasons. Secondary data is very easy to collect, is cheap, fast, and is readily available:

• Easy to Collect- Secondary data is available from many places. I collected mine from various sources, including a library, the Internet, and marketing journals.

• Cheap – When collecting data from the Internet, or a library, generally the only cost is that to print out or photocopy the data and statistics you have found.

• Fast – Because the data is very easily available, it can be found quickly. It is not like a questionnaire where it has to be passed out, collected back, and then have all the information typed back into a computer.

I obtained my data in several ways. Most of my data was collected from computers, and the library. I have outlined each piece of data I have used below:

• Snapshots Statistics – From CD-ROM at the Huddersfield Library
• Mintel Reports – From the Huddersfield University
• BBC News Articles – From http://www.bbc.co.uk
• Keynote Market Report – From http://www.keynote.co.uk

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I took the plunge to crack open my Mac Mini and upgrade the RAM today, and it’s worked really well. I originally bought 1gb from Scan Computers, but that wasn’t working when it arrived - damn it all. I found some at a local store, and bought myself a putty knife before ‘digging in’ today. It wasn’t too hard to open, and the benefits are certainly worthwhile.

One this I discovered was that, although all the Apple literature reccommends you use PC2700 RAM, this isn’t necessary. PC2700 isn’t easy to find, and is often (ironically) more expensive than the more up to date PC3200. It turns out that the new type works fine, but the Mac just doesn’t use it to it’s full capacity. Another quick note - this PDF file is one of the best resources I’ve seen for modifying the Mac Mini, and it’s an official Apple document:

Download PDF

With all the speculation about Apple’s upcoming mobile phone release next week, I think it is appropriate to run a short series of articles relating to that very event. Rather than speculate what the new device will look like, what it will do etc - I am going to consider whether Apple should actually be launching a mobile phone at all. I’ll look into Apple as a company, and conduct some basic market research to decide whether what they are embarking on is actually a good idea. It should hopefully give an insight into how Apple researched the market opportunity as well.

This first section will cover a brief introduction to Apple, and their continuing success as a brand, and as a manufacturer.

Apple Computer Inc.

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II, and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Apple still stands by its original aim - to bring the best personal computing products and support to students, educators, designers, scientists, engineers and consumers in over 140 countries around the world.

Apple spends a huge amount of money on Research and Development. In 1996, Apple invested approximately six percent of its annual sales in research and development. Apple’s main R&D sites are located in Ireland, California, Japan and China. Apple owns manufacturing facilities in Ireland and Singapore. Distribution facilities are located in the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia, Singapore, and Japan.

Although Apple has been developing innovative and state of the art computer products for many years, it’s main recent claim to fame has been the Apple iPod. At the moment, the iPod is the leading ‘Must Have’ gadget, and rightly so. Its design has become a brand in itself, and the iPod has been incredibly marketed and promoted.

Apple also operates the world’s largest and most successful online music store, the iTunes Music Store. It integrates with it’s also highly popular iTunes software and is currently operating in the USA, UK, France and Germany. It has sold over 100 million songs.

Although this chart (from ipodlounge.com) shows the sales of the iPod in the past 3 years, Apple’s general success follows a very similar pattern. Apple’s most recent development has been the iMac G5, where Apple has managed to fit an entire computer in a screen sized case, and the tiny Mac Mini.

Apple is always looking to expand their product line, and create new and innovative computing products. Recently, they have moved away from solely computer based products to focus on the multimedia, audio and communications markets.

Tomorrow: Secondary Research and Statistics

Gone are the days when machines were plain beige boxes with a floppy drive (try telling college that), as this brand new Sony Vaio design shows. Now, don’t get me wrong, I haven’t lost my Apple flair - but that is one very sexy design. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that - if it were aluminium - it would be better than Apple’s G5. I’ve always put Sony as a close second to Apple in the design and aesthetics side of things, and this really impresses me.

The silver box at the front has an easy-to-remove side, and houses the hard drives in the machine. There are four hard drive slots, and they can be combined in a Raid system. It’s a very nice piece of kit. Congratulations Sony on breaking the mould, and trying something new. I hope it catches on!

I’ve just read a very interesting article over at Drunken Blog, about the state of the IM market and how Google’s entrance to it will affect the other major players. Worth a read if you’ve got a spare minute or two.

Unless you’re living under a rock, chances are you’ve probably heard that Google announced their Google Talk service recently, which ties into ones Gmail account. Once they acquired a company with an instant messaging solution, speculation was flying about them releasing something, but no one really knew what form it would take.

They’ve branched out into native Windows software recently, with apps like Google Desktop Search or the Google Toolbar, while at the same time focusing on more services via your browser, like Google Maps. What was announced earlier was a native Windows client that communicates via the Jabber protocol, but we’ll only touch upon that in a cursory way.

Rather, we’ll be focusing on what wasn’t announced, and how Google’s competition in the space — Microsoft, AOL and Yahoo — will be reacting.

Read at Drunken Blog

I’ve had an amazing time, and will post more information as and when I’ve got back into a normal routine. Expect some photos as well. Comments have now re-opened on the blog.