Apple Inspiring Customer Loyalty

"It Just Works"

- Benjamin Kerry & Gavin

The loyalty that Apple inspires in its customers is legendary. In 2015, BetaNews remarked that “Apple has cultivated a sense of brand loyalty that most companies can only dream of.” Furthermore, this loyalty dates back to during the leadership of Steve Jobs, who once remarked: “I get asked a lot why Apple’s customers are so loyal. It’s not because they belong to the Church of Mac! That’s ridiculous.”

So, why are Apple fans so loyal? It’s an interesting question, for which there is a very good, if not entirely straightforward, answer.

THE iPHONE: “A RADICAL RETHINKING OF THE GENERAL PURPOSE COMPUTER”

A recent article on the AppleMagazine website mentions various reasons that Apple followers have cited for not straying. One Reddit forum user is quoted as saying: “Switching is a pain. I can’t imagine people switching from iPhone to Android and back every year or other year. Playlists lost. Formats incompatible. It’s easier to stay with one.” Also cited was Apple’s strategy of regularly adding “enticing” new features - with the freshly revamped MacBook Pro’s Touch Bar mentioned to illustrate this point. However, we’re barely looking at the tip of the iceberg here...

These points fail to explain, for example, why Apple’s performance in the smartphone market has soared while rivals like Microsoft, Nokia and BlackBerry were left desperately trailing. To understand why Apple got off to such an impressive head start with the iPhone, we have to look back at the genesis of that revolutionary device. In