Apple Inc. advertising
Apple released the first advertisement for the iPhone in February 2007 during the national broadcast of the Academy Awards. The 30-second commercial featured cuts of famous figures answering their telephones, all saying “Hello”. As it progressed, the ad showed more recent versions of the telephone; it ended with a preview of the first generation iPhone to draw a connection between the iPhone and the newest technology available. To accompany the initial sneak peek at their latest product, Apple released several new ads for the iPhone through “television, web-based, and print ads designed to show off the disappearing and reappearing touch keypad”. Other features included in those advertisements were email, camera, and general touchscreen capabilities.
IPhone
Before the release of the iPhone, handset manufacturers such as Nokia and Motorola were enjoying record sales of cell phones based more on fashion and brand rather than technological innovation. The smartphone market, dominated at the time by BlackBerry OS and Windows Mobile devices, was a "staid, corporate-led smartphone paradigm" focused on enterprise needs. Phones at the time were designed around carrier and business limits which were conservative with regards to bandwidth usage and battery life. Phones were sold in a very large number of models, often segmented by marketing strategy, confusing customers and sapping engineering resources. For example, phones marketed at business were often deliberately stripped of cameras or the ability to play music and games. Apple's approach was to deliberately simplify its product line by offering just one model a year for all customers, while making it an expensive, high-end product.