APPLE, INC.
A Case Study in External Communication
Written by:
Jenny Lee Ian McCarthy Andrew Nguyen Robbie Reid
Dr. Robyn Walker Faculty Advisor Center for Management Communication

Prepared for:
Case Study Initiative Center for Management Communication

2013

INTRODUCTION As soon as the news of the Apple iPhone surfaced, David and Mary Jones eagerly bought two and switched their wireless phone carrier to AT&T Wireless, the iPhone’s exclusive wireless carrier in the United States. Several weeks later, after a hectic morning in the office, David Jones drove home to meet his wife, Mary, during his lunch break. “Hey, David, I wasn’t expecting you to be home for lunch today. How’s work?” Mary warmly greeted her husband and proceeded to set the dining table. “It’s fine—mundane as usual,” David replied. “It’s not the project Mr. Owens just assigned that’s stressing me out; my iPhone keeps dropping calls. My calls have dropped multiple times during important conference calls,” David sighed as he immediately went to the couch and took his shoes off to relax. Mary had not experienced any problems with her own iPhone and wondered if David had somehow received a defective phone. She placed a plate of pasta on the dining table and responded, “I’m sorry to hear that; we should take care of that. I haven’t had any problems with my iPhone. You should give AT&T a call and we’ll get it figured out.” David called AT&T and was connected to a customer service representative who said, “We have been receiving a large number of calls regarding the reception issue with the iPhone. The problem is with the iPhone and not AT&T, but I apologize for the inconvenience.” David called Apple Customer Service next. “Hello, I am having problems with my new iPhone. My calls keep dropping and I keep getting disconnected. This is a recurrent problem.” Bill, a customer service representative,