iPhone X is a huge deal for those who are interested in Apple products. As many were waiting for the release of iPhone 8, they were surprised with the release of two iPhone models that have different features. Perhaps Apple was trying to target two different segments, yet iPhone X was the hit and made a large buzz about it.
Since online users can be used in many ways to direct a social media marketing strategy, we included a detailed analysis of the iPhone’s buzz and got the most accurate insights about the region and the world. We originally monitored Samsung S8 alongside, but the iPhone’s buzz was significantly larger.
Which Countries Participated in the Buzz?
You may have noticed in previous articles that we concentrate more on the MENA region. However, with the iPhone being a center of attention on a global level, we received insights that were generated by users abroad. Here’s a graph to show which countries contributed the most to this buzz.
In order to receive insights from online users in the region, we filtered results by location (to include Arab countries only). We discovered that most of the tweets were generated by users from GCC, as shown in the graph below.
Users from the Gulf were the most contributive amongst Arab users. Saudi users were the most active, followed by Emirate users.
One would expect that users in Arab countries will mostly tweet in Arabic. Surprisingly, more than 44% of the content was in English. The dominant dialect within Arabic was Standard; followed by the Gulf (Khaliji) dialect. The Egyptian dialect was the least used amongst Arab users.
Did the iPhone Receive Positive Feedback?
The vast majority of generated content was neutral. Meanwhile, 4.3% of the content was conveying a positive sentiment. Negative content did not exceed 2% of the overall content.
- Top Positive Points
Although it received some negative replies, the top positive post was published by Jonathan Morrison who was glad that Apple Inc. removed the battery icon from the home screen.
☠️ battery percentage icon on iPhone X. Doesn’t look like it’s an option anymore
— Jonathan Morrison (@tldtoday) November 1, 2017
- What Was The Negative Content About?
Most of the negative tweets were either jokes or people who are stating that they’ll never get the new phone as a gift to its expensive price. Luckily none of the top mentions stated anything negative about the product or any of its features.
Which Topics Were Users Interested In?
- Face Mapping
Many users shared content about face mapping, which is the newest and most interesting feature in the new iPhone. Users shared videos of trials to unlock the iPhone using the feature. Some shared videos of twins unlocking each other’s’ phones, while others tried wearing masks, mustaches, and wigs. In return, other users shared a statement by Apple refuting claims that the company lowered specifications of the face ID during production.
Also, some mentioned that the face ID doesn’t unlock the phone unless it’s a portrait orientation.
So. Uh… I tried to trick Face ID on the iPhone X… https://t.co/bliWV2o6C7 pic.twitter.com/qGj1uW6Wtc
— Jonathan Morrison (@tldtoday) November 1, 2017
- Unboxing and Sneak Peaks
Unboxing videos are very common especially in the field of electronics and technology. Many influencers are specialized in unboxing products and reviewing them, which can be utilized in influencer marketing. Of course, these videos took the lead as many users were awaiting their opinions on the newly released product.
One of the most wide-spread tweets was a video featuring a girl whose father got fired from Apple Inc. for shooting a video featuring the new iPhone. The girl had published one of the first videos featuring the iPhone prior to its release. Her father, who is an engineer at Apple Inc. was part of the team that worked on developing the new iPhone. As this is a violation of his contract, he was fired on the spot.
شاهد كيف صورت أيفون X قبل موعد اطلاقه.. فطرد والدها https://t.co/L6oZZcAEFa #العربية
— قناة العربية (@AlArabiya) October 30, 2017
She published another video that went viral as well, explaining that she holds full responsibility for what she did, and her father was not part of that video.
- What If The Screen Breaks?
Breaking your iPhone’s screen is one of the most unfortunate incidents to phone addicts. Of course, with the revolutionary and relatively expensive new iPhone, people already inquired how much will fixing the screen cost. News about the expensive price of fixing the screen roamed around social media and became one of the main topics related to the iPhone. Even news accounts, such as AlArabiya, tweeted about it.
مفاجأة صادمة.. سعر خيالي لإصلاح شاشة آيفون X https://t.co/7kkswbRtmT #العربية
— قناة العربية (@AlArabiya) October 28, 2017
Influencers Who Mentioned iPhone X
Influencers are quite important when it comes to promoting new products. Crowd Analyzer provides a list of influencers regarding any topic in three different methods.
- Number of followers.
- Number of interactions received.
- Activity rate on posts related to the monitored topic.
The most followed influencer in the Arab World is AlArabiya, which published three tweets about iPhone X. AlArabiya has a base of more than 13 m. followers.
قبل يوم من طرحه .. Iphone X يباع على أرصفة هونغ كونغ! https://t.co/Uge36obE9N #العربية
— قناة العربية (@AlArabiya) November 3, 2017
Jarir Bookstore, on the other hand, was the most active influencer. As part of promoting their products, they posted more than 67 tweets mentioning iPhone X. Some of these tweets are replies to users who were inquiring about pre-ordering the new iPhone.
xكن اول من يحصل على #ايفون
اطلبه مسبقاً الآن !https://t.co/PBbzvogjQe pic.twitter.com/wTP7q3Puy2— مكتبة جرير (@JarirBookstore) October 27, 2017
In terms of interactions received, the Saudi user Abdullah Al Sebe’ie posted 5 tweets that received more than 8K interactions. The tweet is lotterylike. Users need to download an application and retweet his tweet in order to qualify for winning an iPhone X. He ended up receiving more than 8.7K interactions.
شارك واربح iPhone X
الشروط• رتويت
•تابع حساب @imaharah
• اكتب تم في #اربح_ايفونx_مع_تطبيق_مهارة
•حمل وسجلhttps://t.co/ZLczW85KdX pic.twitter.com/vvO0JuxpkO— عبدالله السبيعي (@Abdullah_iApp) October 31, 2017
International Influencers
On the other hand, Rueter’s account was the most followed influencer internationally, with 18.9 m. followers.
People line up for Apple’s iPhone X and tech execs get grilled. Get the latest in our @ReutersTV tech playlist https://t.co/zQ2b7Yw0N8 pic.twitter.com/mWSRea6fAV
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) November 3, 2017
The most active account in the iPhone X buzz is Apple Noticias, which is a global account that covers Apple news in Spanish. The account tweeted more than 1.4K times about iPhone X. The influencer with the most interactions received is still the Saudi user Abdullah AlSebe’ie.
Ya salió a la venta el iPhone 8 y esta fue la sorpresa que dieron las filas https://t.co/thHuP89pjy #Tecnología #Apple #iPhone8 #iPhoneX
— Apple Noticias (@AppleNoticias) November 5, 2017
- Top Mention by a Male User
Males contributed with 59% of the whole buzz about the new iPhone. We monitored the top mentions created by a male user worldwide, and surprisingly it was a user from the MENA region. The Saudi user Abdullah AlSibaie who offered an iPhone X for a random winner who will download his application and retweet the tweet.
- Most Followed Male Influencer
Likewise, the top male influencer (by the number of followers) is also a Qatari businessman Adel Ali Bin Ali who offered 3 iPhones for random users who mention the 99 names of Allah.
أذكر إسم من أسماء
الله الحسنى ؟
.
3 آيفون X بالقرعة
.
ممكن إرسال أكثر من منشن
.
ريتويت فضلاً
.
بالتوفيق للجميع— عادل علي بن علي (@AdelAliBinAli) November 2, 2017
- Top Mention By A Female User
Mexican user Sofia Nino de Rivera posted a picture of an Apple shop to show how packed the sidewalk was with customers who were waiting to buy the new iPhone.
- Most Followed Female Influencer
The most followed female user who tweeted several times about the new phone is the Venezuelan user La Patilla, who published several tweets about the new phone tackling different subjects such as the viral video shot by the girl whose father got fired by Apple Inc. for revealing the phone before its release.
Hija de ingeniero de Apple mostró el nuevo iPhone X y lo despidieron (Fotos) https://t.co/JP5BucYr7p
— La Patilla (@la_patilla) November 4, 2017
- Top Mention By a Business Account
News account Channel NewsAsia tool the lead with its tweet about people waiting overnight for the release of the iPhone X in Singapore. The waiting list was long enough that some people were offering their slot for a price.
As of 7pm, hundreds settle in for the overnight wait for #iPhoneX outside Singapore’s #Apple store https://t.co/2vKytqo7MQ pic.twitter.com/x4ofre1NGp
— Channel NewsAsia (@ChannelNewsAsia) November 2, 2017
How Do These Insights Serve Your Business?
- Knowing Which Language To Use
While we monitored generated content about iPhone X across the region, we realized that users are very familiar with English content. 44% of users in the Middle East tweeted in English, while the majority of the rest used standard Arabic.
It’s quite an insight for companies that allocate budget for social media marketing and don’t know which language to use in their tweets. In this case, it’s safe to use Arabic, yet it’s not totally irrelevant to use English as well.
- Most Interactive Content
Tweets that offer free iPhones or give them as prizes ranked really high internationally, and took the lead on a regional level. It’s hard to know whether these are fraud or not, but online users still interact with such tweets.
Unboxing and trials of the new face mapping feature also received so much attention as people interacted a lot with these videos.
- Tackling Users’ Concerns
It is obvious that many users were concerned with the high price of the phone. Such a concern will urge retailers to promote their installment plans and attract the highest number of customers.
We tracked that the price was one of the main top negative topics in the buzz.
The iPhone X is priced at almost $1,000
Here’s how this price compares to average monthly salaries across the world https://t.co/hdKrypVBD6 pic.twitter.com/w0P65Vyhak
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) November 5, 2017
