Marketing
The original iPhone was heavily promoted before its official announcement, creating buzz and anticipation.[112] Upon its release, it was marketed heavily in television, web and print ads created in partnership with TBWA\Chiat\Day.[113]
Apple's premium market positioning has led the iPhone to be seen as a status symbol.[114][115][116]
The Apple ecosystem has been described as a key moat that increases iPhone brand loyalty. iMessage has especially been singled out with its "green bubbles" phenomena. In iMessage, SMS messages from Android users appear as green bubble, rather than the blue bubbles used for texts from other iPhone users. Group chats between iOS and Android are poorly supported; reactions display as text, rather than bubbles, and images are sent through MMS, which degrades image quality. Some teens have described being "ostracized" after switching to Android,[117] which Google has labeled "bullying".[118] This has been described by critics as a key factor leading 87% of U.S. teenagers to use iPhones.[119]