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Source: Forbes
Each January, Apple CEO Steve Jobs takes the stage at San Francisco's Moscone Center for the MacWorld conference's keynote presentation. Rumors often fly weeks in advance as industry pundits and Apple fans alike speculate on what, if any, new products the company will unveil.
Apple typically keeps its product plans tightly held secrets until Jobs announces them with great flourish at industry events or carefully staged corporate presentations. In many instances, the product is ready to ship the day he announces it. Not so with all companies. Microsoft, for example, preannounces technology with demonstrations of products that may not be released for months or even years in the future.
Overall, preannouncement of products is a practice often followed by industry leaders. According to research by Kim Schatzel, Interim Dean of the University of Michigan-Dearborn School of Management, and Roger Calantone, director of Michigan State's Eli Broad Information Technology Management Program, companies that preannounce products tend to be bellwether companies because they have more "competitive equity." These firms announce products early to steer an industry's direction, get support for their ideas and promote future plans.
The Schatzel-Calantone study highlights eight hypotheses explaining the effect that preannouncements have on communication and market anticipation. Preannouncements, for example, create a cycle where companies can outline their plans to suppliers, distributors, partners and customers, build anticipation and gain brand equity. Preannouncements can also fuel financial returns. One example cited in the paper involved the expectations surrounding the BMW MiniCooper. "Market anticipation was great and enabled BMW dealers to require substantial prepurchase deposits from prospective buyers to 'hold' vehicles--sight unseen--for many months prior to the MiniCooper's actual introduction," write Schatzel and Calantone.
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