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CES 2012: Apple's Greg Joswiak 'Scouting the Competition'

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While Apple doesn't participate at CES and has ended its involvement in trade shows in general, the company naturally continues to keep tabs on what its competition is up to and CES is a prime event for new product introductions. paidContent has in fact proven Apple's interest in CES by chance, running into iOS device marketing chief Greg Joswiak on the floor at the expo.

While wandering around the Central Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center Tuesday, I bumped into Greg Joswiak, head of iOS product marketing for Apple, just outside of Sony’s booth. Joz, as he’s known within the Apple community, grinned sheepishly upon being recognized by a reporter and stopped to chat for a few minutes.

Joswiak said he was interested in how other companies present their products at events such as CES, from things like booth layout and aesthetics to which products are highlighted within a company’s booth.

Joswiak declined to enter a more in-depth discussion of his interests at the show, with paidContent noting only that he "seemed less than impressed" with Sony's booth on the expo floor.

greg joswiak iphone 4s video
Apple is of course interested in what its competitors are doing, but is likely also interested in following what companies are coming up with in terms of accessories for Apple's own products. Despite Apple's lack of official presence at the show, it remains a popular venue for announcements for products of all types, including those within the Mac- and iOS-related markets.

Joswiak has appeared at several Apple keynote and media events, and has frequently played featured roles in Apple's promotional videos for the company's various iOS devices.

Update: A source has informed Reuters that Apple has over 250 employees registered for CES.

Apple Inc, famous for giving CES the cold shoulder year after year, will field a larger presence at the world's largest trade show than many observers imagine.

More than 250 employees are registered to attend the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, according to a person familiar with Apple's plans.

Top Rated Comments

C00rDiNaT0r Avatar
C00rDiNaT0r
186 months ago
Apple out to steal the competition's ideas again I see. Oh Apple. Give up.

Then they must not have been very good at copying.. Their phones are still stuck with small, non-HD screens! And the naming conventions too! Instead of dull and boring name like iPhone, they need something like iPhone LTE HD Extreme Ultimate Edition! :eek:
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
B
badtzwang
186 months ago
Then they must not have been very good at copying.. Their phones are still stuck with small, non-HD screens! And the naming conventions too! Instead of dull and boring name like iPhone, they need something like iPhone LTE HD Extreme Ultimate Edition! :eek:
Sad thing is that the fictitious name you came up for the iPhone is not nearly as egregious as the very real Sprint Samsung Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Shrink Avatar
Shrink
186 months ago
It would be amazing if Apple didn't have a whole bunch of people at CES (and other similar expos.) Apple may be a very closed world - but they don't live in a vacuum. I guess what makes this newsworthy is the fact that he is such a high level exec.

Of course Apple is keeping up with what other producers are doing.:D
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
natd1993 Avatar
natd1993
186 months ago
Josiak, the perfect mix of Steve and Woz
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
John Frum Avatar
John Frum
186 months ago
Apple: Often first at being successful

To expand on what you were saying ... ultra-thin / thin-and-light laptops with CULV processors already existed before the Macbook Air's (see Asus). All Apple should really get credit for is making SSD's standard for these kinds of laptops.

Oh, miniaturization was "a thing," all right. It just wasn't these things.

No mp3 player changed the game and made the devices ubiquitous as did the iPod; no large screen format smartphone started a stampede and killed off the existing dominant genre as did the iPhone; no tablet computer got the market moving, despite multiple determined efforts over many years, as did the iPad; and no ultralight and thin notebook started the genre, in the process killing off netbooks (and to some degree even other notebooks), as did the Air.

Of course, that's not enough for anti-Apple zealots. Nothing could ever be enough for the anti-Apple fan club.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
V
vrDrew
186 months ago
I'm going to point out that the guy's title is head of iOS Device Marketing.

That would suggest that, rather than being at CES to figure out which gizmo from Sony or Samsung Apple was planning on copying next, that he instead was more interested in how these companies were presenting their products: Things like booth layouts, and which products they were promoting.

As someone noted earlier, Apple doesn't exist in a vacuum. And it would be foolish, in the extreme, for Apple to totally ignore what other companies are doing. If companies A; B; and C are pushing a certain feature, or using a certain type of event to promote their product to the tech press - then Apple ought to at least be aware of it.

Great writers read books written by other people. Great movie directors see other people's films. Great chefs eat other people's food. And great marketing executives go to trade shows where their employer doesn't have a booth. Its called staying in touch with reality.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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