Apple today announced that the iphone (that previously sold for $199) is now on sale for $99. This price reduction is in response to the Palm Pre that is now available (retail price - $199) as well as the launch of the iphone 3G S - a faster version with more features. The iphone 3GS will also be sold at $199. Read more at Tech Crunch.  

Apple's brand has been built on cutting edge technology catering towards the younger, hipper, computer user. Apple is innovative and design focused. The brand is "cool", their products are cool, ads are cool, and the Apple suite of products is not for everyone. The reason why its so cool is because your mom doesn't use an iphone - you do. You are the tech saavy consumer that likes to have the latest, greatest products to show off to your friends and the design is so cool, you just have to have it.

So what does it mean if Apple is slashing its prices to gain greater market share with the iphone? Are they slashing their brand as well?

Here at Delphic Sage, we host monthly brown bag lunches where the team participates in knowledge sharing. During the brown bag lunch, one member of the team shares their perspective on an emerging topic, educates other team members on their area of expertise, or facilitates a healthy debate on a particular topic of interest. Last month, we discussed social networking online and how Delphic Sage employees can participate, the importance of social networking and the impact on our business. There were a few poignant slides that can benefit not only our employees but our customers and others trying to make sense of social media and how to utilize all of the tools. The presentation can be found here: http://www.slideshare.net/tradocaj/social-networking-toolstipsresources.