INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM
TO:
FROM:
SUBJECT:
DATE:
RICHARD LOPEZ, PRODUCT MANAGER, SONY CORPORATION
XXXXXXXXX, MARKETING ANANLYST, SONY CORPORATION
SONY VAIO LAPTOP LAUNCH IN CHINA
AUGUST 30, 2013
This memorandum is to suggest that Sony should stay on its premium offering and be targeting the Chinese “status-focused” segment while at the same time working on the “Quality of Lifers” and
“Technosocializers” segments and increase their value in our product which as a consequence will significantly be reinforcing Sony’s market share and sales in China within its coming launch of the VAIO laptop. The company’s profits will increase accordingly and Sony gradually will be the dominant in the laptop’s market of China. For that, a
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The laptop market penetration is currently assessed at 50% of the current addressable market so growth in this market is slowing. Finding segments within the market that differentiates VAIO from our competitors is a key to VAIO’s future growth in the Chinese laptop marketplace. In the future it can be expected that as the market matures a larger proportion of future sales will come from replacements or upgrades instead of sales to new entrants in the laptop market. Additionally, approximately 50% of the working age population is 35 years old or less and this age range is driving a move to status seeking in consumer purchases. Customer interviews have shown that SONY is considered a premium brand.
Although the laptop market will begin to mature with slower growth, we can capitalize on our strength of being a premium brand when customers choose to replace or upgrade their laptops in the future. Our marketing program must continue to establish us in the mind of the status-seeking consumer as a premium brand.
With this in consideration and as shown in exhibit 1, analysis from the CLUES report and Project
Compass highlighted six market segments of customers with greater than 60% likelihood to purchase a laptop within the next 12 months. The SONY brand is considered a premium, fashionable, status enhancing laptop and this is one of our competitive strengths. After, reviewing the customer segment descriptions, four of the market segments allow
Computer technology is constantly advancing over software and hardware that is available at any one given time. These constant changes affect how long computer products can sell for a premium price but also can make it cheaper for those consumers that are not interested in the newest and latest components. Personal computers (PC), also known as desktop computers, are common place in jobs, schools and homes. The demand for personal computers is constant and revolving since components of computers gets better and more powerful with time. The target market then becomes anyone that uses a personal computer for home or work. HP uses the fact that computers are a common item in any office or home to their advantage and offers not only PC’s but other accessories pertaining to computers as well. While HP currently excels at providing a product for a decent price they are missing out on consumers that Equalus will focus
I decided to do my research on Sony due to the advancement in technology and the competition between companies such as Microsoft, Apple, and Sony. I have been around long enough to know about Sony’s products but the real reason that attracted me to them for this essay is because I actually believe that they are having a negative trend. I am starting to see less Sony items in stores and I haven’t really heard much about them. Whereas companies such as Apple are constantly being talked about and you often see people walking around with some type of apple product in their hands. Today we are going to research Sony through a horizontal analysis and through different ratio analyses. Let’s see what we find!
Currently the margins Inventec makes on its Notebook PC’s are low and tough competition is pushing the margins even lower. Inventec’s reliance on HP-Compaq puts the company in danger of going out of business should HP-Compaq suddenly decide to take their business elsewhere. It is imperative that Inventec diversify its products and increase its customer base.
With Apple the Growth has been substantial and it can be stated that the Products have reached a maturity stage and hence there is a chance of decline. This has also been evidenced to certain extent as Samsung has taken over as the market leader in the mobile phone segment. The emergence of cheaper brands like Lenovo etc has also been a challenge for IT products of Apple. However it is also true that Apple has always focussed on consumer trends and demands and thus has been capable of avoiding the decline stages. Further market development and diversification strategies have been suitably implemented
Joseph, S. (2013, November 18). Sony to Switch PS4 Marketing from low key to high impact. Retrieved from Marketing Week: http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/news/sony-to-switch-ps4-marketing-from-low-key-to-high-impact-in-2014/
IBM Market Leader in Mainframe –market share 61%, starts PC business in ’81, in 2 yrs market share is 42%
As we all known, Sony and Matsushita are two of the largest consumer electronic makers in Japan or even in the world. And in this reading, it points out the different strategies Sony and Matsushita use when they were facing the fierce competition in China ----- Matushita was accelerating its pace on stretching the supply chain in China while Sony unexpectedly decided to shift some of its manufacturing business in China back to Japan. In this article, I will discuss the reasons that lead them to make different decision as well as analysize the advantages and the disadvantages of their decision.
Sony has many products and started to branch out. Sony has mostly started to manufacture appliances and electronics. Even thou many new different products may arise, Sony can manage and maintain their quality.
Strong Brand Name – Sony is one of the leading brands in the world, particularly in the electronics field. The VAIO laptops which are a big hit among the pc users is an evidence for the brand influence that Sony has on people.
As indicated in the table above, Dell and HP are the strongest players in the computer industry. These results are also supported by the market share statistics presented in case Exhibit 3. Conversely, the table above indicates Acer as the industry’s weakest rival in part because it focuses on producing low priced computers,
When shopping for a computer, one can look at the cost and compare it to other models. For instance, individuals usually have less to spend than organizations. The HP Envy model is adequate for companies looking for greater processing power (Intel Turbo Boost) (“HP Pavilion HPE,” 2011). The Dell Studio model is a little expensive; however, this model is adequate for small business and organizations. Similarly, the HP Companies looking for attractiveness will find the MacBook’s unique design quite appealing. Overall, these three models range in price from $649.99 to $1300.00, they are high end products known for quality and
The targeted consumer has been identified as a recent retiree who is in her early 60s. This customer has just broken her laptop which was given to her as a gift from her daughter, four years ago and is looking for a replacement. As she is not in tune with the latest technology developments
Nowadays, it takes just a few minutes for a customer to make research and evaluate competitors. Customer reviews provide others with valuable insights. The point here is that this decreases switching (transaction) costs for customers to switch from Sony to Apple, for example, and vice versa. As it was mentioned earlier, customers are sensitive to prices and price elasticity of demand is high. The most important thing that matters to customers is price, not quality, because all of big players offer very similar products in terms of design and functionality. More customers prefer buying online, and this pushes down switching (transaction) costs even further. To summarize, buyers have the power to influence Sony directly because they can easily switch to competitors; but also indirectly, through exchange rates, as Sony is all about international
Both Dell and HP are two strong players in PC industry which refers to an industry where companies produces PCs (desktops and notebooks), handheld devices (smart phones and tablets), and workstations. However, with growing global expansion, Dell and HP’s performance differs. Dell, once the world’s largest PC maker in 2001, has continually lost its market share to HP and Acer since 2007 (Guglielmo 2009). The cause is rooted in two differences of these companies: company diversifications and core competences. Therefore, how firms can continually survive in the PC business is more of an issue for Dell than for HP.
SITUATION: Once the largest computer manufacturer in the world, Dell has slipped to third in line behind Lenovo and HP. With sales of their once famed laptops and PCs quickly declining, their market share has taken a hit as a result. Lenovo and HP are not only to blame for Dell’s demise, Apple and Google have established new markets for smartphones and tablets that has shifted demand to these new toys away from laptops/PCs. These new disruptive technologies are a cheaper and thus more accessible substitute to the old guard (laptops and PCs).