Cell Phone Industry Analysis

The mergers that formed Verizon were among the largest in U.S. business history, culminating in a definitive merger agreement, dated July 27, 1998, between Bell Atlantic, based in New York City, and GTE, which was in the process of moving its headquarters from Stamford, Conn., to Irving, Texas.

Nearly everyone is using cell phones in their day routine lives. Cell phones have now become less of a novelty and more of a communication tool providing many utilities all in one package, from camera, video games, internet and apps; they combine business and personal convenience.

Verizon communication is a global leader in delivering broadband and other wireless and wireline communications services to consumer, business, and government and wholesale customers. Verizon Wireless operates America’s most reliable wireless network, with 107.7 million total connections as of September 30, 2011. Verizon also provide converged communications, information and entertainment services over America’s most advanced fiber-optic network, and deliver integrated business solutions to customers around the world. A Dow 30 company, we employed a diverse workforce of approximately

Verizon Wireless is the result of “one of the largest mergers in U.S. business history” between Bell Atlantic Corp. and GTE Corp. on June 30, 2000” (History and Timeline. Verizon 2017). Even though “Verizon was ranked #1 in three out of four regions for residential internet service, #1 in six out of six regions surveyed for wireless, and #1 overall among U.S. large-business customers” in 2016, there was unrest in the organization (Building a Connected World 2016).

Verizon is a major telecommunication provider in the United States. The company is the market leader, with $110 billion revenue and $2.4 billion in profit (MSN Moneycentral, 2012). Verizon has steady revenue streams that are largely based on a subscription model. It has several business segments, including wireless (63.3% of revenues) and wireline (36.7%) (2011 Verizon Annual Report). Most of this report will therefore focus on the wireless business, not only because this is the largest business that the company operates but because it is a rapidly growing and evolving business as well, a function of the rapid pace of smartphone adoption in America.

Verizon the company, purchased Verizon Wireless in 2015 and merged the two companies so that they are now One Verizon. The Wireless part of the company was owned by Vodaphone and Verizon the Company had only the FiOs internet at home service, and landline phones. The merging of the two companies signified a unique strategy. It brought together the strengths of the wireless operations, its networks and vast number of customers to the wireline business which owns tremendous network infrastructure and has the large and small business clients. Immediately after the merger, senior level managers and human resources started to look at all of the organization as a whole to flatten it out. This move helped to remove the several layers of management

With 6.6 billion connected mobile phones (against 4 billion toothbrushes) dragging in global profits of $1.5 trillion last year, the mobile phone business is growing at an implausible pace and does not seem to slow down. (Bingemann, 2016) Australian Communications and Media Authority are the two main regulators in regulating this industry. Mobile phone trend has grown rapidly fast in recent years, especially when big brands like Apple, Samsung brought out new product, telecom provider often bundle the data plans with the phone and sell to the customers. In Australia, there are three major telecom company, they are Telstra, Optus and Vodafone. Telstra has been a leader in this game since the very beginning and is continues to dominate the overall

The major competitors for Verizon are three national wireless service providers AT&T, Sprint, Nextel, and T-Mobile. Its biggest competitor is AT&T, it claims the highest market share in the industry behind Verizon. Verizon also competes with regional wireless service providers, such as U.S. Cellular, MetroPCS and leap wireless. There is very strong competition and it will continue to increase. The expansion of new products and services also plays a huge role to increase competition.

Verizon Communications started in 1983 as Bell Atlantic (based in Philadelphia) with a footprint covering New Jersey to Virginia and emerged as part of the 1984 breakup of AT&T into seven "Baby Bells." In 1997, Bell Atlantic merged with another Regional Bell Operating Company, NYNEX, based in New York City with a footprint spanning from New York to Maine. The combined

Among all the competitors AT&T is the biggest competitor of Verizon, Verizon acquired “Alltel wireless” in beginning of year 2009 to overtake AT&T and become the largest wireless mobile network company in U.S.

In the opinion of Baumol and Blinder (2011, p. 235), "monopolistic competition is a market structure characterized by many small firms selling somewhat different products." The authors in this case further note that the output of each entity is small in comparison to the market's aggregate output of competing but closely related products. With that in mind, the mobile phone market exhibits some key characteristics of monopolistic competition. In this market, customers in need of mobile phones are presented with a wide range of options to choose from. For instance, a customer who enters a mobile phone handset shop has the option of purchasing a Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, Blackberry or even an LG handset. All these products despite being closely related are also largely differentiated. As Tucker (2010, p. 268) notes, "the key feature of

Verizon Communications formed by the merger of two big and successful companies, Atlantic Corp. and GTE Corp., is the largest telecommunication company. The company serves large part of the market in United States. However the company faces certain strengths and weaknesses which affect the way company formulate its strategies.

In this following report I will discuss the phone industry and analysed it in great detail. I will analysis the market structure and try and understand why the mobile industry falls to heavily oligopoly structure. I will highlight all the structures, however I will discuss in detail how, for example Vodafone can be incorporated in the porter’s five forces method to show how the mobile industry has devolved over the years and to understand if consumers are driven by the actual technology of the phone but if it driven more by style.

In the second quarter of 2007, Motorola had shipped 35.5 million mobile handsets whereby Nokia shipped 100.8 million handsets. Nokia emerged as a leader in the global mobile phone industry, holding a market share of 38.0 percent, by the 2nd quarter of 2007.

It is fascinating to watch how telecommunications gained freedom with the first mobile phone in 1973 (Cell Phone Invention) that costs $3500 to the smart phones of today that costs much cheaper, but contain so many more features, such as web capabilities and GPS tracking embedded in the chip design (Robertson, 2011). And, now, there are new innovations of the smart antenna that gives smartphone users the capability to make or receive calls at the same as time as texting, emailing, or even surfing the web (World's smallest smart antenna to revolutionize smartphone performance, 2012). Another innovation is Homeland Security working to add sensors to the cellphone chip to detect toxic chemicals and send alerts for safety (Homeland Security cell-all inititive aims to equip mobile phones with sensors to detect deadly chemicals, 2010). Telecommunications is advancing at rapid speeds making life better all the time.