HTC Corp. in 2012 Essay

HTC’s competitive position is not sustainable. In fact, the disappointing financial performance in Q1 2012 and the increasingly decreasing operating margin all points to a slower growth. Besides the statistics, HTC also face several imminent threats, such as the popularity of Samsung and Apple’s smartphone offering, the increase in competitors in the smartphone market, the shift in market, from operator push to brand pull, and the ongoing patent war with Apple. However there are also opportunities HTC can take advantage of to keep its competitive position. The opportunities are presented in the high growth rate of Smartphone Market, 61% in 2011, and the lack of well made Android Tablet.

* HTC has a diverse customer base (no one client held more than 10% of HTC’s business), which means that HTC is more risk resistant.

Competition in the technology industry has been on the rise due to inventions made in the field. Technology is one of the greatest inventions in recent times as a result of increased application in various parts of the economy. Competition in the field has made it necessary for firms to adopt strategic plans in the process. Strategic plans play the vital role of guiding firms on ways to overcome competition (Saebi, & Foss, 2015). A good competitive strategy acts as a guide for a company to identify competitors and future opportunities.

Hyper Competitors especially those that more diverse in technology. Very competitive and people want the best and newest technology

Innovation and R&D spending are signals of rivals’ competitive position. The key competitors in the Smartphone industry as of 2007 were RIM, Palm, Sony Ericsson, Nokia, Motorola, and Apple. Each company holds a patent on its own operating system (OS) or a system based on Microsoft’s Window Mobile OS. Safe and secure voice and data transmission is critical to building a good reputation among consumers. The appearance, design and

Branding development should always go together with the vision of the company, it was pointed out by Chou; CEO of HTC that HTC will not blindly go for growth, and instead, it would rather deliberately focus on the “value”. A lot of time when a company is deliberately pursuing its’ growth, they lose its core values. Chou recognizes the importance of the economies of scale, but he would rather deliberately pursue the value that HTC can pursuit to its consumers. In other words, regardless of the business model, or brand of HTC; HTC focuses on creating their own core values. HTC is not entirely focusing on the value of technology or products; it also includes the value for innovation, brand, market, and management ability. HTC is no longer solely represented by a product, but to expand competitiveness in it’s over all capacities.

In modern society with technology being so closely tied to having a competitive advantage, a lot of industries compete to keep up to date with new developments. The invention and increased use of computers, internet, and phones have all made a major impact on organisations around the world.

2000-2006: HTC made first time profits when it engineered and developed PDA for Compaq computer. HTC made an alliance with top hardware companies and became best hardware maker which led to release of the XDA, the first Windows based smartphone by collaborating with Microsoft. HTC operated in ODM business and Mobile operator business. HTC designed customized phones for Mobile operators based on their specifications which led them to gain attractive contracts from different Mobile operators. HTC contracts with mobile operators was reason for HTC’s early success. HTC relationship with Handspring to develop Treo smartphone facilitated the opportunity to learn about software and User-Interface design. By 2006, HTC was shipping more than 70% of the world Windows Mobile smartphones.

Constant technological advances are required to maintain competitive advantage. New and better products are necessary to differentiate

Motorola, famous amongst mobile phones, and one of the top cellular phone companies in the world till late 1990, later it was captured by the company Nokia. While writing this case we have thrown light on the challenges and problems faced by Motorola around 2006-2007. One of the ideas incorporated in order to recapture the market in the year 2006 was to slash the prices of almost all the cell phones which impacted the returns of the company. Motorola did announce in the year 2007 that they will revive shortly and would have the market share back.

Firms become competitive through innovation. Innovation can include technical improvements to the product/service or to the production/service process. He proposed a model that provides conditions that have to be met for a firm to be internationally competitive and successful.

The competitive environment : competition from the industry can impact a company’s strategy and operation. For example if a competitor release a new or similar product that threaten to steal market share, an organization must be ready to change in order to retain its

HTC Corporation (HTC) is a Taiwanese operation founded in May 1997 in Taiwan, which is one of the most influential, creative and leading players in global telecommunications with an n increasing influence in the industry’s future (HTC quietly billion, 2012). HTC’s portfolio includes smartphones and tablets powered by the Android and HTC Sense™ operating systems (HTC Annual Report, 2010). Focusing on smartphone market; devoting to innovation and design in the mobile phone industry; and committing to develop exceptional technology and products to cater for the diverse and exceed needs of users are HTC’s current brand strategies. In addition, HTC response to market changes fast and provides

smartphones, first dual-mode GSM/ WiMAX phone, first 3G Android phone, and first 4G LTE Android phone. Also, HTC Sense, launched in 2009, was a momentous breakthrough that revolutionized the mobile phone experience. Consistent innovative product launches also enhance the visibility of the company 's brand. The company 's significant R&D capabilities gives it’s a competitive edge to reach the market first with many industry leading innovations and features. Strong relationships with industry leaders The company has strong relationships with many technology companies and telecom service providers. It maintains strong long-term partnerships with technology industry leaders, including Microsoft, Google and Qualcomm, which serve as active labs of research and development and product evolution. For instance, HTC 's launch of the world 's first Windows Mobile smartphone and first Android smartphone is an example. These partnerships ensure that the hardware, software, and content management and delivery systems are united in seamless and intuitive ways. HTC 's products are currently sold through major carriers and local retail channels in major markets in Europe, the Americas and Asia.

India was lucrative since the Indian handheld market is booming and slowly becoming one of the world’s biggest and fasted growing markets. There being a lack of certain technology, gives HTC the opportunities to fill new market gaps. The company’s products are standardized for the global market, while strategies are adapted to respected countries. HTC seems to be efficiency seeking when looking especially at the Indian market. HTC is selling phones globally and in India they are trying to succeed through International Specialization. The company was benefiting at first, from the lack of top of the line mobile phones in the Indian market. Its future strategy is to keep this trend going. The company is trying to take over the top and middle class mobile phone market in India by being the first to offer the latest and greatest technology available and ignoring the lower class mobile market. It managed to do so already by introducing the first fully touch phone and fully Android powered phone.