This report investigates the smartphone industry in the United Kingdom and Germany between 2007 to 2015. I will identify which country is performing the best for the industry and will make a recommendation on which country the business start-up in. I will consider the industry by comparing the companies with the country’s market and state which one had done better. I will explain which PESTL factors influenced the industry for both countries and will explain why the economic recession impacted the industry.
- The smartphone industry is very capital intensive due to high research and development (R&D) costs and expensive manufacturing facilities. This raises the barrier of entry and makes it difficult for small companies to enter. Many of the firms that compete in this industry have existing long-term contractual relationships with mobile carriers and benefit from their significant brand equity. These companies also have a great deal of knowledge and experience through economies of learning, which gives them a major cost advantage over smaller entrants. New entrants will have difficulty getting carriers to adopt their phones because many carriers are already in profitable deals with the large mobile phone manufacturers.
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.
Executive summary Raising smartphone estimates Forecasting smartphones based on TCO Linking our TCO analysis to the addressable market Smartphone volumes to grow at CAGR of 26% Price point work also shows 1.1bn units long term Significant growth being seen in the low end A specific growth opportunity within China LTE could be a game changer Improving device availability LTE speeds could drive new services Coverage expansion of LTE networks Aggressive rollout plans in US and China An upgrade cycle like none before A war of ecosystems….. Apple – the iOS and Mac ecosystem Google/Android – a one trick pony? Windows 8 – what about the upgrade cycle? Developer dynamics are critical Smartphone economics Carriers have seen margin pressure Smartphone economics What can carriers do? Smartphones – winners and losers Apple scope for share gains exist on multiple fronts Samsung – a strong second Nokia – heading for third position in smartphones Multiple Android vendors may struggle HTC – still bleeding share Motorola Mobility/Google – losing steam in the US Sony – change of
"HTC Corp. will adhere to its strategy of offering medium-to high-cost telephones, despite the fact that it has been attempting to contend in that price range in the midst of the expanding predominance of Apple Inc. also, Samsung Electronics Co." (Luk, L. what 's more, Poon, A., 2012). HTC, producer of cell phones, reported they 're not straying from the value-based pricing strategy that HTC says underpins their brand image and are pronouncing they won 't offer cheap cell phones in spite
Joseph Palenchar (2013) noted that “the old days saw BlackBerry’s market share in global smartphone shipments peak in 2009 at 20% and fall to 5% in 2012, marking the company’s lowest level since 2003.” (para. 3) “Increase the chances that BlackBerry can regain some of its lost market share during the make-or-break year of 2013” (para. 9) Revenue is declining because the market is becoming smaller. With Apple, Samsung’s products are growing deeply in customers’ impression, BlackBerry is standing in the behind position compare with those two brands. BlackBerry is not enough strong to attract those Apple and Samsung’s customers to choose its products even they produce the new products.
Another competing business or company, business B, will come along and provide a better way that will make consumers go to them instead of business A. Business A will have to come up with a better business strategy to out beat the competition and bring back the customers it lost and others and so on goes the cycle. This is what the CEO of Whole Foods means by the phrase “no business stays on top of its niche forever.” Another example will be Apple’s iPhones and keyboard phones. Apple used to be only a music, electronic company (iPod and iMac), and it sought out the phone business, which was dominated by Blackberry, LG, Samsung, etc. It was the first phone to not include a keyboard, everything was on a touch screen, and had internet access with music. It was thought to be a failure since it was very different but it proved to be the opposite. It became very popular with consumers and soon after many phone companies began to change their phones into touch screen phones. So far many companies have tried to be on top of Apple but have failed. Does this mean Apple is lucky and won’t go through what the CEO of Whom Food stated? I believe it will soon have a tough competitor in the near future (5 years from now) that will come along with interesting features that Apple’s iPhones don’t have. Meaning that some people will leave Apple’s iPhones and go with the next big thing whatever it
Besides, there are always many new entrants enter the market with the flow of labor and capital (Laudon, 2014, pp. 124). Although the requirements for the entry to the mobile market is relative higher than others, the number of new entrants are considerable while customers are more selective. As a result, those companies like the T-Mobile in this case that are lack of competitive advantages will be omitted by customers. As for the substitute, the development of entertainment tools decrease the desire of the mobile phone although there is little instrument can replace the mobile phone
HCA, after following a conservative financial policy since its establishment, has entered the new decade preparing to make some changes in order to realign their financial strategy and capital structure. Since establishment, HCA has often been used as a measure for the entire proprietary hospital industry. Is it now time for the market to realign their expectations for the industry as a whole? HCA has target goals which need to be met in order to accomplish milestones in the future. The problem arises as to which area holds priority to the company. HCA must decide how the key components of their financial strategy and policy should my approached in order
The decision whether to take faster, more aggressive brand promotion approach to heighten brand awareness was closely tied to another issue; find ways to achieve greater economies of scale. In a HTC sponsored survey, it shows that 80% of the customers would like to buy phones for less than 200 dollars. HTC believe they don’t have the necessary scale to drive the cost reduction. This is because HTC lacked significant intellectual property right
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.
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.
1. The Smartphone industry is a well established market and the threats of a new entrant is low, as technology needed to rival the devices already available is quite advance if they want to differentiate from them