International Marketing Case Proposal : Samsung

There are many competing brands of smart phones and Samsung has reported a decline of profits in 2014. Information from GSM arena shows than Samsung released 54 new phone models in 2014 , compared with 24 by HTC , 11 Motorola and 2 by Apple, leading to increased production costs and lack focus on a specific customer segments thereby losing some of its competitive advantage (GSM Arena , 2015).The lack of popularity of its own OS (Tizen ) and dependence on Google’s Android platform makes it vulnerable on google to develop an “ecosystem”. There are component integration issues as well as loss revenue from potential App sales (Strategic Mangement insight , 2015). Negative publicity from litigation due to patents are likely to continue as technology patents are vague and Samsung with is large portfolio is likely to infringe on some of the patents (Tibken, 2014).

Moreover, analysis using Day & Wensley’s model identified that Samsung could achieve competitive advantages within the tablet sector through their superior skill in innovation and information technology. In addition, their superior resource in global strategy and strategic alliances also contribute to gain the advantages. These allow Samsung to provide the differentiated product, superior customer value and cost reduction. However, Samsung’s disadvantages of key industry success factors: relative weak brand preference compared to the market leader and inferior battery life. Samsung would benefit in building additional superior skills and resources that it could generate the sustainable and further competitive advantages.

It comprises many affiliated businesses and is one of the South Korean biggest companies. Samsung was created by Lee Byung-Chul in 1938. The company expanded into areas like food processing, insurance, textiles, securities, and retail. Samsung is been in the electronics industry since 1960, which was when the company started to grow.

Samsung was founded by Lee Byuung-Chul in 1938. It was first a diversified company that included food processing, textiles, security, insurance and retail. Then later on, in the 1960s, Samsung got into the electronics. By the time passed the company started to grow in the electronics industry, After the death of its founder Mr Lee in 1987, the company was divided into several groups, one of the groups was named Samsung. after that in the 1990s the company has set up in several different countries and got the chance to expand a lot. It mostly operated in specialising of mobile phones and managed to

Weakness: The Corporate is developing totally different new models of smartphones and laptops, however the cost of its products are on top of alternative regional and international competitors (Butow & Watson, 2013). Moreover, the model of its products is less attractive than competitors ' products is additionally the weakness of Samsung.

Samsung Electronics started off as Samsung Electric Industries, established by the Samsung Group in 1969 (Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, n.d), in Suwon, South Korea, selling electronic and digital devices, such as televisions and air conditioners. In 1988, Samsung Electric Industries merged

Samsung as a company was founded in 1938 in Korea. 46,500 employees are working at six Samsung Electronics facilities in Korea. Although they are at different locations, all share the same goal and that goal is satisfying global customers by producing a quality product. Here in the U.S. Samsung is a very recognized brand, sitting along side Sony, Panasonic, Phillips, Toshiba, Matsushita and other more know brands of TVs. In South Korea, Samsung was a governmentally subsidized large business until in the 1990 's. In the mid 1990 's one of the most significant threats to Korean corporations was that their major advantage in low labor cost

* Samsung focus only on one market, and that’s the professionals. They need to focus on different market when making their products. They need to look on

Samsung accomplished its success through the strategy of how to manage creativity, partnership with venders, and talent. Samsung is not only expanding

With the rapid development of the world, many companies have appeared and play the important role in the world’s economy. Asia is the region that considered to have many potentials. It is because of the famous four dragons: Singapore, South Korea, Hongkong, Taiwan that their economy developed in the short time and became the leading countries in Asia. It is so special and unusual to have such that rocket acceleration. Hence, knowing the reasons for their amazing development is an essential thing for managers to learn how to develop their companies in the best way. In this case, Samsung would be a good choice for the analysation. Samsung is one of the big companies in Asia, which has a great influence all over the world. Samsung produces many different product types, but the most outstanding is the smartphone products – the current domination in the smart phone market (about 33%) (Levram, 2013). Associated with the support of Porter’s diamond, this essay would provide the best ideas of how Samsung managed their operations to target the goals effectively.

For the smart phone, Xiaomi’s strategy is to offer “HIGH QUALITY” products to users and does so through its focus on R&D. The product life cycle of smart phone is extremely short, i.e. much shorter than the normal product life cycle of 3 to 5 years of other products. To catch up with such a fast moving market, Xiaomi has already launched 2 series of smart phone since 2010. Below table compares the specifications of two smart phones, Xiaomi 2 and MEIZU MX. It indicates that most of the specifications of Xiaomi are much stronger than MEIZU though Xiaomi is selling at a lower price which increases the competitiveness of Xiaomi. It is worth noting that in this generation, users, especially the young ones, like to compare product information from the internet. That’s why Xiaomi can stand out.

Samsung is an immensely profitable company that last quarter generated approximately $7 billion in operating profit — and that was a bad quarter for the South Korean consumer electronics company. However, industry observers and investors alike tend to be very forward looking and there have been some very troubling trends in the company’s mobile business.

(Exhibit 1 shows the growth in revenues and profits between 1997 and 2002.) By 2003, Samsung was the most widely held stock among all emerging market companies due in part to relatively transparent disclosure practices. Over half of Samsung shares were held outside Korea, and the stock price had increased tenfold between 1997 and 2002. The company had a market capitalization of $41 billion in 2002, making it the largest Asian electronics company by this measure. SEC Chairman Kun Hee Lee led the transformation. In 1993, Lee launched the “new management initiative,” which set out to remake Samsung as a global business leader. It was the changes that followed from this initiative that saved the company during the Asian financial crisis and streamlined the company into a profitable enterprise. Throughout the 1990s, Lee demanded the rethinking of key fundamentals and set the stage for long-term commitment to investment in innovative, premium products and brand value. Following the chairman’s new management initiative and the appointment of Yun Jong Yong as vice chairman in 1997, the company pursued a bold combination of strategies, many of which seemingly contradicted conventional wisdom.

Founded in 1938 by Mr. Byung Chul Lee, Samsung Group’s original line of business was exporting dried fish, vegetables and fruits produced around Korea to Manchuria and Beijing in China. Within a few years of incorporation, the company expanded its operations to include manufacturing and sales when it set up a flourmill and bought confectionary machines. In

Since Samsung had a poor brand image in global markets and its products had a high defect rate, many consumers associated Samsung’s products with poor quality. To change this perception of its products, Samsung Corporation initiated a restructuring process across the group in 1994. Samsung Electronics, the flagship company of the group (contributing around 90% of the group’s profits), was the main focus of this restructuring. In 1994, a business restructuring process – ‘New Management’ - was initiated to transform Samsung into a global brand. This process identified three major focus areas: quality, globalization and multifaceted integration. The company shifted its focus from quantity to quality, and set up manufacturing units across the world to bring down costs, tap global markets efficiently and employ the best talent. The group also implemented various quality initiatives such as Six Sigma and manufacturing initiatives such as assembly manufacturing to enhance output through the optimum utilization of resources. This change in focus enabled Samsung to become one of the top global brands and also the world leader in around 17 product categories (Refer Exhibit III). Due to the emphasis on continuous innovation, it launched technologically superior products, and by 2001 it posted a net income of $2.2 billion (Refer Exhibit IV). By 2002, Samsung’s product range included digital media network, device solution network, digital