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Vizio Strategy Essay

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Strategy Paper: Vizio 1. Analyze competitive forces in the US LCD TV industry. Porter’s Five Forces Intensity of Rivalry – rivalry intensity is very high as evidenced by the severe price competition as the case references (24% decline from 2006 – 2007 alone). Competition comes from the plethora of players, both established ones such as Phillips, Sony and Panasonic as well as upstarts such as Syntax-Brillian Corp. Threat of Entry – traditionally the barriers to entry for this industry have been very high as distributors were vertically integrated (a la` Sony and Panasonic) and had high capital investment costs. However, the Vizio model has proved that executing a contract-manufacturing, asset light model dramatically reduces the …show more content…

3. Is Vizio’s competitive advantage (assuming it has one!) sustainable? Vizio will only have a competitive advantage if it creates a greater difference between Willingness to Pay (WTP) and cost than its competitors do. At present the model is working however, it seems easily imitable as little time there are many suppliers who can play the role of contract manufacturer leaving potential competitors to focus their energy on marketing and distribution just like Vizio, all with relatively little capital investment. Since the company has yet to focus on product differentiation, quality enhancement, or customization, it may be at risk of facing additional competition. Conceivably it should not take much time and resources to develop a cost competitive TV similar to Visio’s. The cost structure across the different Taiwanese suppliers should be generally similar as this is a fairly mature industry, wages are generally consistent, and component parts should have similar pricing dynamics for each of these firms. The model of selling an equity stake to the supplier is likewise replicable and is already being copied by the likes of Westinghouse. Additionally, headwinds are created by the potential LCD panel shortages mentioned heading into 2H08. The problem with this is

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