Introduction
Introducing new technologies to the markets is important as much as developing new technologies. The companies producing electronics and computers massively invest in research and development works, and they develop new technologies every day. However, they do not supply every new technology just after inventing it. Every product in the market has a lifecycle, and the companies try to make the possible highest profit from a certain product. Thus, the new products carrying high-technological features might be marketed according to a well-planned marketing schedule to gain the possible highest profit from a mix of products in the markets.
Samsung has developed a high-technology wrist watch, Samsung Gear S, and started marketing it in 2013. The watch has many features of the developed tablet computers. Was it a good idea for Samsung to market this watch after 2013? In this essay, I will try to answer this question by using Porter's diamond analysis.
Diamond Analysis of the Gear S Watches
There are other high-technology producing companies those can easily create substitute products for the Gear-S watches. Apple, Microsoft, Google, and some other companies have the same technological advancement opportunities. Thus, the Gear-S watches do not have any technological advantage. Also, these companies can easily start marketing their products in a short term. Consequently, Samsung cannot prevent new entrances to the market.
The buyers do not have much bargaining power for high-technology products because many of the people are interested in the high-tech devices. We might expect that many people might buy these watches just to satisfy their curiosity. Also, this technology might be useful for some people who travel a lot inside the cities during the day. In many points of the cities, reaching the internet quickly and the social media is difficult, and people who travel a lot inside the city because of their jobs might not be able to use large-sized technological devices. Thus, these people can find these watches useful.
Bargaining power of the companies is essential in the high-technology product markets. Because there are a few companies in the high-technology products market, these companies can lead their customers. By using the power of advertisement, these companies can shape their customers' needs. For instance, many people who do not need to use the tablet computers frequently purchase the Ipads or Iphones or other brands’ similar products. The watches might not be useful for customers because of the small-sized screens; however, many people who do not need these watches might be willing to buy them just because of their advertisement-driven curiosities.
Samsung does not have a big advantage in marketing the Gear-S watches after analyzing the competitive advantages by using the Porter's diamond analysis. To have more competition power, Samsung has to add more technological developments to these watches.
Developing a Relatively Better Product to Get the Competition Advantage
It is a very big advantage to supply the high-technology watches as the first company. In the short term, it is possible that Samsung gets a large market share because there is not high competition in the short run. By implementing an advertisement strategy, Samsung can enlarge its share in the market in the short run.
The watches Samsung supplies should target some specific customer groups in the society. The most probably, the customers who enjoy using the large-sized screens will not prefer purchasing the watches. Thus, Samsung should not target the people who prefer large screens in the short run. The people who use technology every second of their lives during the day and everywhere, the children, and the young people can be target groups for Samsung.
Some people do some jobs that require them to be on the field during the day. While completing their tasks on the field, these workers might have difficulty to carry large technological phones or tablet computers. Thus, a small-sized tool to reach the internet and the social media might be useful for them.
Other targeted groups for the watches might be the children and the young people. The children can easily be led through using their curiosity. Also, the children prefer using small sized products. We remember that many children were very much interested in simple wrist watches with the calculators and the simple games in the past. Depending on this information, it might be easy to attract children. Also, some young people are interested in fashionable high-technological products. The wrist watches are indispensable in the fashion industry. Samsung produces these watches in different colors. If Samsung develops more fashionable watches by making small changes in the Gear-S watches, it might be possible to sell these watches to the young people interested in fashion.
In the long run, the competition is expected to be much higher in the market because the most probably the other companies will enter the market. To be successful in the long run, Samsung has to develop a technology that enable people to do more things in a small screened watches. The most essential problem is the size in these watches. Many people will not prefer purchasing these watches just because of its small size. Thus, there are two ways of selling these watches to people: 1) convincing many of the people to believe that the small screen is not a big problem for them, or 2) finding a way that the small size does not create any problem for the people. Convincing people to believe in the efficiency of small size is truly hard. The only way to do this is to add some very high-tech features to the watches. For instance, a watch that enables you to take notes and convert them into word documents might be truly useful. The second way is to find a way to cope with a small screen size. For instance, if Samsung can place an enlargeable and elastic screen into the watches with the same properties with the tablet computers might solve the problem. Thus, in the long run, Samsung has to provide much-developed technology within the watches to be competitive. Otherwise, Samsung might lose the short-term advantages in the long run.
References
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