Samsung Mobile is one of the leading players in the mobile devices sector, and the last decade have seen Samsung as stated in the About Us (2016) section, taken the world in an imaginative new direction.
The company has a history of achievement and as evidently pointed in the IT & Mobile communications section (2016), technological innovation is the key for Samsung mobile to lead change & 400 million mobile devices globally is a testament to Samsung’s remarkable smart phone technology.
Competition:
Samsung mobile has been in an intense competition with Apple and dominate the market share over other players in the mobile device segment namely, LG, Motorola, HTC, Blackberry to name a few (Matt Swider, 2014).
The latest competition is from lower end players like Xiaomi who are also giving strong competition to the mobile device sector.
The primary reason of cleaning the competition and with only Apple being able to compete is the superior technology that had been able to upgrade mobile devices constantly case in point the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge and the newly promoted and the unreleased Galaxy S7.
The primary reason as to why Samsung Mobile have been able to rule the roost in the sector is because they know the pulse of the consumers and the technological advancement as witnessed in the Galaxy S series is a case in point.
Apple Inc. with its iPhone series have kept the competition exciting and dynamic in the sector and the only beneficiary of the competition are the consumers who have been able to enjoy quality and consistent upgrade in the mobile devices.
Galaxy S7 series is smashing pre-orders and with the evolutionary upgrade as the competition killer, as mentioned in Sammobile’s article by Adnan (2016), since the pre-orders went live on Feb 23, the response have been amazing both for S7 and S7 edge.
Samsung Mobile - SWOT
Strength:
The Research and Development (R&D) of Samsung as a company spent an astronomical amount in tune of $13.8 billion that is approximately 3 times higher than the closest competition Apple invests, even Apple is utilizing Samsung technology and have allocated $ 14 billion in plants and equipment for its big new client (Ian King, 2015).
The directly creates strength in the innovation and technological aspect and helps in delivering a winner product, as evidence with S7 pre sales order, new memory tech, flexible AMOLED display and mobile chipset production that is state of the art (Daniel. P, 2015).
Samsung as opposed to Apple is not a niche brand, and therefore, the product pricing has helped in more sales as opposed to competition mobile handsets (Jon Russel, 2015)
Samsung has been leading the market share, as the world’s largest mobile phone vendor, the shipment of mobile devices last year in the first quarter was 99 million phones globally and has been a leader due to the Galaxy S series (Jerin Mathew, 2015).
The Marketing campaigns of Samsung has been a strength with regards to creating an emotive connect with the consumers in an effective manner and the Oscar ‘Selfie’ moment and focus on entertainment and social savvy against its main competitor Apple (Amanda Walgrove, 2015).
Weakness:
The patent infringement law suits with Apple led to Samsung paying huge amounts, besides hitting the reputation (Ian King, 2015).
In spite of sales increase due to low price on Galaxy S6 and S6 edge, the impact on gross profit against competitors (John Russel, 2015).
Samsung have a broader mobile device portfolio that affects the profits and in essence cannibalizes business within the portfolio as opposed to a niche Apple product line.
The consumers feel that the operating system of Apple iOS is superior to Samsungs android system.
The marketing as a tool is utilized by Apple by churning out iconic communication that is more innovative and impactful for the consumers (Amanda Walgrove, 2015).
Opportunity:
The major opportunity is the continued and dynamic growth of the sector as evidenced with the shipment off 99 million mobile devices globally by the company, also the leading developing markets such as China and India.
As evidenced above the 99 million mobile shipments showcases an opportunity in view of satisfying the demand of the consumers by supplying as per the requirement.
Samsung Pay is an innovative attempt to take care of the mobile payments going forward, the system seeks mass approval, however with 5 million users and $500 million in transactions, Samsung has an advantage over competitors due to its LoopPay technology (John Russel, 2015).
The relationship with Apple is going string and with Samsung providing Apple technology.
Threat:
The changes in technology are a constant and to able to match with Apples upgrades is a threat to Samsungs leadership in the sector.
Low end players such as Xiaomi are giving Samusng competition in emerging markets such as China and India, in view of the cheaper android alternatives available.
The brand image has been affected by the patent infringements, in view of the fact that consumers may perceive the company as unethical and may stop buying the mobile devices.
The iPhones are preferred in the biggest emerging market i.e. China and Samsung needs to undo this aspect with superior technology starting with up gradation in the operating system and screens, since, the Chinese users prefer bigger screens and the latest offering of Galaxy S6 and the impending arrival of S7 taken care if this threat effectively (John Riberio, 2015).
The loss in operating profit as a threat affects the company’s revenues and since the sector is dynamic and ever changing its impact on the gross profits may affect the decision making in the development and focus of the brands portfolio. Samsung should focus on increasing the product prices to compete effectively with Apple on its own niche playground.
Samsung’s mobile sector is a jewel in the organizations huge portfolio and with the amazing technological advances the group will move ahead and compete strongly with its competitors and create new grounds with new consumer segments and profitable avenues in an effective and efficient manner.
References:
Adnan, F. (2016). Galaxy S7 is smashing pre-order records. SamMobile. Retrieved from http://www.sammobile.com/2016/03/01/galaxy-s7-is-smashing-pre-order-records/
Amanda, W. (2015). Content Marketing Showdown: Apple vs. Samsung. Contently. Retrieved from https://contently.com/strategist/2015/04/28/content-marketing-showdown-apple-vs-samsung/
Daniel, P. (2015). Samsung breaks R&D spending records, invests $14 billion in new tech. Phone Arena. Retrieved from http://www.phonearena.com/news/Samsung-breaks-R-D-spending-records-invests-14-billion-in-new-tech_id67054
Ian, K. (2015). Apple and Samsung Are Friendly Again, and the Competition Should Be Terrified. Bloomberg Business. Retrieved from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-05-01/apple-and-samsung-are-friendly-again-and-the-competition-should-be-terrified
Jerin, M. (2015). Strategy Analytics: Samsung remains No.1 mobile phone vendor despite tough competition from Apple. International Business Times. Retrieved from http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/strategy-analytics-samsung-remains-no-1-mobile-phone-vendor-despite-tough-competition-apple-1498833
John, R. (2015). Samsung Mobile Sales Increase In Q3 2015, But Profit Drops Following Price Cuts. TechCrunch. Retrieved from http://techcrunch.com/2015/10/28/samsung-mobile-sales-increase-in-q3-2015-but-profit-drops-following-price-cuts/
John, R. (2015). Samsung regains No. 1 position in smartphone market. Computer World. Retrieved from http://www.computerworld.com/article/2916088/smartphones/samsung-regains-no-1-position-in-smartphone-market.html
Matt, S. (2014). Apple, Samsung smartphones muscle out the competition in US. Techradar. Retrieved from http://www.techradar.com/sg/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/apple-samsung-smartphones-muscle-out-the-competition-in-us-market-share-1215992
Samsung (2016). About Us. Retrieved from http://www.samsung.com/sg/aboutsamsung/samsungelectronics/careers/whysamsungelectronics.html
Samsung (2016). IT & Mobile Communications. Retrieved from http://www.samsung.com/sg/aboutsamsung/samsungelectronics/businessArea/businessarea_02.html
