Describing the Competitive Battle between Apple and Samsung - Case Study Example

Compare and Contrast the Activities of Two Companies (of Your Choice) in the same Industrial Sector to Develop New Technology to sustain their Competitive Edge Table of Contents Introduction 3 Describing the Competitive Battle between Apple and Samsung 4 Activities Performed by Apple to achieve Competitive Edge 5 Activities Performed by Samsung to achieve Competitive Edge 7 Comparing and Contrasting Activities Adopted by both Apple and Samsung 10 Conclusion 15 References 17 Introduction Innovation of products and/or services plays a critical role for any modern organisation to achieve competitive edge over its rivals. In relation to the recent evolutionary changes in the business environment, the robust design and innovation of products and/or services is one of the most essential attributes for the marketers to build a strong and sustainable position, even in a fiercely competitive business industry. According to the recent phenomenal development of technologies, a number of global organisations are widely recognised to set their own benchmarks by maintaining continuous innovation of its offerings or way of delivering products/services to the final consumers (Ishii, 2005; Macmillan Publishers Limited, n.d.). The companies, especially from electronic manufacturing and marketing industry are primarily observed to achieve their competitive edge or set their long-term sustainable position through the acts of innovation that set new trends in the respective industry. They are likely to approach innovative practices with a broadest sense, including integration of advanced technologies and developing exceptional ways of doing things. Innovation by the companies in the current electronic manufacturing industry is also manifested as a form of new product development, establishment of advanced production facilities and training or development system, and building unique marketing and promotional strategies for selling products/services (Porter, 1990). Emphasising the critical role of innovation on the organisations to achieve competitive edge, the essay tends to describe the activities of two electronic manufacturing giants, Apple Inc. (Apple) and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd (Samsung) with reference to their innovative practices to achieve a leading position in the respective industry. In this regard, the discussion of the essay explores the role of innovation in both the companies to build their sustaining culture in the fiercely competitive electronics manufacturing industry applying a critical perspective to the same. Moreover, the essay also tends to develop a comparative and contrasting study, relating to the business activities of these two manufacturing companies, while developing new technology to sustain their competitive edge. Describing the Competitive Battle between Apple and Samsung The competitive battle between Apple and Samsung has been observed as one of the major and leading issues, attracting debaters in the global technology manufacturing and marketing industry. The fierce competition between these two manufacturing giants is principally observed due to their unabated development and continuous striving on innovation manifested in their advanced technology products, services along with manufacturing facilities. With regard to the recent business practices, both Apple and Samsung have been witnessed to achieve a competitive positioning, with the virtues of their continuous innovative practices and cutting-edge products and/or services across the global markets (Husso, 2011). Maintaining continuous innovation in new product designing along with branding and promotional strategies can be widely observed as practiced by both Apple and Samsung while aiming at the attainment of a competitive edge in the industry (Islam & Ozcan, 2012). In this regard, the following discussion critically assesses the major role of innovation on both the organisations and compares their sustaining position in the fiercely competitive electronics manufacturing industry. Activities Performed by Apple to achieve Competitive Edge Product innovation and exceptional range of marketing and brand promotional activities have long been witnessed as a strong set of attributes for Apple towards building its leading position in the competitive electronics manufacturing market (Gupta & Prinzinger, 2013). According to the current advanced strategic measures associated with configuring cutting-edge technological products and their innovative features, Apple has been observed to establish its strong sustainable position in the global markets. The company has also been identified to strengthen its strong brand positioning by producing streamlined products to meet the changing trends of the consumers across different geographic markets. In this regard, the integrated innovation strategy of the company has led a pivotal role for Apple to sustain its leading position in the modern electronics manufacturing business industry (Duncan & et. al, 1998). The innovation of product or process often requires an effective strategy for allocating the internal and external resources. In relation to the present competitive business environment, the strategic decisions regarding resource allocation can be regarded as an essential function of an organisation. Moreover, making continuous developments along with effective utilisation of the productive resources can also be regarded as an important facet of an innovative strategic business process (Islam & Ozcan, 2012). According to the strategic directions of Apple, the decision focused on effective resource allocation as one of the integral parts of its competitive strategies, which facilitated the company to regain its capability towards incorporating sustainable innovation in its business processes. The strategic control mechanism of the company provides major support to the decision makers to allocate productive resources effectively, in line with the confronting market. Moreover, the strategy also helps the leaders in Apple to effectively deal with the competitive uncertainties associated with the innovative strategic measures of the company, enabling it to achieve a competitive edge over the existing rivals (Wonglimpiyarat, 2012). The integrated approach of innovation in its strategic decision processes have significantly helped Apple to perform with consistent emphasis on developing new and better ways of manufacturing and delivering its wide range of products. The execution of an innovative set of business strategy often requires a major integration by the organisation. It is in this context that the term ‘innovative business strategy’, principally refers to an effective set of relations leading to create incentives for the individuals from different hierarchical roles and enabling them to apply the skills and competencies towards the strategic goals and objectives of the organisation (Wonglimpiyarat, 2012). In relation to the business strategies adopted by Apple, the organisation has long been witnessed to implement a transformational way of working environment that empowers not only the performance of the members, but facilitates skills and capabilities of the individuals within the team, from different hierarchical responsibilities. In this context, leadership can be considered as one of the key elements of Apple that can facilitate towards gaining its level of innovation across its different diversified product manufacturing and marketing operations (Lazonick & et. al, 2013). In addition, the need for organisational integration in business strategies often derives from various types of developmental difficulties within an innovative business concept. In this regard, organisational learning, relating to imperative and secure decision of innovative investments, can lead to a substantial increase in organisational capability to implement its innovative business approaches (Kotler, 2002). Correspondingly, in relation to the business strategies of Apple, the organisation tends to make effective investment decisions and critically focuses on high level of utilisation of its mechanisms to support the intended innovative strategies. The strategy facilitates the company to understand costs associated with developmental investments and enables it to lower costs associated with per unit of products to be delivered into the different global markets. Therefore, its principle of innovation emphasising strategic business decisions can also be considered as a key aspect for Apple, responsible behind its continuous success in the global electronics manufacturing industry in terms of achieve competitive edge (Thomke & Feinberg, 2010 ). Innovative branding strategy of different products can also be regarded as one of the key success drivers for Apple towards building its competitive sustainability in the electronics market or industry. For instance, Apple has established its position in the computer industry as a pioneer of new technologies. Subsequently, it has been well known for its industry contributions since the past 5 years, for its creativity and innovative trade activities. It can accordingly be stated that the company has been able to achieve a higher and strong brand image successfully, by providing decent products as well as taking revolutionary steps in the technology and computer development era (Apple Inc., 2011). Activities Performed by Samsung to achieve Competitive Edge Samsung currently functions into four major industries including consumer electronics, telecommunication equipments manufacturing and distributing as well as home appliances and semiconductor manufacturing and supplying. The organisation is headquartered in Suwon, South Korea and is operated worldwide through its large distribution channels. The organisation offers its vast range of product categories through different channels, including direct sellers, whole sellers, value-added resellers, own retail chains along with different third-party cellular networks. According to the present day context, Samsung has been recognised as one of the major and leading organisations, to be engaged in manufacturing cellular devices and semiconductor chips and distributing the same around the globe. The organisation can further be considered as one of the largest Smartphone manufacturers, to have contributed with effective support for Samsung to attain an outstanding economic growth over the last few years. Moreover, the organisation is also well known for its large manufacturing units for producing home appliances and other consumer electronic products (Samsung, 2012). Samsung has further been witnessed as one of the leading manufacturers in the fiercely growing electronics business industry. The company has been witnessed to achieve its competitive sustainability by delivering a wide range of technology-based products to the global consumers. Throughout the development of innovative products, Samsung has also been identified to integrate a strong set of strategic measures aimed towards influencing its competitive positioning in the global electronics product market. The company incorporates a vast diversification strategy, as it upholds different types of products, ranging from manufacturing household electronic items to advanced technology based media equipments in the global marketplace. In this regard, the company is often observed to focus on innovation to cope with the changing trends of the customers (Kim, 2007; Sun & et. al, n.d.). Based on an in-depth understanding of the business functions executed by Samsung, it can be asserted that the organisation possesses an effective set of business principles, which may provide substantial guidelines to achieve competitive position in the technology market. The guidelines may also involve innovative strategic measures for implementing cutting-edge excellence while designing and marketing its exceptional range of products in the global markets. The organisation has gained the position of a leading electronics brand globally, capturing a proportionately larger market share in the segments of home appliances including TVs, refrigerators, air conditioners along with other domestic electronic devices. The continuous innovation of products, facilitating developments in the overall production capability of the company has enabled Samsung to build its strong and leading position in the consumer electronics business market (Samsung, 2011). Moreover, the series of innovative product lines is also attributable as a major competitive advantage for Samsung to have facilitated its sustainable position in the electronics market. The organisation efficiently operates in different divisions of diverse products, which involves advanced features and sustainability as per the expectations of the consumers. To be noted in this regard, each electronic division of the organisation involves advanced features and are subjected to continuous improvement requirements, which are further aimed at the successful attainment of customer needs and desires. Product innovation and development process of Samsung further involves effective strategies, preserving adequate utilisation of technological advancements in every product, in order to ensure customer satisfaction (Samsung Electronics Sustainability Report, 2012). Rapid development in the telecommunication devices is also a valuable initiative taken by Samsung, with a motive to attain efficient market positioning in the worldwide market context. The smartphone segment of Samsung is one of the major areas those have imposed considerable impacts on transforming the needs and desires of the customers. The research and development sector of Samsung, correspondingly, represents one of its key strengths to sustain among the leading computing service providers in the global market. It is in this context that the continuation of developing technologies and innovation of new products are considered highly effective by the skilled workforce of Samsung (Interbrand, 2011). The effective practice of New Product Development (NPD) can be considered as quite an advantageous factor for Samsung, to facilitate its varied range of product lines. The strategy, concerning NPD can be identified to be more effective for the organisation to develop new products and facilitate inclusion of innovative features within the existing products as well. Developing existing products, especially the telecommunication products of the organisation, have significantly augmented the overall sales of communication devices around different regions of the world (Venkatraman, 2005). In this regard, the decision of innovative NPD process in relation to the company’s diversified electronic products can further be witnessed to facilitate Samsung while aiming at the competitive leadership position in the market. Comparing and Contrasting Activities Adopted by both Apple and Samsung Studying the rapid pace of modernisation and technological advancements, Apple and Samsung can be observed to pay high degree of attention towards advanced strategies, both in the strategic choice of producing electronic goods and exceptional sales and the marketing plan to achieve competitive advantages within the global market. To be precise, the organisations operating in the present business world are highly focused on developing differentiated and inimitable business strategies, to develop innovative processes and attain a feasible business position in the industrial context. Therefore, an increasing competition can be observed to have taken place between the organisations, especially in the electronic market (WIPS, 2013). From the perspective of Apple and Samsung, both the organisations have been learnt to offer exceptional and advanced technological products, often as per the needs and desires of the global consumers, fuelling their needs for a more developed device range. However, it can be observed that various differences concerning sales, market positions as well as health of the organisation among other aspects have significant effects on the leadership positions of the two organisations, further causing a wide difference in their innovation activities. For instance, as the discussion above reveals, the Research & Development (R&D) sector of Apple indicates one of its key strengths to sustain among other leading computing service providers in the global market. Notably, it is with the virtues of its R&D initiatives that the company has been able to inculcate such high degree of innovation in its operations. This indicates that the market position strategy of Apple is highly focused on offering advanced electronic products to its broad customer segments facilitated by its R&D capabilities, making innovation more strategic and objective-oriented. The exceptional designs along with advanced and cutting-edge technological features of the products are often observed to help Apple for setting its unique brand image on the customers’ minds and increase demands. Therefore, it can accordingly be asserted that the company is also focused to expand its retail stores in the global market, taking advantages of its innovation strategies and obtaining larger proportion of market shares. The increasing number of Apple Stores can also be considered a part of a major opportunity that the organisation has gained through its innovation activities to lead in the global context (Thomke & Feinberg, 2010). With reference to the above-discussion, it has also been witnessed that leadership is also a competitive advantage obtained by Apple, as a pioneer in the industry, when performing as one of the dominant marketers in the global electronics and technology market. The transformative leadership style practiced in the organisational functions herewith offers a major support to the company to make continuous innovation of its products and processes as well. In the similar context, the innovative business models are often observed as a major set of measures practiced by Apple to achieve its long-term sustainability in the electronics business market. However, setting strategic goals towards making continuous practice of innovation has been a key aspect for Samsung to achieve competitive success in its different diversified product segments. Moreover, the company has been also identified to render significant focus on strengthening its competitive positioning, by challenging its major rivals in the industry through its innovative activities. In this environment, Samsung has been highly depended on its strategic measures and practices, leading to the successful achievement of its sustainable position in different electronics product markets (Venkatraman, 2005). With reference to the activities performed by both Apple and Samsung, it can be stated from a comparative perspective that the practice of strengthening brand equity has been duly considered by both, wherein the companies have been striving to differentiate themselves from their close rivals in the electronics manufacturing and distributing industry. Illustratively, in relation to the business performance of Apple since last few years, the company has achieved remarkable growth due to its strong brand positioning strategies focused on its diversified product segments such as personal computer, media device or smart mobility based cellular device business. Its innovative branding strategies have apparently been able to create its unique brand image, further segregated into different product categories to suffice the need of customers classified in a wide assortment of groups. For instance, its media devices segment, constituting its iPods, advanced electronic system based iPads and most popular cellular devices with extensive mobility functions in iPhone, can be duly considered to contribute in facilitate the unique positioning of Apple, within their respective product categories due to the strong branding decisions taken by the company (Thomke & Feinberg, 2010 ). However, the business activities performed by Samsung significantly incorporates measures to make continuous developments in its wide range of electronic goods, ranging from household products to advanced media and cellular devices. The organisation has accordingly been observed to put greater focus on marketing and promotional activities, more willingly than strengthening the brand position of its different product categories. Unlike Apple, Samsung delivers comparatively lesser significance on strengthening brand equity in relation to different products, but has greater focus on advancing products from diversified segments, which has been playing a crucial role for the company to achieve a competitive position in the dynamically structured electronics industry (Samsung Electronics Sustainability Report, 2012). According to the observations of the innovative activities performed by Apple and Samsung, it has been widely accepted that both Apple and Samsung are highly committed to cope with the innovative business functions. Innovation of products and way of delivering services to the target customers has long been witnessed to play a major role for both Apple and Samsung, contributing to their strong sustainable positioning and leading to their achievement of a competitive edge over their rivals. Incorporating innovation as the integrated part of the business has also facilitated both Apple and Samsung to gain a strong hold on their market shares, emphasised on producing and delivering exceptional range of electronic products. Notably, these products are not only suitable to meet the changing trends of the customers, but are also influential to fuel new demands for more advanced technology products. From a comparative perspective, it can thus be observed that such measures have formed the base for the innovative activities used by both the companies to retain higher brand value and preserve customer loyalty to the highest possible extent. Conclusion A comparative assessment of the innovative strategies adopted by Apple and Samsung reveals that the business performances of both the organisations are different, even though they operate in the same industry segment. Correspondingly, Samsung has been observed to incorporate a large variety of electronic products including consumer electronics, household appliances as well as telecommunication and computing equipments through its different business divisions. In the similar context, the business strategies adopted by Apple has been focusing on delivering advanced computing experiences through its decent and exceptional communication facilities, supported by other technological devices. The business strategy of Apple further involves a unique ability of branding its wide range of technology-based products, which can also be identified as a major differentiating factor from the innovation activities of Samsung. Accordingly, leadership and management practices of both the organisations have also been identified to involve major differences in the context of innovation. Observably, the leadership approach in Apple involves a set of transformational aspects that has enabled the organisation to increase the level of innovative skills and empower performance of the members. However, the business practices of Samsung have been highly committed towards the strong values and principles emphasising innovation on its range off product and process development initiatives. References Apple Inc., 2011. Form 10K (Annual Report). Investors. [Online] Available at: http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/AAPL/1352035942x0xS1193125-10-238044/320193/filing.pdf [Accessed June 08, 2014]. 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