Leading World Manufacturers - Apple & Samsung Smartphones - Research Paper Example

Compare Smartphones…between Apple & Samsung Table of Contents Summary of the Report 3 2.Introduction 4 3.Procedure 5 4.Overview About Apple And Samsung 5 5.SWOT Analysis 8 6.Findings 14 6.1 Questionnaire Findings 14 6.2 Interview Findings 20 7. Conclusion 24 8. Recommendations 25 9. Appendix 26 9.1 Survey Questionnaire 26 9.2 Interview Questionnaire 28 10. References 29 1. Summary of the Report The report intends to provide a comparative study of the smartphones of two of the world’s leading manufacturer’s i.e. Apple and Samsung. From the perspective of technology and innovation, both the companies are superior in this field. However, there are a number of pertinent parameters based which Samsung can be stated to be noticeably ahead of Apple in terms of sales as well as market share. Therefore, as a part of this report a consumer feedback questionnaire has been designed and feedbacks from the smartphone users have been accumulated accordingly. In addition, a set of interview questionnaire is also designed for taking the interview of the Chairman/CEO of Apple as well as Samsung. Based on the feedbacks obtained as a part of this report, a set of relevant recommendations has been offered to both the companies. 2. Introduction Over the past decade in the field of technology segment, Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics have been two of the major players as well as rivals. Apple Inc is an American based multinational organisation (MNC), founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs (Apple, 2013). Samsung Electronics is a South Korean based MNC founded in 1938 by Lee Kun-hee (Samsung, 2013). Although Apple came into the market later but in the course of focusing on sustained technological innovation it has turned into one of the preferred and respect brands in the world, thus in turn creating an immense challenge for the competitors to match up to the offerings of Apple. In terms of modernism and technology, Samsung is also not lacking behind as it is simultaneously challenging the sustained technological innovation of Apple with its own set of technological marvels as has been evidently witnessed in case of one of the leading offerings of both the companies’ i.e. smartphone. In this regard, undoubtedly, it can be underlined that innovation as well as change are the prominent aspects for any information technology (IT) organisation in order to sustain in the market by providing best products and services to the customers (Carnegie Mellon University, n.d.; Driscoll, 2011). With these considerations, the report aims to depict the findings of a questionnaire survey and interview session with the users of smartphones and the CEO/Chairman of both the companies respectively. 3. Procedure This comparative analysis study is conducted through examination of the feedbacks of the customers and Chief Executive Officers (CEO) as well as Chairman of both the organisations. Therefore, the information for this report is obtained by: Firstly, by distributing a questionnaire to 50 customers or users of the smartphone. Secondly, by conducting an interview with the Chairman/CEO of both the organisations, i.e. Apple and Samsung 4. Overview About Apple And Samsung Apple’s Mission The mission of Apple is to provide best individual computing knowledge to the students, ingenious professionals as well as conversant clients throughout the globe by its creative software as well as hardware amenities (Apple, 2013). Apple’s Vision The vision of the company is to bring transformation in the world through modernism as well as inventiveness and it is only possible by human beings. Thus, they want to be the part of this system as well as structure not the follower of it (Apple, 2013). Overview Apple is one of most renowned companies in terms of new cutting-edge technology and innovation in terms of its products and services. Apple Computer first emerged into the limelight as a company in 1976 established by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. Till the period of nineties, with unremitting innovation the company produced a few of the best personal computers that came into the global market including the Apple brand, Macintosh as well as Power Mac computers. However, the company did not remain satisfied with such a head-start and from the very beginning of the 21st century it continuously remained focused on producing various innovative and modern technological products including I-Mac, Mac mini, Mac Book, I-Pad, I-Phone and I-Pod among others. Through enlarging its product line-ups presently the company has achieved competitiveness in the global market in different segments, for example computer software and hardware, consumer electronics as well as digital distributions (Apple, 2013; Images. Apple, 2011). Samsung’s Mission Since the foundation of Samsung Electronics in 1938, the company has sustained a mission statement to bring its own changes in the world through ensuring precedence to the human resources, economic inputs in the nation as well as to the detection of rationalism (Samsung, 2013). Samsung’s Vision The vision of the company is based on depicting obligation to stirring its communities with the help of its three key strengths comprising new technologies, pioneering products as well as creative solutions and promoting core values for Samsung’s internal networks i.e. industry, employees as well as partners (Samsung, 2013). Overview Samsung is a South Korean based technological company, which came into the spotlight since 1938 under the guidance and supervision of Lee Byung Chull. Throughout its pioneering existence in the technological field for over 70 years with innovation as well as technological advancement, the company has been able to offer a few of most preferred hi-tech products and services. As a result, the company has been able to spread its business globally in different industries consisting of semiconductors, retail, skyscraper as well as plant construction, investment business, petrochemicals along with fashion, healthcare and education among others. However, the chief flagship corporation, Samsung Electronics, leads the worldwide market with ultra-modern electronics built-up as well as digital media. Thus, through reliable products as well as services, in addition with the helping hands of pioneering talented human resources and a responsible approach to conduct business operations presently the company has become a global trustworthy brand (Samsung, 2013). In terms of smartphone market share analysis, it is really looking ominous that the sale of Samsung has reached nearly double as compared to Apple’s smartphone sales (Forbes, 2013). According to the Juniper research, Samsung increased its market share nearly by 34% in the first quarter of 2013 by distributing an approximate figure of 68 million smartphones; while on the other hand, in the same quarter Apple’s sales went down by 0.83%. Therefore, concerning with this circumstance Juniper research pointed out that Apple should be innovative in terms of releasing its next product and also should be critical in the point of preserving its position as an innovative leader (Juniper Research, 2013). 5. SWOT Analysis SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses along with Opportunities as well as Threats. This analysis helps to find out and summarise the current state of the organisation in terms of internal aspects as well as facilitating to take care of external factors. Therefore, it is one of the most effective marketing tools to derive a future plan based on the existence obtained from accessible strengths, through reducing the internal weakness of the organisation, by exploits the scopes as well as opportunities and defending against the threats (Iod, n.d.). Apple In this section, the SWOT analysis regarding Apple smartphone will be portrayed in terms of making an internal analysis of the products as well as services which Apple provide in the market specially in the smartphone section. Strengths Firstly, a primary strength of Apple’s smartphone is the facility of complete I-Phone ecosystem, as per the report of leading news papers and journals the ecosystem of the Apple is most reliable for any type of up-gradation as well as this factor also helps to drive more than 80% retention rate for the uses of Apple devices (Juniper Research, 2013). Secondly, the Operating System (OS) of Apple, Mac-OS is more dependable as well as reliable in terms of use in the system. It provides a lot of benefits to the users i.e. it makes it very easy to port various applications from UNIX operating system. In addition, protected memory has been also included with the OS which facilitates to prevent system crashes (Apple Inc, 2007). Apple’s new operating system I-Phone OS is one of the leading and sophisticated mobile operating system. It is very user frankly including a lot of amazing features and solid stability, specially designed for the smartphones such as I-Phone, I-Pad and I-Pod among others (Apple, 2013). Thirdly, another positive aspect of the Apple smartphone is design, which is entirely innovative in terms of new technology. With the success of its technology, it has launched I-Phone 5 the thinnest, fastest, as well as lightest I-phone ever (Apple, 2013). Fourthly, the features and the apps are the other dominating characteristics of the Apple smartphone. The company is not merely focused on offering the biggest display in its offered devices it is specially focused on display quality and as a result in the I-Phone 5 it has offered 4 creep retina display. Besides, it has included a huge number of apps in the application of smartphone, ultra-fast wireless network connection, i-sight camera, maps, i-cloud facility to secure and save data among others (Apple, 2013). Finally, it also needs to take into the light the brand image and marketing capability of the company. The brand of Apple always signifies a high profile because the positioning strategy of the company is only urban middle and upper class society. Therefore, the allegiances of the Apple customers are dependent on the brand image. Weaknesses In terms of weaknesses, firstly it needs to be highlighted regarding the price of Apple smartphones. The products of Apple are very expensive as compared to the competitors in the product of same segment. Therefore, most of the middle class young generation people prefer to purchase the product of other companies. Moreover, another drawback of the product of this company is expensive accessories and a lack of availability. Besides, the battery of the smartphone is fixed and in addition the smartphone of the Apple also comes without expandable memory. Furthemore, a lack of availability of the product is another concerning issue with this company. As per the data available from the company website in 2012, there are only 394 outlets of the company in the whole world. This is undoubtedly very less as per the requirement to reach the desired number of customers (Apple, 2013). Opportunities These are certain external factors affecting the operations of the company as well as its any particular product segment in order to find out the future scopes. In this regard, to find out the opportunities, analysing the competitors’ position is an essential factor. For the company of Apple, taking into concern the smartphone segment the occasions of future prospects are discussed below: Firstly, a major prospect is the untapped market. Contextually, the product quality of Apple everyone knows about but at times there is a lack of availability. The brand image of the company is unquestionably excellent. Thus, throughout the world it easily can expand its market by opening outlets even in tier-1 as well as tier-2 cities. Secondly, the company a major opportunity to capture the middle class segment, by providing certain low range products. If it reduces the price of the product, it easily can create a significant challenge to the competitors. Thirdly, the company is very well known for the innovativeness, features, models and platform of hardware as well as software. Therefore, taking care of these strong features the products of this segment easily may reach the preference of the frontline market. Threats The most considerable as well as important threat for the smartphone of Apple comes from the use of Android operating system by the competitors. There is an enormous advantage with this OS including infinite communication media, open source, Wi-Fi and Global Positioning System (GPS), multitasking and touch screen among others. This advanced OS has created a significant threat towards the Operating System (OS) of Apple, Mac-OS (Apple, 2013). Another major threat from the competitors originates from a number of substitutes with cheap prices. In this context, it can be highlighted that the biggest challenge comes to Apple from Samsung and HTC because they are also very innovative in terms of technology, design and most importantly price of the product (Apple, 2013). Samsung SWOT analysis about the smartphone segment of the Samsung will be provided in this section. Strengths Firstly, in this regard it needs to be highlighted that innovative technologies comprising design, specification as well as great features are among the major strengths of the devices. The company came into this smart phone segment with huge extent of variety, modern technologies as well as widely acceptable Android OS. This OS is renowned in the market for offering a lot of advantages including open source, Wi-Fi and Global Positioning System (GPS), Infinite communication media, easily upgradable feature, motion sensor, multitasking and touch screen among others (Samsung, 2013). Secondly, the other notable factors are creative solution through reasonable price of the product; enormous model alternatives along with easy availability in the market. It has launched a huge number of models in every section of the smartphone; therefore the company easily can provide a lot of variations to the customers (Samsung, 2013). Thirdly, another strong point about the company is its marketing strategy and brand image. This company immensely concerns about the customers of every section. Besides, the brand image related with the company has also effectively come together with the emotions to purchase the Samsung smartphone (Samsung, 2013; Korea Times, 2010). Fourthly, it also needs to highlight its innovative promotional strategy, logistic system as well as after sales service (Samsung, 2013). Weaknesses Firstly, one of the major weaknesses is low market share in this ever-growing product segment of the company. For focusing on various industries, the company i.e. Samsung Electronics at times has not been able to efficiently focus on this segment. Secondly, another drawback has been a lack of model awareness in this segment, which is might be owing to its availability of huge number of models in the same price point (Samsung, 2013). Opportunities The biggest opportunity arrives through the acceptance by the mass as a leading Android manufacturer. Therefore, this emotion of the public undoubtedly will be a huge opportunity for the company to increase its market size (Samsung, 2013). Moreover, other biggest opportunity is wide range of phones and affordable price; it undoubtedly will be helpful to enter in the new market especially in the small towns as well as rural markets (Samsung, 2013). Threats A crucial threat for the smartphone section of Samsung comes from the low cost smartphone manufactures in terms of price factor. It is a major challenge for the company because if it reduces its price then undoubtedly it will affect its product quality as well as brand image. Furthemore, threats also originate from the innovative market leaders in the world of smartphone manufacturers. This is because they are always focused on quality, design as well as technology (Planet, n.d.). 6. Findings 6.1 Questionnaire Findings A set of questionnaire had been distributed to respondents who were mostly the smartphone users. The responses of the respondents provided different useful findings as observed below: 1. In relation to the first question provided in the questionnaire to the smartphone, of the gender of the respondents were observed. From the findings, it has been determined that the there were around 65% male users and 35% female users. Thus, it can be depicted that smartphones have obtained slightly greater popularity amid the male consumer segment. 2. In the second question in terms of users’ age, the respondents were divided into the four user group and it has been found that the young generation mostly prefer to use the smartphones. Through the chart depicted below the percentage of users in the various group are shown: 3. The third question was specially focused on the users’ media preference in terms of collecting the information regarding the various models, prices, features of the smartphones of both the companies. It is observed that there were mixed responses from the users where a majority of the users preferred the use of internet and social networking site to obtain valuable information. 4. The fourth question was specially focused on the company preferences in terms of using the smartphones. Through this question, it is found that a majority of the users preferred to purchase as well as use Samsung smartphone. There were also two parts in this question regarding the selection of brand; therefore in these questions various parameters were taken into the concern and feedbacks were taken about which parameter particularly influenced to the users to purchase the product of the preferred brand. i) In the first part, there were four special parameters presented about this brand including product quality, services, technological innovativeness as well as brand image and subsequently feedbacks were taken to find out which parameters mostly influenced their purchase decision. It is found that the users of Apple mostly prefer this brand for the technological innovativeness, product quality as well as brand image. ii) In the second part, there were also four special parameters presented about the brand of smartphones offered by Samsung i.e. price, technology, product quality, availability image and occupied feedback to come across an understanding regarding which parameters mostly influence purchase. It is found that the users of Samsung mostly prefer this brand for reasonable price as per product quality. 5. The fifth question was based on satisfaction study taking into the concern the aspect of product quality as well as services which the company provides to the customers with respect to price. i) In relation to this parameter, a majority of the users of Apple were not fully satisfied, through this chart the satisfaction structure is depicted below: ii) In this parameter, a majority of the users of Samsung were fully satisfied taking into concern the aspects of price factor. Through the chart below the satisfaction structure is depicted: 6. The sixth question was specially focused on availability of the product and after sales service. In this parameter, it has been observed that in both the cases Apple is lacking behind in comparison to Samsung and this factor effectively influenced the customers to prefer the brand of Samsung. 7. The last question was based on future prospect, that if the respondents were willing to purchase another smartphone then which brand they would prefer and it is found that most of the respondents preferred to select Samsung as their new smartphones if they did not possess it beforehand. 6.2 Interview Findings Apple Place: Headquarter of the Apple building Time: 11:00 a.m. Date: 20/04/2013 Person: Chairman of Apple, Art Levinson. The interview was started by exchanging greetings and introducing own-self to the Chairman. 1. In the first question, it was wanted to know about the personal details of the Chairman and the Chairman respond that he is Art Levinson, new Chairman of Apple joined in 2011, born in 1950 in Seattle, and graduated in B.S. in 1977 and received PhD in Biochemistry in 1977. Before joining in Apple, he was the Chairman at Walt Disney. 2. In the second question, especially it was desired to know regarding the company’s newly launched smartphones in the market and in which factors the company specially focused on this product. In relation to this question, the Chairman specially shed light on the company’s technological innovations, i.e. the features and the apps which were according to him the dominating characteristics of Apple smartphone. The company is not just focused to provide the biggest display with the product I-Phone 5 but it particularly is focused on display quality and as a result it delivers 4 inch retina display. Besides, it included a huge number of apps in the device of smart phone, ultra-fast wireless network connection, I-sight camera, maps, I-cloud facility to secure data among others. 3. The third question was specially based on sales, regarding the sales of Apple’s smartphone in the last quarter which was going down and what were the company’s aims to address the situation. The Chairman responded that they still believe on their endeavour of sustained innovativeness as well as technology. Besides, he also told that through proper implementation of innovative offerings in the future products the company will be able to deal with market threats. 4. In the last question, the special focus was on learning about the pricing strategy and whether the company would like to reduce the price of the product for increasing the sales and expanding the market share. However, the Chairman told that they are only focused on high profile customer, so quality and innovation are their sole concerning factor not the price. Samsung Place: Headquarter of the Samsung building Time: 11:30 a.m. Date: 22/04/2013 Person: Chairman of Samsung, Lee Kun-hee The interview was started by greetings the Chairman and introducing own-self to the Chairman. 1. In the first question, it was wanted to know about the individual particulars of the Chairman and the Chairman acted in response that he is Lee Kun-hee, born in 1942 and he completed Masters on Business Administration (MBA) from George Washington University. He is one of the sons of Lee Byung Chull, Samsung Group founder. 2. The second question was prepared to determine the scenario with the newly launched smartphones by Samsung in the market. The aim was to know about the factors the company specially focused on for this product. In terms of response, the Chairman told that they are specially focused on technology, better quality along with attractive appearance and reasonable price. 3. In the third question, it was highlighted that sales of the smartphones of Samsung in the recent quarter touched a record height and thus subsequent reaction of the Chairman was sought. The Chairman told that the entire organisation was delighted and further affirmed that they were happy that the company was able to meet the requirements as well as sentiments of the customer with Android OS. 4. In the last question related to the leading competitors of Samsung in the segment of smartphones, the Chairman pointed out the names of Apple, HTC and Nokia. 7. Conclusion Through this comparative study, it is apparent that brand image is not the only parameter for any company to keep up with the customers in the market. There are a lot of parameters upon which customers are very eager to judge and compare a product before purchasing. Apple has unquestionably a good brand image and the company is very innovative in launching any product in the market, but for the aspects such as high price and a lack of product availability in the market now-a-days it is lacking behind in the smartphones marketplace as compared to Samsung. On the other hand, Samsung is very focused on addressing these factors therefore it has in recent times become the global leader and increased the sales of smartphones enormously in the last quarter. 8. Recommendations For Apple, it can be recommended that they should focus on big untapped markets by focusing on product segmentation. If the company bring in certain variations in smartphone models and focuses towards reducing the price then definitely it can attain the leading position again in the market, because the technology and the brand image of the company are already superior. On the other hand, for Samsung, it can be recommended that it should aim to increase its market share in the smartphones segment and the company should also focus on the parameter of promotion to increase the product as well as brand awareness among the customers. 9. Appendix 9.1 Survey Questionnaire It is a questionnaire survey on the smart phones of two innovative globally functioning corporations Apple and Samsung. We are interested in your valuable feedbacks about the smartphones of these two companies, thus your voluntary participation is highly solicited. 1. What is your gender? a) Male b) Female 2. What is your age group? a) 18-25, b) 26-35, c) 36-45, d) 46-60 3. Where from you likely to get information about the new smartphones of companies such as Apple and Samsung? a) Television, b) Internet and Social networking sides, c) Holding and Banners, d) Newspapers and Magazine e) Company website 4. You are the smartphone user of which company? a) Apple, b) Samsung c) Others i) If you are the user of Apple smartphone, which parameter has mostly influenced you? a) Product Quality, b) Services, c) Technological Innovativeness, d) Brand image ii) If you are the user of Samsung smartphone, which parameter has mostly influenced you? iii) Price, b) Technology, c) Product Quality, d) Availability 5. The products as well as the services of which of the companies make you satisfied the most? i) Apple Users: a) Very satisfied, b) Satisfied, c) Partly satisfied, d) Not satisfied ii) Samsung users: a) Very satisfied, b) Satisfied, c) Partly satisfied, d) Not satisfied 6. In terms of availability and after sales service which company you prefer? a) Apple, b) Samsung, c) Others 7. If you want to purchase now a new smartphone which company you will prefer? a) Apple, b) Samsung, c) Others 9.2 Interview Questionnaire Apple 1. Kindly provide us you personal details? 2. Please say something about the newly launched smart phones by Apple in the market and in which factors the company have specially focused on at this time? 3. The sales of the smartphones in the recent quarter had gone down, so what you are thinking about to cope up the situation? 4. In future, would you aim to reduce the prices of the product to expand the market size? Samsung 1. Kindly provide us you personal details? 2. Please shed some light on the newly launched smartphones by Samsung in the market and in which factors the company have specially focused on at this term? 3. The sales of the smart phones in this quarter had touched a record height, so what you think are the main reasons behind it? 4. In this segment, which companies are big competitors in the market and how you aiming to deal with them in future? 10. References Apple, 2013. Working With Apple. About Us. [Online] Available at: http://www.apple.com/about/workingwithapple.html [Accessed May 14, 2013]. Apple Inc, 2007. 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