marketing strategy smartphone case study • Introduction • Smartphones industry in last few years • Major players and their strategies • Differences between Apple & Samsung marketing strategy • More success company • Particular naming strategy used by company in this industry • Key success factor in current industry • Similarities between Marketplace simulation & Mobile phone industry • Lesson drawn from mobile phone industry which could be used in Marketplace simulation

1. MRKT 6631
Fall 2015
Tech-Champ
Smart Phone Case Study
1/Dec/2015
Balqees al mkahmari

2. Table of contents :
 Introduction
 Smartphones industry in last few years
 Major players and their strategies
 Differences between Apple & Samsung marketing
strategy
 More success company
 Particular naming strategy used by company in this
industry
 Key success factor in current industry
 Similarities between Marketplace simulation & Mobile
phone industry
 Lesson drawn from mobile phone industry which could
be used in Marketplace simulation

3. 2. Who are the major players and what are their strategies?
Some major players dominate the smartphone industry but
because the android operating system is open sourced , the
door is open for any number of no name manufacturers to
compete alongside the industry leaders . those leaders
include Samsung , apple , huwawai , Lenovo and LG
electronics .
* Samsung
Samsung is taking the lion share, where it has remained the leader in the worldwide
smartphone market with a market share of 23.7%, despite negative year-over-year
change. This is because of the continued competitive pressure from nearly every side
coupled with cooling demand. However, still Samsung's Galaxy series of devices has
been a popular option, and the company launched its Galaxy Alpha and a refreshed
Galaxy Note 4.
* apple
1. Apple created its most successful and profitable product ever in the form of iPhone.
Combination of the device quality, app ecosystem, brand value, slick advertising, and
cult fan following resulted in record breaking iPhone sales year after year. Although,
by limiting itself to the premium segment, Apple couldn’t match the sales figures of
Samsung, it compensated itself handsomely by taking lion’s share in the smartphone
industry’s profits. Though the strategy has worked astonishingly well for Apple in
terms of profits, it has restricted Apple’s market share and reach. Although the
company posted strong results of 10 million units sold during its initial launch
weekend, what should not be overlooked is the sustained demand of its older iPhone
5S and 5C models, which comprised the bulk of its volumes for the quarter.

4. *huwawi
Huawei cemented its position as the third-largest smartphone vendor, a rank
that previously belonged to Chinese rival Xiaomi, after its third-quarter
smartphone shipments rose 63% year-over-year to 27.4 million handsets,
according to Reuters. Ken Hyers, Director at Strategy Analytics, said, “Huawei shipped 30.6 million
mobile phones and captured a record 7 percent marketshare worldwide in Q2 2015. Huawei is rising fast in
all regions of the world, particularly China where its 4G models, such as the Mate7, are proving wildly
popular.Huawei has finallyovertaken Microsoft to become the world’s third largest mobile phone vendor for
the first time ever.”
Nevertheless, Huawei remains a distant third behind Apple and Samsung, largely
because its market penetration remains low in the U.S., where its devices were
once labeled a security risk in a U.S. Congressional report. Huawei's smartphone
market share was worth $7 billion in the second quarter, according to Canalys.
3. What is the difference between apple’s and samsungs
marketing strategy ?
Apple strategy
 Price
( Premium pricing strategy ) High prices range because
they provide premium , high quality products &
continues upgrading technology features
 Product

5. - Variety of products ( iphones , ipod , ipad and
macbook)
- Narrow product line
- Invest R&D for developing new softwares and
application features
- One product realese in each year
- Convient products as what customers say.
- Long time taken in improving a single product before
its launch to the market
 Promotion and advertising
- Free iphone accessories and free application
installation
- Promotion ranges ( social media , TV commercial ,
print advertising )
- Promote their products attributes
-
 Place
- ( Shop online , shop retail , reseller and apple outlets)
- Iphone outlet located everywhere ,and the customers
can easily reach them to get info about their products
( more than 250 iphone outlets around the world )
 Segmentation strategy
- Geographic segmentation :

6. Apple retail stores are located in highly populated
cities around the world . Global presence with online
presence official websites in 88 countries .
- Demographic segmentation
Ages ( 14-55 yo) , students and business professionals
plus most apple stores in u.s are concentrated in NY
and californea showing that apple caters to high
income and posh lifestyile segments
- Psychographic segmentation
Most used type of segmentation by apple . segment
users according to their lifestyle
- Prodct related segmentation :
Another major marketing strategy used extensively
by the company . every apple device is targeted
specifically to different groups of consumers and
business and features in the product are built around
their needs . apple has segmented products vertically
creating on product for one particular use .
- Apple also targets according to brand loyalty ,
considering that apple has quite a cult like following
just due its image brand name
- Benefit segmentation :
Apple brings newness and innovation with each of its
products
 Targeting
High school,college andgraduate studentswhoneedone portablemultifunctiondevice

7.  Positioning
Apple position itself as high quality product with high price where products generally known to be
expensive.
Cheaper, affordable phones will now be available to market. Position as an innovative lead
Samsung marketing strategy
 Price
- They are using the combination of 3 pricing strategy (
skimming ,penetration and premium pricing strategy
)
- ( skimming pricing strategy ) where they sets high
price and then start to lower it to make it as much as
possible affordable by all segments .
- Different ranges of prices always available in
Samsung
- Upgrading features means higher price
 Product
- e.g ( Samsung Galaxy series ,Tv & computer
products)
- Release multiple models annually with customer
needs of different specifications and features .
- Invest in research and development to continue
introduce new software application and features
 promotion
- Gifts while buying their products and free installation
of some applications

8. - Promotion range ( Social media , Tv , print ad’s )
- Rely heavily on advertising which is the basic feature
of their smartphones
 place
- Samsung branches mostly located in everywhere so
easily reached by their customers
- ( Sales and services dealers , Retailer )
 Segmentation strategy
- Geographic segmentation :
Worldwide , sell their phones in 61 different countries
make slight variation in languages and applications
but the physical appearance of their phones is
universal .
- Demographic segmentation:
Age of 16-29 yo for businessmen , middleclass and
youth . target middle class and high class income
segments
- Family life cycle segments :
Target young single , young married or divorced with
or without children .
- Psychographic segmentation :
Indivduals froom teens to mid 30’s who like new
technology . ttech savy and can afford to buy it plus

9. pink range of mobile phones for girls and cheaper
touch screen stylish for lower income
- Benefit segmentation :
When Samsung customers buy their phones the
benefit they expect from it is simple appearance , new
and updated features with reasonable price range .
- Usage rate segmentation :
Thee smartphones market has a lot of heavy users
because of the convience of it , you can call text,send
pictures,play games,listen to music and surf the web
all from a smartphone . Samsung has large
percentage of heavy users .
 Targeting
It targetsmulti segmentseachwithdifferentsetof productssuchas: professionals,fashionable
young,commonphone users,large businessandorganization,governmentsandcolleges.
 Positioning
It focuses more on the real margin which comes from mid-to-high-end segments, with lower
price than other competitors for wide range of products.
Both strategies are effective in their own right .
however, recently apple has been losing out on sales
to Samsung due its narrow product line , premium
image , and focus on bringing out one product at a

10. time . but then this is the differentiation between
Samsung and apple .
4. Which company is more successful – Apple or Samsung?
Provide rationale.
The smartphoneindustry is dominated by two giant companies (Apple and
Samsung . while apple leads by profits , Samsung leads by marketshare .
Samsung has been able to reach different marketsegments and prices point
while apple has remained restricted due to targeting the premium segment
(smartphone) . while apple used to dominate the table , PC ,smartphone
markets .Samsung has now taken the lead . the two have been fighting battles
over patents . with apple accusing Samsung of copying their productdesigns
and ideas ,and Samsung accusing apple as well . Samsung dominates the
android market (65% shareof all android devices ) .

12. Q5- is there particular naming strategy used by companies in
this industry ?
Naming strategy was one of the major players in introducing new innovative brands where
most of smart phone players avoided randomness in selecting their new brand names and
followed arbitrary naming convention. This helps in educating consumers about brand
name, which has already a very unique and protectable trademark. This section will
elaborate more about Samsung and Apple naming strategies.
Out of the big manufactures in the Android market, Samsung certainly has the strongest
naming strategy for its flagship handset. This gives it a distinct advantage in that the
name of its leading brand is constantly being discussed. The S4 has just been released,
but it won’t be long before talk of the S5 begins, as is the case with the Note 3 being
rumoured already. This free word of mouth marketing may seem like a small detail, but
it makes a big contribution to overall awareness.
Granted, Samsung’s naming strategy isn’t ideal – there are dozens of Galaxy devices
by now – but it’s impossible to have a simple naming convention when you release the
volume of handsets that Samsung does. What’s important for Samsung is that its
biggest selling handsets – the Galaxy S and Galaxy Note series – are constantly talked
about in the markets where it receives the majority of influential media attention. It’s
easy for consumers to identify these handsets. People know which are its most
important handsets and talk about the names of the successors a long time before they
are official.

14. 6. What are Key success factors in this industry?
 Brand ads and image
- Favorable image/reputation with buyers
- Attractive styling/packaging
- Ability to come up with clever, catchy advertisements
 Overall low cost
- Low-cost production efficiency (achieve scale economies, capture
experience curve effects)
- Low-cost product design and engineering (reduces manufacturing
costs)
 Good pricing strategy
- High price phones for customers who demand latest technology ,
innovative features & willing to pay more e.g IPhone 5s ( identical
screen with fingerprint sensor )
- Charge less price phones for the customers who cant pay that much
by climbing back some phone features and materials used in phone
e.g. IPhone 5c ( plastic covered with variety of colors )

15.  Technology
- Expertise in Smartphone technology & Design expertise
- Ability to get newly developed products out of the R&D phase and
into the smartphone market very quickly
- Quality of manufacture (fewer defects, less need for repairs)
- Flexibility to manufacture a range of models and sizes/take care of
custom orders
- Always observer what customer preference in designing and make
it true
- Ability to respond quickly to shifting market conditions
(streamlined decision-making, short lead times to bring new
products to market)
 Location
- Convenient locations
- Low cost plant locations
 Employees
- Pleasant, courteous employees
- Superior talent which can help in service section
- Access to adequate supplies of skilled labor
- High labor productivity
- Relationship build between phone industry and it customers

16. 7. What similarities do you find in Marketplace Live simulation
and Mobile phone industry?
 Simulation companies and smartphones industry trying to distinct
their brands features by investing in R&D to be the leader in the
market or to gain higher profit
 There are always speed changing in technologies and features
upgrading in both simulation and smartphones industry
 There is a continue massive changing in marketing strategies 4p’s
in both simulation and smartphones industry
 Pricing strategies ( Penetration and skimming) used by competitors
in simulation in same way used in smartphone industry
 As what happened in simulation when some companies launch less
number of brands , the other companies take the chance to enhance
more brands with different features and prices as Samsung did .

17. 8. What lesson can you draw from mobile phone industry that could
be used in Marketplace Live simulation ?
 Study the market well to be able to reach customer needs .
 Good marketing plan always start with Marketing Mix 4P’s
 Be ready for your competitors and challenge them
 Investing in R&D and being aware of what launch recently in
market and follow it up will help in long term success
 Variety of brands features and different categories of price ranges
will attract more customers .
 Good marketing strategy and advertising plan will sometimes
recover
 Keep updating and always innovative ideas that not expect by the
competitors & customers should launch in each new version of a
product .
 Study the strength and weakness of our main competitors
 Smart attack and risk will lead to good return

18.  Treat Your Employees Like Your Best Customers