Smartphone

Conclusion – Recommendations

At surface value our recommendations are to have smartphone manufacturers price their phone in the $300-$400 range. Based on our research this move will maximize their revenue per unit. We also recommend a focus on product quality and ease of use. The phone must work seamlessly with the user and the product must also deliver on their promise.  Beyond the product itself we advise manufacturers to focus their energies on emerging markets; however this should be a foregone conclusion for most business now days.

Apple

Apple is situated quite nicely within the smartphone arena. They boast the best revenue, gross margins and sales in the industry. Apple has recently taken over as the #1 smartphone seller in the market in the 4th quarter of 2014; a mark previously held by Samsung since 2011. If Apple wishes to continue their dominance and remain #1 across the board they need to continue innovation. There are opportunities in emerging markets stemming from the mid to low range price smartphones market segment. The only challenge for Apple would be to combat the local manufacturers who are already established and our course branching out from the premium smartphone segment that are currently focused on. The question ultimately is how long can Apple maintain their dominance.

Samsung

Samsung finds itself in a peculiar situation with its recent loss in market leadership as the #1 smartphone manufacture. They are feeling pressure in two market segments: the premium (profitable) market due to Apple and the low to mid-range price market primarily due to Chinese mobile companies eating away at market share in the emerging market they are from. The common theme here is innovation and this pertains to Samsung as well. We advise that Samsung adopt long term differentiating factors to set themselves apart and try to lock down on their loyalty attributes. An example would be to create a solid ecosystem for their applications, content and service; this ecosystem should be exclusive to Samsung. Another option would be for Samsung to bolster itself via acquisition. We believe that in acquiring Blackberry Samsung could garner more market share by picking business sector vs personal sector individuals in the smartphone arena. Samsung could gain intellectual property rights, licensing and patents that Blackberry is notorious for, this in turn will help create the aforementioned ecosystem and provide unique features to set themselves further apart from the competition.  We believe this revamp on their premium smartphone strategy would assist in their battle against Apple.

HTC

HTC has phenomenal potential to really attack the premium smartphone market. The irony is that the opportunities that are available to HTC stem from their deficiencies and weaknesses. HTC claims to be the jack of all trades within the smartphone industry. They are not the best at any one particular feature rather slightly average or above average amongst competitors. HTC’s current core strengths lay with their low prices and aesthetics. HTC One phone appears different than typical competitors with their metal based material and shine along with their economical backing which assists with the way it lays in your hand for a more comfortable feel. Weaknesses for HTC are: low battery life and heat generation. With HTC being an “average” phone one would expect to be able to maintain a healthy battery life, but this is not the case. HTC phone have reported below average battery life which is puzzling for a phone that is asked to perform at high levels or function high level computations; a significant issue. Another major issue is the generation of heat and its dispersal rate. Considering the metal based material of the phone the heat generated becomes quite intense; which requires HTC to throttle back their processing chip and power. This obviously leads to our first recommendation.