When recalling the old BlackBerry Era, the most magnificent and best premium smartphone around the world comes to our mind. Yes, we are all well aware of the popularity and craze of blackberry in the early 2000s. BlackBerry smartphones were considered as the possession for all those symbolizing high-status people, rich and popular professionals. Also, Blackberry promised the complete and strong security of its users’ privacy.
By the year 2009-2010, the BlackBerry smartphone gathered more than 85 million users who contributed highly to the success graph of this company. In fact, Blackberry owned over 50% of the US market share as well as 20% of the Global Market share at a single time.
However, by the year 2010, a sudden downfall occurred in the growth of BlackBerry. And soon by 2012, it came down to less than 5% of the market share. So, the question arises, How all of a sudden BlackBerry failed?
This came up to these points:
The Reddit forum/wallstreetbets holds the dependence of the growth to great profit as the technology company is suffering for a long time. Rather of the fact that BlackBerry shares rise from day traders.
Failed to strengthen the innovative features and resulted in being the example for the changes occurring in smartphones.
Other companies are evolving with great fascinating and advanced features, while BlackBerry suffered majorly in offering new features for the convenience of customers.
As the era of advanced technology evolved, Blackberry experienced some major drawbacks which could not be settled. In this article, we’ll get brief on how BlackBerry: Leader failed with no other choices. Let’s get started!
The company, Blackberry was established in 1984 with the production house for only modems and pagers. However, in 2000, BlackBerry launched its first-ever model of smartphone which was named BlackBerry 957. It’s the first model of smartphone that contains the features of surfing on the Internet and sending momentum emails.
In the 2000s, BlackBerry was known as the most standard and premium brand for great business executives and also, those who maintained their privacy and security.
However when the advanced tech company, Apple launched its first smartphone in 2007; BlackBerry experienced good competition in the market. Later, as the technology evolved and other companies like Google launched their phones, the substantial competition began.
With the exponential growth graph of BlackBerry, no one even wondered that this company would fail! But soon after the year 2010, its growth graph experienced a great downfall. And, that’s where the end of BlackBerry’s era begins.
When BlackBerry reached its peak, it took several non-strategic and unreasonable steps that resulted in some big losses. Likewise, it raised its highest stock with the value of $230 which is now worth $4. BlackBerry, a company with enormous goals and plans, failed due to its raging in no time.
These are some points that led to the failure of BlackBerry.
Hardware Innovation
With the evolving technology, BlackBerry was considered to be overpricing on its average hardware system. Soon as Apple and Samsung launched their smartphones with a complete touch screen body.
Also, after the typing is done, the keyword would disappear giving you a huge space for other purposes. However, BlackBerry with its QWERTY keyboard lacked such features and became a big reason for BlackBerry to fail.
Nonetheless, Blackberry did not invest in making a complete touch screen body, instead, it kept making phones with the outer keyboard such as Blackberry Key 2. That’s why its sales dropped by a major number.
BlackBerry majorly focused on the richer section such as Celebrities, Businessmen and other rich administrators. They tend to carry BlackBerry showing their superiority. They used Blackberry because:
Powerful end-to-end encryption security
Advanced PDA that majorly helped in their business
Email services
But, soon as iPhone sales increased, Blackberry lost its enormous target audience and importance in just a little period.
Furthermore, BlackBerry only focused on enterprise-level marketing and neglected the consumer portion. This also played a big role in its failure.
Research and Development
BlackBerry did not fail. It lacked innovation and advanced features because it has always been up with technology and supervisions. But the reason why BlackBerry failed is money.
BlackBerry’s innovation and features came from Research & Development (R&D). But this required money and due to the decreased sales and other failures, it could not invest its money in the R&D.
That’s why BlackBerry could not evolve from its basic potential. Later, BlackBerry’s brand was sold by RIM to TCD (a Chinese firm).
Operating System
BlackBerry’s operating system lacked some major features and technology. It does not allow the developers to build apps on an abundance scale. Other Operating systems give a free directory for developers to build apps accordingly.
However, Android and iOS allowed the customization of applications as they could be removed and added as per the convenience of users.
Therefore, developers were absolutely happy with Android and iOS. Still, BlackBerry kept on developing its own OS which was a disaster.
BlackBerry ultimately brought new smartphones with demanding features to regain its lost significance and customers. It launched Priv with the features like a dual-curved UHD display, pop-up widgets, 3GB RAM and snapdragon 808 CPU. But, this was too late. The phone was an absolute failure. Its product quality and features lacked some major technology.
BlackBerry did not imply adding new features or advanced OS and because of this, the potential consumers of BlackBerry shifted back to Android and iOS.
FAQ
What caused the downfall of BlackBerry?
The reasons BlackBerry failed is that it didn’t adapted new technology, lack of consumer insight and poor design which led to its demise.
When was Blackberry Founded?
Blackberry was founded in 1984.
When did BlackBerry go out of business?
Blackberry in 2016 decided to stop making its own phones, after years of failures.
Conclusion
Today, the production of BlackBerry smartphones has been completely shut down. It has turned back to software and mobile security solutions. BlackBerry succeeded in the market because of its advanced technology and left behind the less-evolved technology. Yet when it came to evolving BlackBerry’s technology, it failed because of its incapability to judge and compete with the competition level of the market.
BlackBerry left some major points and examples for other tech companies that to survive in the technology world, you need to keep evolving your features and technology.
Snapchat is an American based social media company. It is a multimedia messaging app which is developed by Snap Inc. Snapchat has a lot of features and one of the prime features of the company is that the message and the images that are sent are usually for a short period of time and later the users will not be able to access it.
Snapchat has around 265 million daily active users, with the app available in more than 30 languages. In this article let’s look at why the CEO of Snapchat had said that the app wouldn’t exist without Apple.
Evan Spiegel who is the CEO of Snapchat had recently conveyed that the mobile application Snapchat wouldn’t exist without Apple’s iPhone. This was regarding the new policy of Apple where they had conveyed that they would charge 30% fees on any in-app transactions on various platforms.
The CEO of Snapchat had conveyed that they don’t have any problem in paying the amount charged by Apple and to the rules set by Apple. He added that the company doesn’t have a choice but to accept the 30% fees charged by Apple but the company was happy to pay them in exchange for the amazing technology which is provided by Apple in terms of software as well as the advancements provided in their hardware.
Regarding the new update for the iPhone users with regards to privacy, Evan Spiegel has said that Snapchat is on the same page as of Apple and conveyed that they are aligned with the company to helping in protecting the privacy policy.
The CEO of Snapchat had also stated that their investment in the privacy policy made 10 years earlier is really paying off right now. The ATT is expected to create an impact on the advertising business model of social media companies like Facebook and Snapchat which the CEO of Snapchat is very well aware of.
Steps taken by Snapchat towards Apple’s Privacy update
Snapchat’s CEO has said that he is very well aware of how the update of Apple would impact their business model and he also said that the company has been working with their advertisers to in order to shift to the new ad tracking network of Apple.
Apple uses the ad tracking network to measure the effectiveness of the advertisements on the mobile applications. Spiegel has conveyed that the transition has gone smoothly for their business.
Some experts believe that snapchat works better on iPhone because it has different OS than android.
What are Apple’s new privacy changes?
With Apple’s latest software update, iPhone and iPad users will now encounter pop-ups in the apps they use, asking whether the user wants to allow the app “to track your activity across other companies’ apps and websites.
Who is the CEO of Snapchat?
Evan Spiegel is the CEO of Snapchat.
Conclusion
The App Tracking business model of Apple had seen a lot of criticism including the social media giant Facebook claiming that this model was set to increase their profits and not keeping in mind the privacy of the users. However, the new feature is live for all iPhone users across the world.
Apple has recently released an update to its iPhone’s operating system which consists of app tracking transparency. It is said to have affected Facebook’s business model. Let’s look at what exactly is app transparency and the new update which can be accessed by the Apple users across the globe.
Apple has rolled out a new update to its iPhone users operating system – iOS 14.5. The update features a new batch of emojis according to the current requirement. Other than the emojis the main highlight of the update is the introduction of app transparency in the apps.
This new update is considered very significant for some users whereas less fun for others. This new feature is considered to be a guide of privacy which is user-oriented in the new era.
Not everyone is happy with the new update which is rolled out by Apple especially Facebook. The social media giant’s business model completely depends on tracking the user’s data in order to sell personalized and targeted ads.
The new update provides you with an option to choose whether the mobile applications can track your online habits or not.
Apple’s iPhone is well known for its privacy features in the market. The new update is another step taken by Apple to be recognized globally as the platform for privacy. The new feature which is rolled out by Apple will display a notification that will pop up on the screen.
Apple App Tracking Transparency
The notification will explain what data the mobile application wants to collect from your device and what it intends to do with the collected information. In order to gain the access to the new feature, the users will have to just keep their phone updated and install the new iOS update. On most of the devices, the new feature will get updated automatically.
Once the new feature is updated, the already installed mobile application will display an option on whether you would want to opt in or opt out of the new feature.
How does App Transparency Work
Apple has provided an explanation which says the new update on tracking the transparency of the apps is through an API (Application Programming Interface). The developers use this as a set of programming commands in order to interact with the operating system.
The API will provide the software developers a few functions that is preprocessed. This will allow the developers to request authorization for tracking or check the status of authorization using tracking managers for every single mobile application.
This feature also means that the operating system will have a base location that will store and check on what permissions have been granted to all the applications on the device. The downside of this feature is that there is no physical mechanism that will stop the tracking of a user by the apps.
The transparency of the tracking of apps is a framework of just a pop-up box.
If you choose the option app not to track and if the specified mobile app is using legitimate advertising identifiers on the device then when you choose the option no, the application will set the identifiers of advertising into zero. The apps that honor Apple’s tracking policy will reduce the capabilities of tracking.
But if a mobile app does not honor the tracking policy of apple and is determined to track the user’s activities then they could use different techniques which will help them track the user’s data. This will make it difficult for Apple to detect or prevent the mobile app from tracking the data of the users.
Apple is likely to find out and make it hard for the mobile app developers who would not play by the rules set by Apple. Apple had updated its Guidelines for its App Store recently which is completely concentrated on the developers.
According to the new Guidelines the app developers should receive clear permissions from the users through Apple’s API for tracking the transparency of apps to track the activity of the users.
Why is Facebook objecting it
Facebook has an objection regarding the new operating system update that is rolled out by Apple. Facebook’s major revenue is through the data it collects from its users. The new feature is a threat to the social media giant’s revenue generation as the company’s main source of revenue is through the sales of targeted ads. The revenue Facebook generated through advertisements during the year 2020 was more than USD 80 billion.
FAQ
What is app tracking transparency?
App tracking ensures that any app must ask you for permission before tracking your activity outside of its own app.
What is going on with Facebook and Apple?
Facebook says Apple is attempting to push free apps, which often sweep data up and feed it to advertisers, to move to subscription models.
How will iOS 14 affect Facebook?
Apple’s iOS 14 will affect the way you use Facebook Ads. Going forward, the SKAdNetwork API will be used by Facebook for app advertising on all iOS 14 devices, and this will either restrict, aggregate, or delay all app event data.
Conclusion
Apple’s step is well positioned to delivering the privacy required for its users. However, the feature is optional and the users will have the choice to opt in or out of it. This can not be considered as an end to the advertising of the digital world as we receive free access to all the services because of their advertisements.
It’s been ages that every brand is trying to generate a brand value that grabs the attention of their target audience so that the next thing that clicks in their mind is “They want to buy it.” From the car you drive to the deodorant you use; we are looking at the brand value of the product we use. People from around the globe are trying to create a lifestyle ideal, and then we buy those products over others.
Rome was not built in a day: Creating a brand value is not like you can just do it all with money. There are various other factors, and marketers have spent a great deal of time wrestling the idea of developing useful, real-life market strategies. These foundational characteristics are rooted deeply in human wants and desires and act to create a connection between a company, its products and services, its people, and ultimately its customers.
Today, the average consumer is sick and tired of “traditional ads”. People don’t want to be “sold to” by their favourite brands.
If you want to know what are lifestyle brands….keep reading !
But what is the lifestyle brand meaning? The word “lifestyle” is a somewhat broad one, and it means that your company can focus on a range of areas, all the way from fashion, to cooking, or sportswear. A consumer’s lifestyle is seen as the sum of his interactions with his environment.
Lifestyle Marketing | Lifestyle Brands
Lifestyle marketing is a marketing strategy where a product is branded and marketed such that it is perceived to possess aesthetics, ideals, and aspirations according to the people’s wants; which also get identified and revolves around an ideology that gives meaning and purpose to why it exists.
Now marketers have realized that in order to get their brands heard amidst all the noise in the advertising space, they need to take a different approach. Instead of trying to convince consumers to buy their products, these marketers create a seductive aura around their products such that the consumers crave to buy their products and get associated with the brand.
These are some popular lifestyle branding examples that you might have seen:
The athlete, like Nike, Puma, or Adidas.
The thrill-seeker, like Vans, The North Face, or DC Shoes.
The adventurer, like Jeep or Harley Davidson.
The trend-spotter, like Warby Parker, or Dior.
The luxury lover, like Marks and Spencer, Ralph Lauren, or Louis Vuitton.
Why Lifestyle Brand?
Why Lifestyle Brand? | Nike: Just Do It.
In our hectic life, many of us aspire to live a different life with more excitement and thrill. We want to become more athletic, fitter, more adventurous, more rebellious, more fashion-conscious, and the long list never ends. It is this desire to live a different kind of life that lifestyle marketers appeal to.
Lifestyle brands are effective in a way because they work on a deeper understanding level of what their target audience actually wants to do and achieve. Lifestyle brands create the whole idea that using their products or being associated with their brand takes people closer to the kind of lifestyle they want to live. They analyze the experiences that their audience craves, as well as the people, things, and places that inspire them.
Successful lifestyle brands don’t just compile demographic data into a user persona and begin to churn out content, they dissect every aspect of their audience until they know exactly what makes them tick.
A devoted, cult-like following and community around the brand and its products.
An emotional connection with their audience.
Inspire the audience to live a better or more exciting life so that they cultivate the trust and respect of their target audience.
Content and marketing activities are more focused on their audience rather than their products.
Don’t try to sell to everyone, cater for and connect with a niche audience.
How to create a Lifestyle Brand?
How to Create A Lifestyle Brand?
Creating a lifestyle brand is about defining who or what your audience wants to become in the future, and giving them the solution that will help them achieve that end goal. It’s not about designing the perfect running shoe, but convincing your audience that your company will make them a better runner.
One of the basic characteristics that differentiate lifestyle brands from non-lifestyle brands is that lifestyle brands succeed in activating and uniting communities. They market the product as a lifestyle or a part of the lifestyle.
5 Steps to Build A Successful Lifestyle Brand
1. Decide what kind of lifestyle you want to sell
2. Weave lifestyle into your brand
3. Be personal
4. Use content to create experience
5. Build your community
Just imagine standing in your favorite brand’s store. You would think why this brand makes it in my favorite list? Why should I buy this? How is this going to help me or my charisma? With the initial perception of a product should be such that the consumer is convinced by lifestyle branding.
In a way or not, we always try to use our money on things that are actually helping them out with their problems for a longer duration and also, building up their aura. I mean, obviously, a guy with Apple iPhone is more technologically-advanced than one with Nokia 1600. We judge everyone with the brands they wear or their lifestyle. Although this is hard to digest, we live for a better life, and that’s how lifestyle brands help to achieve that.
Lifestyle marketing | Lifestyle Marketing
Tips For Creating A Lifestyle Brand
Lifestyle brands are effective because they appeal to our human need to find a company that embodies our ideals. While there’s no one size fits all guide for lifestyle brand strategy, the following tips could help you to get started on the right track, before you begin your marketing campaign
1. Do Your Research
Always keep in mind that your aim is to define your company as an ideal that can help consumers buy what they aspire for. To step up on that, you should have a clear-cut idea about what those goals really are, and which try doing something unique. When you know what kind of lifestyle brands people like, or what identity they want to build; then achieving anything can be made possible. Make a list of lifestyle brands in your area of interest.
With that information in hand, you can do some research into your marketplace, including:
What kind of competitors you’ll be facing.
How your name, logo, and visual identity should represent your lifestyle.
What kind of brand values your customers respond best to.
Where your customers spend most of their time, and what kind of marketing they like.
The top lifestyle brands have unique personality traits that travel with them wherever they go. So when you do research on what kind of customer you want to appeal, then that should give you an insight into how that type of person talks and interacts with other individuals in their community. This will make it easier for you to adapt your voice to resonate with your followers.
Remember, some lifestyle brands even create their own branded buzzwords and language. For instance, employees at Disney World aren’t called staff members, but “cast members”.
3. Cohesively Demonstrate Your Ideals
The only thing that lifestyle brands are doing better is, they convey a lifestyle that their customers aspire to be. Whatever you decide your lifestyle brand is going to be like, you need to be willing to commit to your ideas for the long-term. Even the methods you use to communicate through your audience might evolve, make sure that your customers can rely on you to embody their ideals, no matter what. For instance, your brand might be associated with luxury, hospitality, or an adventurous nature, but it includes their aspiration; then it’s easy for them to differentiate between every other brand in the market.
Ralph Lauren | Polo | Lifestyle Branding
If you want to create a lifestyle marketing strategy around your brand, you should start by defining the kind of lifestyle you want to sell, then weave that lifestyle into your brand story, engage and interact with your customers, create outstanding, authentic content, and build a community of followers around your brand. People don’t usually buy things, because they need a new pair of boots, they choose that particular brand over others because of the identity it embodies, and the idea it conveys.
Nike doesn’t exclusively market itself to accomplished athletes. Instead, the company encourages everyone to believe that, with its help, they can all be successful in their health and fitness goals.
Consumers view the items and services they purchase as an extension of who they are and what they believe in. Lifestyle brands simply build on that concept, by ensuring that they don’t just sell a product, but a set of values that appeal to their target market. Products come and go, but our underlying quest to find ourselves, and become the people we want to be can remain the same for decades.
At the end of the day, most buying decisions are rarely logical; other than what Indian Mothers make!
A trial is being set for May 2021 for the lawsuits and legal filings between Apple and Epic Games. We may finally be able to see a conclusion for the lawsuits and filings.
There have been a couple of lawsuits between these two corporations. All the issues started over when epic games found a way to avoid paying 30% of fees charged by Apple on its app store. Let’s look at all the lawsuits and legal filings which has happened to date by Apple and Epic Games.
The entire issue started back on 13 August 2020, when Epic Games had introduced an update for its gaming app Fortnite on iOS and Android devices. The new update gave the users an option to purchase V-bucks directly from Epic Games rather than doing it through App store on iOS devices or the play store for Android devices.
Generally, when you purchase anything on the app store or Google play store, Google and Apple will charge 30% as a transaction fee. But with the new update for Epic Games gaming application, they had found a way to avoid paying 30% transaction fees to both Google and Apple.
This reduced the price for users to purchase V-bucks at a cheaper price as they dint have to pay 30% of the transaction fee to Apple or Google.
Fortnite Delisted from Stores
Apple responded quickly. They gave an incredibly quick response on the same day that is 13 August 2020. Apple immediately delisted Fortnite from the app store. Soon after that, even Google followed the same by removing the app from the Google play store.
It was an unexpected move from Apple as the company was taking its major source of revenue from one of the most popular games in the world.
In no time Epic Games had released a response for Apple’s delisting. A 1984 Fortnite video was aired by Epic Games on the same day in which Fortnite Parodied an Apple ad. The ad communicated a warning of the big corporations having dominance over life.
1984 video is considered to be a statement from Epic Games. It was positioning itself as a corporation that can fight another corporation against its dominance in the market. After the delisting of Fortnite Epic Games took the fight directly to Apple.
Epic Games filed a lawsuit against Apple in California. Epic Games strongly stated that it would build launch its own app storefront on the iOS devices. Epic Games stated that they felt obliged to charge extra for their V-bucks due to the extra transaction fees charged by App store.
Epic’s lawsuit is concentrated on launching its own app storefront on iOS devices. This is expected to be a separate from Apple’s app store and this would open opportunities for other developers as well.
Microsoft’s support for Epic Games
Microsoft had indicated its support for Epic Games lawsuit against Apple. This was mainly concentrated on Apple’s decision to block Epic Games from accessing the Unreal engine and updating it for iOS devices.
Microsoft alleged that this would have a really big impact on the games on iOS devices and that relied on the Unreal engine. It meant that the games which used Unreal Engine will not receive any more updates.
Later in August, a judge ruled in favor of Apple but for a temporary point of time. The U.S district court Judge ruled that Apple did not have to immediately reinstate Fortnite into their app store.
The Judge also stated that Apple could not stop Epic Games from accessing the Unreal Engine. The Judge provided permission for Epic Games to continue providing updates for its Unreal Engine, even though Fortnite was not reinstated in the app store.
The Next Trial
It was later announced that Epic Games and Apple would move to the court for the next trial which will be held on 3 May 2021. This trial will be concentrated on exploring Apple’s dominance as a monopoly over the distribution of apps.
The trial would be in the limelight for the reasons such as whether one of the most popular games in the world would return back or will ever be able to return back to the iOS devices.
The other reasons would include whether Epic games would be able to maintain their access towards the Unreal Engine and whether a third-party apps storefront can be launched on the iOS devices other than the app store.
FAQ
Why was Epic Games removed from app store?
Epic Games took the unfortunate step of violating the App Store guidelines that are applied equally to every developer and designed to keep the store safe for our users. As a result their Fortnite app has been removed from the store.
Is Fortnite banned on Apple?
Apple has banned the popular mobile game Fortnite amid a legal battle with its publisher, Epic Games, but the iPhone maker’s customers may soon be able to resume playing the title.
What is V bucks?
V bucks is an in-game currency that can be spent in Fortnite Battle Royale, Creative, and Save the World modes.
Conclusion
We will have to wait and look forward for the next trial to analyze all the answers and solutions for the above reasons and this lawsuit of Apple and Epic Games is expected to have a really huge consequence to be faced throughout the gaming industry.
LG is a South Korean company that was one of the leading manufacturers of mobile phones. The company has maintained the No 3 position in the manufacturing of the smartphones for a very long time. The company has been finding it hard to maintain its financial position and to increase the sales of the mobile phones amid the competitors.
Recently the company has announced that it is going to shut down the mobile phone business. Let’s look at why the company has decided to shut down its mobile phone business.
On 5 April 2020, LG had announced that it will shut down its mobile phone business. The South Korean firm LG had said in a statement that their Board of Directors had approved the decision to discontinue the business.
This unsurprising move from the company comes after its statement in the month of January, where LG had told that it was trying to review the direction of their smartphone business. The company has announced that it will close down its mobile business worldwide.
LG has become the latest legacy phone to exit the mobile phone making business. The company said that it will shut down its mobile phone business by the end of July.
The company has been struggling to compete with the global competitors such as Apple, Samsung, One Plus, and Xiaomi who dominates the mobile phone market. Apple and Samsung are the only brands that have maintained their sales over the years in this market.
Even the legacy phone brands such as Nokia and Blackberry have faced a lot of struggle and have lost their market domination. LG had failed to keep their products with the competitors and the new players are providing smartphones with better software and Operating systems at a reasonable price.
In 2007, LG was the fifth biggest smartphone maker globally. This was when the first iPhone was launched and went into sale. In the fourth quarter of 2020, LG couldn’t get ranked in the list of top whereas Huawei which is struggling because of certain US sanctions has managed to be in the fifth position.
LG Failed to make its mark
Over the past decade, it became harder to get consumer attention in mobile because of the growth of Android phones. LG had been experimenting with a lot of innovative designs in the last couple of years to attract the consumers.
LG continuously focused on two segments in the market which were high-end and mid-range smartphones. These two segments have become very competitive in the past decade because of the Chinese smartphone manufacturers such as Huawei, One Plus, Oppo, Xiaomi, and Vivo.
These companies have been releasing new models with software updates and the latest camera feature phones every often.
LG has told that it will continue to sell the smartphones as long as their already manufactured and stored inventory is exhausted. The company also said that it will continue providing services to their existing customers such as software updates, customer support, etc. for a period of time. They said that it would differ from one particular region to another.
On the request towards the company’s US business on how long will LG provide services to US customers did not receive any reply. A representative of AT&T has told that they are aware of LG shutting down their mobile phone business and added on saying that they would continue to support the people who use LG devices on their network as LG makes this move. This step is taken by AT&T as a commitment towards their customers.
Number of smartphones sold to end users worldwide
Future of LG Employees
It is said that LG will likely lay off some of their workforce. Some of them would probably be transferred to the other sectors of LG’s business. The company has a lot of employees around the world as it has phone manufacturing centers in China, Vietnam, and Brazil.
The company is trying to repurpose its manufacturing facilities to be used for the manufacture of other products. Even closure of these facilities is a possibility. They said that the status of their workforce that is involved in the phone business will be decided at their local level.
In the coming years, LG is planning to concentrate on leveraging their expertise in the mobile industry and to develop and work on building mobility-related technologies such as 6G to strengthen their competitiveness in various other business areas.
The company has plans to retain their core technologies that they had developed during the two decades of their mobile manufacturing business. The company is planning to apply it to their existing and future products.
The company has plans to focus more on its smart home products from smartphones. LG is one of the biggest providers of smart home products globally. The company is further planning to concentrate on electric vehicle components, Artificial Intelligence, robotics, business-to-business products, and other connected devices.
FAQ
What does LG stand for?
The company’s original name was Lucky Goldstar but it has become more synonymous with the company’s tag line “Life’s Good”.
Is LG going to stop making phones?
LG has released a statement saying that it is getting out of its mobile phone business to focus on other products and services.
Is LG is an Indian company?
No, LG is an South Korean multinational conglomerate corporation founded by Koo In-hwoi.
Conclusion
LG’s poor financial performance in their smartphone business and the information regarding it has been public for the past few years. Just like other legacy phones even LG has failed to retain in the mobile manufacturing business and to turn things around.
The mobile phone manufacturing market is a big industry, it has the potential to continue growing and create more markets. The mobile manufacturing market is completely different today when comparing to any stage in the past. Before, the mobile phone was the device used to make calls with othersoccasionally. But now, we use a mobile phone for so many purposes.
It combines a high-quality screen, highly functional software, and a powerful camera. Now, mobile is the tool to use toconnect with friends, to schedule meet-ups, to arrange appointments, and to manage our mails. Also, we use mobile phones to manage our social networks, to share photos, to play games, and to search the web. They can also be used for doing work.
Today, the mobile phone is a complete computer. In fact, now the mobile technology is as powerful as the computer. According to 2019, China is the largest mobile phone manufacturer country in the world. And also China has the highest number of mobile users in the world. China has some of the most important mobile brands in the world. It includes OnePlus, Oppo, Huawei, Honor, Vivo, etc.
Impact of Covid-19 On Global Mobile Manufacturing Market
Worldwide Smartphone Shipments From First Quarter (Q1) of 2017 to First Quarter of 2020
According to data from the International Data Corporation (IDC), global smartphone exports fell 11.7% in the first quarter of 2020. Also in this period (Q1 2020), companies exported 275.8 million smartphones. Exports as a whole fell steadily in the first quarter. There is a constant average decrease of 15%-20% in the last three years. It is the largest annual decrease ever.
There is also a decline this year. But it is not surprising. This is because the Covid-19 epidemic began in the first quarter of 2020. In addition, the lockdown was at its high level in China. Gradually the coronavirus spread around the world. The biggest drop in the first quarter of 2020 was in China, with exports falling 20.3 per cent.
China represents a quarter of world exports, which has had a huge impact on world markets. The world’s reliance on China’s smartphone distribution network has caused major problems. The United States fell 16.1 per cent. And the Western Europe fell 18.3 per cent. In this time of Covid-19, the users are more cautious about their spending and as a result, it’s hard to imagine that it won’t affect the smartphone purchases.
The closing of retail stores worldwide has affected all markets of consumer devices, including mobile phones. The Chinese market was better than expected in March, as the number of new Covid-19 cases began to decrease. But the global economic crisis will make a negative impact on consumer sentiment and economy.
Global Smartphone Market Share in First Quarter of 2020
Looking to the future, the mobile companies will face a problem because of lack of customer demand. This list of the best 3 mobile phone manufacturers is based on the data related to manufacturing capabilities and the global market share. They are given below.
Samsung
Samsung Electronics is a company based from South Korea. Samsung mobile phones and smartphones are very popular worldwide and world largest mobile manufacturing company. The latest technology and the simplest features made it one of the most trusted and popular brands in the world.
Their important model includes Galaxy S10 Plus, Galaxy S10, Galaxy Note 9, Galaxy S9 Plus, Galaxy S9, Galaxy Note 8, Galaxy A8 Plus, etc. Samsung had 31.38% Global Market Share in 2019. 58.3 million Smartphones were exported in the first quarter of 2020. It has 18.1 percentage declines, but Samsung remained in top position with a 21.1% share.
This is mainly due to the success of the A-Series, despite the Galaxy S20 premium 5G flag being launched. However, the high price of the S20 helped to boost Samsung’s profits. The two new premium devices (Fold 2, Note20) of Samsung will arrive in the 2nd half of the year.
Huawei is a Chinese company. 80% of the world’s top 50 telecommunications companies work with Huawei. The popular Huawei mobile phones include Huawei P30 Pro, Huawei Mate 20 Pro, Huawei P30 Pro, Huawei P20, Huawei Mate 20, Huawei Mate 20X, Huawei Mate 10 Pro, Huawei Mate 20 Lite, etc.
It had 8.57% market share in 2019. Huawei ranks second in the global smartphone market with a 17.8% share in 2020. However, Exports fell by 17.1%. The company has mitigated the impact of the decline with its price cuts on the Mate 30, P30 series, and 9X series.
Apple
Apple Inc is the best electronics company in the United States. This smartphone has its own operating system called iOS. The famous Apple iPhone models include iPhone XS Max, iPhone XS, iPhone XR, iPhone X, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone SE, iPhone 7, etc. It had a 22.4% market share in 2019.
The company exported 36.7 million iPhones in the first quarter of 2020. The company ranked third with 13.3% share. However, exports fell by 0.4%. It is the smallest annual decline among the top three suppliers for the year. The main reason for this is the continued success of the iPhone 11 series. The new SE (2020) device is aiming the peoples, who are looking for low priced iPhones.
India is the 2nd largest mobile manufacturing hub in the world
The minister of law and Justice, Communications, Electronics and Information Technology, Ravi Shankar Prasad said that India is the 2nd largest mobile manufacturing hub in the world. More than 200 mobile manufacturing units have been established in the country in the past 5 years.
Around 330 million mobile phones produced in 2019. Many companies are already making their own products in the country. Manu Kumar Jain, the Xiaomi India head tweeted that 99% of Redmi and Mi phones are made in India and also the 65% of parts are sourced from locally. Apple has already partnered with contract manufacturers Wistron and Foxconn to produce some iPhone models in India.
The smartphone market is leading some other markets and industries. The technology is developing. In the future, we will begin to see foldable displays that could further reduce the distance between tablets, smartphones, and computers.
A mobile manufacturing module is used to adjust the manufacturing system to an inconsistent workload. By implementing mobile manufacturing modules that quickly and easily can be used on different production sites, fewer investments are needed in manufacturing equipment.
Which country is the largest manufacturer of mobile phones?
China
Which is the second largest mobile manufacturer country in the world?
India is the 2nd largest mobile manufacturing hub in the world.
Which mobiles are manufactured in India?
Some Smartphones Made in India:-
OnePlus 8 Pro
Motorola One Fusion Plus
Nokia 7.2
Infinix Hot 9 Pro
Samsung Galaxy M21
Vivo Y19.
What are the world biggest mobile manufacturing company?
Microsoft Corporation and Apple, Inc. are leading companies in consumer access and technology. They are competing each other in so many sub-industries, such as operating systems, mobile devices, hardware, advertising, software, Web browsing, applications, etc. Microsoft and Apple have a different business model.
They are the two largest companies in the world. The business model of Apple is based on customer-centric devices and innovation. Microsoft’s business spanned across Windows, Office products, Gaming (Xbox), Hardware, Web search engine (Bing), Cloud, LinkedIn, etc. They have a diversified business model. They changed their business model by starting to release their own devices.
These 2 companies made a revolution in the technology industry. Both companies have chosen a different way for the adoption of enterprise. These tech giants succeeded in the enterprise, using different strategies. Both companies have a different approachfrom the philosophical and organizational perspective The analysis about the business models of these 2 companies are given below.
Business model of Apple
Apple, Inc. was founded by Steve Jobs, Ronald Wayne, and Steve Wozniak on 1976. It is one of the most successful companies in the world. The company offers software services and technology products. The headquarters of the company is situated in California, USA. Currently,Tim Cook is the CEO of the company.
Steve Jobs
Apple 1 computer is the first product of the company. After that, Apple provided so many services and products. iPhone is one of the most successful products from Apple. iPhone had a sale was $142 Billion in 2019. It represents the 54% of Apple’s total revenue. Its total revenue was $260.174 Billion in 2019.
Strengths
Apple is one of the most valuable brands. It has a brand value of $140 billion in 2020. Apple is a reliable company in the industry of smart technology devices and advanced computers. The loyal customers, who number in millions is one of their major strengths. And also, they have top technology.
Apple introduced some innovative products such as iPads and iPhones. They are still determined to manufacture the best technology devices. Apple Company provides a specific business page to its customers. According to customer’s needs, It gives technology solutions of top quality.
Apple gives more dedication into designing of their products. According to customer needs, they are doing more researches. Apple introduced an iPhone recycling robot named “Liam”. It is used to disassemble of iPhones. The reusable parts are safely stored. Those parts are used for new manufacturing.
The company is expanding their services portfolio. The 16% of their total annual revenue (2019) comes from its services. It is the second largest contributor to its total revenue. iPhone (54% in 2019) is the biggest source of company’s total revenue. In 2019, Apple Company introduced so many new services. It includes Apple Arcade, Apple TV+, Apple Card, and Apple news+.
Annual revenue of Apple from 2016 to 2019
Weaknesses
Theproducts from Apple considered as a luxury itemdue to the high prices. Apple’s products are not affordable for low Income consumers. Most of their customers are middle or high class individuals. Apple has only limited advertising resources. Company’s marketing mainly depends on their flagship and iconic retail stores.
Apple released their mapping service named “Apple Maps” in September 2012. It was a failure. They are swiftly entering into new services (game streaming, video content streaming, and credit card) and competing with the major players such as Disney, Netflix, City, Paypal, Chase etc. The products of Apple do not support other technologies or softwares. So Apple’s products are incompatible with other devices.
Customers have to buy Apple accessories or apps to continue the using of products from Apple. They received payments to make search engine of Google company as the default search engine for their Safari web browser. Because of this, the company is under investigation. They have been accused of using tracking appsin phones to find the location of users. But in their latest version of phones provides the right for users to decline the tracking.
Business model of Microsoft
The Microsoft is an American multinational technology company. It wasfounded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen on 1975. The company offers office software suites, devices, apps, cloud computing, operating systems, hardware and software products. They are one of the leading companies in software market. The headquarters of the company is situated in Washington, USA. Currently, Satya Nadella is the CEO of the company. They are forefront of the technology industry for more than 40 years.
Bill Gates
Strengths
Microsoft is considered as the market leader in the industry of software technology, especially in cloud computing. They are the developers of Windows operating system. Azure is a public cloud made by Microsoft. Company’s total revenue was $126 billion in 2019. Microsoft is one of the top 5 cloud service providers in the world.
The Microsoft has a brand value of $117 billion in 2020. The company operates their business in more than 190 countries. They launched a promoted version of Windows 10. It got more than 700 million installs. Microsoft added new stock keeping units to its portfolio. It includes Microsoft 365. The company has larger loyal customer base. It is one of their main strength.
They have an efficient adverting platform. The company influenced consumers through their effective and stronger marketing strategies. Their advertisement with the title “The future starts now” has touched so many peoples. Microsoft has a 4th rank in world’s most valuable brand list prepared by Interbrand. The company offers user friendly and quality products such as Office software products and Windows OS.
They are implementing a freemium business model. Microsoft realized that paid software is a more difficult sell in an age of low-cost alternatives. Tablets and phones are replacing PCs. A newer Microsoft business model has been made by CEO Satya Nadella, who emphasizes product integration, a “freemium” software package, and a concentration on its cloud computing business.
Annual revenue of Microsoft from 2016 to 2019
Weaknesses
The cyber-crime cases are increasing. It made Microsoft in a weakened state. Cyber-security of the Windows OS have faced attacks from hackers for several times. Their hardware product sales are failing to grow. It includes phones and surface pro computers. Also, PC shipments of the company have frequent falls, because of currency fluctuations and rising to vendors’ rising prices.
They are lagging in advanced technology and innovation. At this time, Google, Apple and Amazon are rapidly growing. Safari, Google, and Firefox are the leaders in the internet browser market. But Microsoft is lagging in the Internet browser sector. The acquisitions of the company such as LinkExchange, WebTV, Danger, and Massive were failures. Those unprofitable investments are the major weakness of the Microsoft.
In terms of enterprise value to free cash flow and price to earnings ratio, the market value of Apple is currently higher than Microsoft. Apple has a market capitalization of $1.904 trillion in August 2020. But Microsoft has only $1.607 trillion in this time.
The analysts said that there will be a 15% compound annual earnings growth for Microsoft and 11.5% compound annual earnings growth for Apple in the next 5 years. The both companies have crossed the market capitalization value of $1.5 trillion. Now their next target is to reach the market capitalization value of $2 trillion.
One of the most well-known rivalry in the technological industry is between Apple Inc and Microsoft Corporation. They are two of the largest companies in the world as both Apple and Microsoft have touched market capitalization value of $1.5 trillion in 2020. Both the companies have revolutionized the technological industry by providing us with two very different software applications and gadgets such as Mac and PC.
They are two of the most established companies when it comes to the production of computers. Both Apple and Microsoft are competitors even in different sectors of the industry like hardware devices like smartphone and PCs, advertising, making software’s, operating systems, etc. Apple main aim is to produce gadgets like iPhone, Mac, Apple watch , etc, while Microsoft focuses on making software applications for different devices and giving license for their software services.
Which is why both the companies have different approaches to marketing strategies. Let’s put a light on some of the key points from the marketing strategies of both companies and check how you can implement them in your business.
Apple Inc is one of the most well known American corporation which is popular for creating unique designs and selling electronics, computer software and online services. The headquarters of people Inc is situated in Cupertino, California. The company is credited for designing products such as Macintosh range of computers, iPad, iPhone, iPod, Mac, Apple watch, etc. The company is also know to make software such as iLife, the safari web browser, iOS and iTunes among others. Apple now operates in over 350 stores around the world and offers both software and hardware.
The success story of Apple
The success of Apple Inc. is solely because of the contributions made by the cofounder and entrepreneur, Steve Jobs who created good looking, easy to use products and the ability to create innovative products that consumer’s desire. The company was created during the unstable economic situation of the 1970’s. The company introduced Macintosh in 1984 after which it also got its widespread recognition because of its marketing and advertisements for its products. In 90’s after jobs resignation, apple lost a huge market share to its lower priced competitors Microsoft and Intel.
In 2000, when jobs returned and became the CEO, Apple gained it prominence after the launch of iMac and the Think different campaigns. In August 2011, Jobs resigned as CEO due to health issues, which led to Tim Cook becoming the new CEO. And the rest is history. Apple’s annual revenue for 2020 was $274.5 billion, making Apple Inc the world’s most valuable company. As of January 2021, Apple has achieved the title of becoming the world’s largest PC vendor and also becoming the world’s fourth largest manufacturers of smartphones. Apple is now also the world’s largest music retailer with iTunes.
Microsoft Corporation is an US based multinational technology company which is headquartered in Redmond, Washington. The company is known for manufacturing, licensing and selling software’s, consumer electronics, PCs, etc. Some of its well-recognized and popular contributions to the tech industry is Microsoft office suite, internet explorer, Xbox video game consoles and a variety of PCs. Microsoft is also one of the top five tech companies in the US that includes Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft. In 2020 Microsoft became the 21st company in the Fortune 500 list.
The success story of Microsoft
The company was founded by Bill Gates in 1975 . The company was made from contributions of the ideas of two individuals Bill Gates and Paul Allen, as they were interested in computers and programming. The company rose to prominence in 80s with developments like Altair 8800, MS-DOS and the most popular Microsoft windows. Bill gates was then replaced by Steve Ballmer as the CEO in 2000. In the 90s the company made major acquisitions of Skype for $8.5 billion in 2011 and LinkedIn for $26.2 Billion in 2016.
Microsoft provides a vast range of products and service that are aimed at satisfying the customers on what they want in the software industry. In addition to this, the company has extended its operations in other sectors in order to enhance its competitive advantage. The company now offers a wide range of products, software’s and servers for its user’s desktops, laptops, tabs, gadgets and servers including internet search with Bing, cloud computing with Azure, mixed reality with Hololens and software development with visual studio.
The Target Audience of Apple and Microsoft
Apple Inc. has both software and hardware products and services, for software it has iCloud, iLife, iMessage, iMovie, iTunes, etc and for hardware it has iPhone, Macbook, iMac, Apple watch, iPad, etc. Which is why the apple has a vast array of target audience as it keeps expanding its market with every new product. Apple already has 1.5 billion users who fall under the age bracket of 22 to 55 years old. The male to female user ratio is 60.8% to 39.2% showing that it is expanding in the male market.
Apple also targets people with medium to high income individuals who live in metropolitan cities and are loyal to the brand. The occupation group of Apple users are considered to be students and young professionals to even managers and executives. Microsoft also has both software and hardware products and services. Everyone from the middle class house at least owns one Microsoft hardware or software that is because the target audience of Microsoft are people who don’t necessarily have a high income.
Microsoft’s target audience age group range from 16 and older and from both urban and rural areas around the world. They also target young crowds that are usually students, employees and professionals and are loyal to the brand. Microsoft also uses the approach of STP which is Market Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning in order to bring about communications in marketing as it enables the company to make propositions their priority.
Apple’s marketing mix shows us how the company matches with its business activities to the conditions in the worldwide market for information technology, consumer’s electronics and online services. While Microsoft’s is known to be marketing mix that shows how rapid invention and innovation can be combined with effective approaches to maintain a strong share of the market. Here are the 4Ps (Products, Place, Promotion, Price) of both the companies.
The marketing mix of Apple
Product mix
Apples products mostly comprise of mostly of both hardware and software which involve information technology. Apple although has more hardware products and some of the well-known products are Mac products line, iPhone line, iPad line, iPod line Apple watches, Apple TV, while it software products are software of devices, accessories, cloud services, digital content, etc.
Microsoft on the other hand started out as a software developer and still continues to give it its first preferences. However this company has grown to include an variety of products and services. Some of its products are providing different software to various devices, Apps, Xbox Video game consoles and entertainment.
Placement mix analyses the selection of appropriate places or venues that are used by the company to distribute its products. Apple Inc. placement involves apple owned locations and other parties that the company authorizes to distribute its products. Most of Apples distribution happens from Apple store locations, Company owned website and online stores for desktop and authorized sellers and lastly the telecommunication companies.
Microsoft tries to maximize its reach in the sectors of both computer hardware and software market. The company does its distribution on their official website, authorized sellers and Microsoft stores.
The marketing mix of Microsoft
Price mix
Apple uses two pricing strategy which are Freemium pricing strategy and premium pricing strategy. Apple uses premium pricing strategy to set high prices for its products which is why apple products are more expensive then android products, with this it maximizes profit margins.
In the freemium pricing case apple products are free but customers have to pay to access better features, for example the company offers free 5 GB iCloud storage but if the user wants more they can by purchasing. However Microsoft applies suitable pricing approaches like Market-oriented pricing strategy, Freemium pricing strategy similar to apple’s and Buy only what you use price strategy.
Promotional mix
Apple promotes its products in various ways to include different channels and parties. Apple also uses word of mouth, marketing campaigns and beautifully planned ad video that reaches out to their target audience. Microsoft aims on creating effective communication strategies and tactics which can be used to attract target audience. Both Apple and Microsoft uses tactics such as advertising, sales promotion, direct marketing, personal selling and public relations to promote their products.
Apple is known to be the best companies when it comes to branding and tech marketing. They don’t just market their products they try to market a brand identity. One of its main market strategies is to keep the products and marketing simple because they don’t want to overwhelm their prospective customers with too many choices. Apple lets its products speak for themselves with their simplistic design and easy to understand descriptions and simple visuals.
One of Apple’s best marketing strategies is hyping its products and making a creative campaign. The other reasons are that they understand their target audience and try to reach out to them in the language they will understand which is done by simplifying the marketing process. One of the points of Apple’s tech marketing is that they know how to speak directly to their consumer. They also create brilliant video ads and billboards that showcases human needs and speaks to the customer’s human needs.
Microsoft on the other hand depends completely on showcasing its product effectiveness and usability. Microsoft spends a lot as it depends on B2B marketing that directly sells its products to the customers. Microsoft has also updated its marketing strategy which is now based upon customer feedback and market changes. In this day and age, Microsoft has somehow managed to develop not only its marketing but also its products in order to match the rapid rate of change in today’s market.
Microsoft’s marketing strategy is to drive its enterprises business by creating cloud based solutions that will stick with its consumers. Microsoft uses a mix of demographic and behavior segmentation strategies to segments the market into different group with similar characteristics. Segmenting based on demographics is important for products like Operating systems and Office products which are applicable to everyone.
Apple has several competitive advantages over its competitors one of which is that it produces superior technological products with good OS and technology like iPhone, Macbook and iWatch making it a leader in the market space. Apple has also repeatedly taken the top spot for its brand equity and also has loyal customers. Apple has increased its revenue over the past years and also has high margins.
One of the major competitive advantages of Apple is the amount it spends on R&D, always thinking about the future of the company. Microsoft offers both software and hardware products and services, from Microsoft tablet to Xbox console games to even software. So one of the main competitive advantage that Microsoft has over its competitors is the strategy of making acquisitions. Microsoft has so far acquired companies like Hotmail, Skype and even Nokia.
Microsoft is a main competitor to apple because its operating system is installable on any PC or laptop and there is no hardware binding on the operating system which is a problem noticeable in Apple gadgets. It also has a vast product line and has worked upon TCO which is total cost of ownership so as to make the software easily and economically available to the customers.
Frequently Asked Questions – FAQs
What are some of the Apple’s products?
Apple products mostly comprise of mostly of both hardware and software which are Mac products line, iPhone line, iPad line, iPod line Apple watches, Apple TV, while it software products are software of devices, accessories, cloud services, digital content, etc.
What are some of Microsoft products?
Microsoft also has software and hardware products and usually provides different software to various devices, Apps, Xbox Video game consoles and entertainment.
What is Apple’s marketing strategy?
Apple marking strategy involves keeping its products and ads simple, knowing their target audience and reaching out to them, getting good feedback, a well appreciated customer experience.
What is Microsoft’s marketing strategy?
Microsoft marketing strategy focuses on showcasing its product effectiveness and usability and implementing customer feedback to create user-friendly products at a reasonable price.
For a long time there has been this general belief that there is no Android phone that can compete with the Apple Models based on quality, this is what OnePlus aimed to change ever since its formation. OnePlus Technology (Shenzen) Co., ltd simply referred to as OnePlus, is a Chinese smartphone and electronics manufacturer based in Shenzen, Guangdong, founded by Pete Lau (CEO) and Carl Pei (Drector) in December 2013.
As of February 2020, OnePlus is the top selling premium smartphone brand in India holding 33% of the total market share. Apart from smartphones, OnePlus also deals in other devices like earphones, chargers and Smart Television sets in over 340 countries. The story behind the formation and the motivation of the brand is a fascinating.
Here’s a thoroughly studied OnePlus Case Study that’s going to clear every doubt that you might have in your mind regarding OnePlus.
As mentioned OnePlus was co founded by Pete Lau and Carl Pei. At that time, Lau was the Vice President of OPPO and Pei was OPPO’s Global Marketing and E-Commerce Division Head.
OnePlus Founders
While they were visiting a Café with their colleagues from OPPO, they noticed that all of them were using Apple smartphones, the reason behind this was the common belief that Android phones were concerned with market share more than the quality of their products. They put forward the concept that based on product quality, there was no “second best” to Apple.
This is where OnePlus’s motto “Never Settle” originates from as it provides better options for the android users instead for settling for something lesser.
Having determined the need of a premium android smartphone line, the company then had to decide what features were to be implemented in their product lines. Their primary focus throughout the manufacturing process was on quality.
As Lau said “we will never be different just for the sake of being different.”
So the OnePlus production does not focuses on a ‘brand new concept that has never been seen before’ instead it gives more emphasis on improving the actual user experience in day to day life.
The first product of OnePlus was the highly awaited OnePlus One which was unveiled just 4 months after the company started on 22 April 2014. The model received a positive reception from the general audience.
Despite being about half the price of the other competitors, it performed on the same level and even higher. Although there were some technical faults and lower camera quality due to the low cost, it performed very well despite having a lesser availability than its closest competitor in the Nexus series.
It surpassed the expected limits and set a staple for the company upon which the further models were improvised. The later models of the smartphone included improvements on the previous models and received positive reception.
The company also introduced the T series starting from OnePlus 3 until 7 and the Pro Series starting from OnePlus 7 to 8. These models were limited edition variants to the core series designed for luxury users.
By 2020, OnePlus became the top selling smartphone brand in India. Some of the features that appealed to the masses were unique and handy build, continuous improvement in camera quality with every new model and an affordable price.
The company also announced its intention to venture into the Smart Television market in September 2018 starting with OnePlus Tv Q1 and the OnePlus TV U series.
Wireless chargers were introduced along with OnePlus 8 series and the wireless earphones, OnePlus bullets with the OnePlus 6 series.
In every product line, OnePlus puts product quality and affordability first all the while appealing to the different sections of the audience.
The pricing strategy of OnePlus focuses on the customers seeking high quality features in smartphones and other devices without spending too much into it.
Therefore, the company focuses on high quality manufacturing and a relatively low margin of profit, opting to utilize its savings in order to make the products available and affordable to more people around the world.
However, different countries have different prices depending upon various factors.
OnePlus Business Strategy In India
Over the years of its operation, OnePlus has used many innovative models and campaigns for the promotion of its products. The following are some of the popular promotional strategies and campaigns implemented by OnePlus,
Invite Only System
In order to manage the huge demand in the initial stages of its operation, OnePlus used an Invitation System, where the customers had to sign up for the purchase of OnePlus One at irregular intervals, they ended the Invitation System with the launch of OnePlus 3 which went on sale on an interactive VR (Virtual Reality) platform. OnePlus dubbed the event as world’s first ever VR Shopping Experience.
OnePlus started the Smash the Past campaign on 23 April 2014. As the name suggests, it invited a selected group of customers to smash their old phone in an effort to purchase the OnePlus One for just $1. However, this campaign didn’t work as planned because uninvited customers also started to smash their phones in videos that surfaced online and threatened the reputation of the company. As a result of this, OnePlus revised the rules thereby allowing the invited users to donate their old phones instead of smashing them. There were 140000 users and 100 were selected.
Ladies First Campaign
On August 13 2014, OnePlus started the controversial Ladies first Campaign, it involved handing the elusive invites to the female forum members first. The selection will be based upon the likes on their pictures with the logo of the OnePlus brand, however this received major backlash from the community and was pulled within hours of its launch.
Brand Ambassadors
OnePlus hired Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan as a Brand Ambassador for their promotion in India. And in May 2019 they hired Robert Downey Jr. for the said role.
Slowly but surely, OnePlus is becoming a household name in the smartphone market along with established brands like OPPO and Samsung especially in India.
However, due to the recent events that have strained the relationship between India and China that resulted in banning of various Chinese apps and products in India, the brand of OnePlus may be unaffected but the employment in its Indian stores may dwindle in the near future.
Frequently Asked Questions About OnePlus
How did OnePlus one start?
OnePlus Technology (Shenzen) Co., ltd simply referred to as OnePlus, is a Chinese smartphone and electronics manufacturer based in Shenzen, Guangdong, founded by Pete Lau (CEO) and Carl Pei (Drector) in December 2013.
While they were visiting a Café with their colleagues from OPPO, they noticed that all of them were using Apple smartphones, the reason behind this was the common belief that Android phones were concerned with market share more than the quality of their products. They put forward the concept that based on product quality, there was no “second best” to Apple.
This is where OnePlus’s motto “Never Settle” originates from as it provides better options for the android users instead for settling for something lesser.
Who invented OnePlus?
OnePlus Technology (Shenzen) Co., ltd simply referred to as OnePlus, is a Chinese smartphone and electronics manufacturer based in Shenzen, Guangdong, founded by Pete Lau (CEO) and Carl Pei (Director) in December 2013.
What is OnePlus’ Startup Story?
For a long time there has been this general belief that there is no Android phone that can compete with the Apple Models based on quality, this is what OnePlus aimed to change ever since its formation. OnePlus Technology (Shenzen) Co., ltd simply referred to as OnePlus, is a Chinese smartphone and electronics manufacturer based in Shenzen, Guangdong, founded by Pete Lau (CEO) and Carl Pei (Director) in December 2013.
What is Oneplus’ business strategy?
Over the years of its operation, OnePlus has used many innovative models and campaigns for the promotion of its products. The following are some of the popular promotional strategies and campaigns implemented by OnePlus,
Invite Only System
Smash The Past – OnePlus started the Smash the Past campaign on 23 April 2014. As the name suggests, it invited a selected group of customers to smash their old phone in an effort to purchase the OnePlus One for just $1.
Ladies First Campaign – On August 13 2014, OnePlus started the controversial Ladies first Campaign, it involved handing the elusive invites to the female forum members first.
Brand Ambassadors – OnePlus hired Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan as a Brand Ambassador for their promotion in India.
Lakshya Singh
