A Study of Product Differentiation Strategy in Mobile Devices Specifically in Smartphones About Smartphones Features

Download as pdf or txt
Download as pdf or txt
You are on page 1of 7

See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/324969407

A Study of Product Differentiation Strategy in Mobile Devices Specifically In


Smartphones about Smartphones Features

Article · April 2018


DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.1238014

CITATIONS READS

2 12,484

1 author:

Pawan Kalyani
MRES
42 PUBLICATIONS   53 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

5G Communication View project

Management Education View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Pawan Kalyani on 05 May 2018.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.


Journal of Management Engineering and Information Technology (JMEIT)
Volume -5, Issue- 2, Apr. 2018, ISSN: 2394 - 8124
Impact Factor : 4.564 (2015) | Index Copernicus - ICV 2016 = 51.4
Website: www.jmeit.com | E-mail: editorjmeit@outlook.com | jmeit@outlook.com

A Study of Product Differentiation Strategy in


Mobile Devices Specifically In Smartphones
about Smartphones Features
Pawan Kalyani, MRES
pawankalyani@gmail.com

Abstract: mobile devices are becoming indispensable differentiating strategy for holding a better position in the
commodity for users they depend on mobile devices for market.
their official work and for entertainment. Mobile devices
are becoming more sophisticated, the acceptability of II. MAJOR SMARTPHONE COMPANIES IN THE
smartphones over the earlier mobile devices has been COMPETITION
increased with the features like touch screen over the
number keypad and simple camera against mega pixel Samsung, is having the maximum market share in terms of
camera etc. with touchscreen and updated android smartphone in today’s scenario. It has many competitors
operating system the smartphones almost taken the form Indian market and global market, here is the list of
maximum market share, now in current scenario to gain major smartphone manufacturers who are in tough
and retain the market share the mobile device competitor of the leader Samsung. It is very hard to compete
manufacturer are trying to differentiate the features in in the market in terms of price and feature rich smartphone
smartphones like dual camera, selfi camera, more availability as everyone is selling the same hardware and
internal memory etc. In this paper the author is flashing software other than iOS of Apple.
the spotlight on the strategy where every mobile 1) Apple
manufacturer is offering almost the similar feature on the
smartphone how the manufacturer are making their Apple’s Iphone is without doubt the number 1 Samsung
product differ from other and to get customer attention. competitor when we talk about high end smartphones.
Almost every year, there are 3 smartphones sure to be
Keywords: mobile devices, smartphones, features,
launched. One would be an Iphone, another a Samsung Note
product differentiation strategy, android, ios.
and the third Samsung galaxy or Samsung galaxy edge.
I. INTRODUCTION Iphone was one of the first phones to come out in the market
with multi touch features.
In the current scenario market is flooded with a wide range
However, although Iphone is loved by many, Samsung
of smartphones by the time the smartphones are becoming
more affordable and reaching to the wider range of the utilised Google Android to launch several features of its own,
including some awesome hardware. The Apple vs Samsung
market. People are opting smartphones against normal
keypad mobile device as they offer more features and easy to (Android) debate is endless. Apple Iphone has the share of
Smartphones in US and it is second highest market share
operate. Every mobile device manufacturer is making
smartphones to get the market hold and stay in competition. holder worldwide and is one of the strongest Samsung
People are getting readymade smartphones with almost competitors in the business.
similar features they are happily upgrading their smartphone 2) Huawei
from 3G to 4G and so on but the features are still same like
every smartphone has camera with high resolution, some are Samsung competitors 2 Huawei has repeatedly impressed
giving two cameras like front and back, some are offering consumers with its design as well as functionality of its
extra attachment for zoom and clarity. One feature “Camera” phones. Obviously Huawei operates with strong penetrative
in the smartphone with different integrated features like pricing, which is common for all Samsung competitors other
placement – front and back, mega pixel difference in front then Apple’s Iphone and Google’s Pixel (which operate on
and back these are the differentiating features on which Skimming price strategy). There are ripe speculations that
mobile device manufacturer are focusing to offer a better Huawei is becoming a strong global contender to Samsung
featured mobile, as camera is a common feature in every and Apple both.
mobile and smartphone, the focus is how to attract customer
to their brand and make them brand loyal. In general scenario 3) Xiaomi
the brand loyalty is stick to the price and utility of the
In 2015, Xiaomi was the worlds 4th largest smartphone
smartphone and then on brand in many price sensitive
maker. Xiaomi is a privately owned company operating from
countries like India. In later sections of the paper the author
China. The best advantage to Xiaomi is the Asian population
is going to discuss on the product that is smartphone and the
which it can cover easily, mainly India and China, two of the
most populated countries in the world. Because of its massive

All rights reserved © www.jmeit.com

12
Journal of Management Engineering and Information Technology (JMEIT)
Volume -5, Issue- 2, Apr. 2018, ISSN: 2394 - 8124
Impact Factor : 4.564 (2015) | Index Copernicus - ICV 2016 = 51.4
Website: www.jmeit.com | E-mail: editorjmeit@outlook.com | jmeit@outlook.com
distribution and production capacity, Xiaomi is the third smart and have unique designs, which is a differentiator for
highest Samsung competitors in the world. Motorola in this tough Smartphone market.

4) Oppo 10) Microsoft

Oppo came quite late in the picture, but took away the market People would expect Microsoft to be a major player wherever
share which was going to Micromax. Oppo left Micromax far it steps in. However, it is definitely not so in the Smartphone
behind with its well designed smartphones which were value market and Microsoft is far behind amongst Samsung
for money. In fact, most distributors which were purely competitors. The reason Microsoft does not have wider
Micromax players are seen more and more to side with Oppo. acceptance in the market is its operating system. People either
Oppo is also known very well for its well executed branding want Android or they want IOS. However, no one is running
strategies at point of purchase. Oppo is the fourth highest behind windows 10 on a Smartphone, which looks like a PC
Samsung competitor in the world. software repackaged as a mobile software. But we can never
expect Microsoft to sell phones with software made by
5) Vivo Google or Apple. So it is unlikely Microsoft will climb up the
ladder as a Samsung competitor.
Another Chinese company with the same advantages as
Oppo, but which lacks the marketing skills of Oppo is Vivo. 11) Google’s Pixel
Vivo started its business in 2009 and because of its
Manufacturing capacity and the wide market at its disposal, Pixel could have seen a higher market share if only it was
capture a good chunk of the market share very fast. Within 3- regularly available in the market!! Google has again
4 years, Vivo had established itself in 100 countries like underestimated demand, fizzing out the excitement of
China, India, Malaysia and others. It closely follows the purchasing a google phone.
footsteps of Oppo in product design.
12) Micromax 13) Asus 14) Gionee 15) Intex 16) Iball
6) Lenovo
17) Nokia, these are also in the competition but not giving
Lenovo is a competitor to Samsung in Smartphones as well fierce competition such as Apple and Xiaomi in the market.
as in Laptops. While in laptops, Lenovo is far ahead of People are having the advantage of having high end
Samsung, in Smartphones, Lenovo is far behind. Lenovo smartphone range in almost affordable price if compared to
phones are loved for their simple design but one key feature the facilities and features provided by the leading smartphone
separates Lenovo from the rest – Battery life. Lenovo phones manufacturers.[1]
are regularly known to have a high battery life above 3500
mah in smartphones III. COMPARISON

7) Sony The following is the comparative table that shows various


aspects of the mobile manufacturers and their brands like
The Sony Xperia series was a breath of fresh air for the brand display screen size, battery, RAM, ROM, internal storage and
after the phasing out of Sony Ericsson – the tie up between many more.
Sony and Ericsson to make and distribute smartphones. Sony
Xperia took the market by storm when it launched
smartphones which were water resistant and could stay safe
even if dropped in the pool. Smartphone industry being what
it is, others soon copied the example and there were multiple
brands marketing their waterproof mobile. Yet, Sony had a
first mover advantage and it got the attention of many
consumers. Till date, Sony Xperia series and other Sony
smartphones are loved by consumers.

8) HTC

The HTC Design and the HTC M series are strong Samsung
competitors and the M series is a premium smartphone which
has many features of the galaxy series but at lesser prices. At
the same time, the advantage HTC has is its very good in
branding and packaging and it comes in the competitive price
segment. Instead of pricing to penetrate the market, HTC
prices its products between the likes of Oppo and the likes of
Samsung, therefore having the best of both segments.

9) Motorola
Table 1.: Showing the comparative tabular form of various features
The MOTO G series of Motorola is one of the most popular of smartphones.
series of Motorola Smartphones. Motorola phones look very

All rights reserved © www.jmeit.com

13
Journal of Management Engineering and Information Technology (JMEIT)
Volume -5, Issue- 2, Apr. 2018, ISSN: 2394 - 8124
Impact Factor : 4.564 (2015) | Index Copernicus - ICV 2016 = 51.4
Website: www.jmeit.com | E-mail: editorjmeit@outlook.com | jmeit@outlook.com
IV. FEATURES AVAILABLE IN VARIOUS will certainly be an unwelcome development for vendors
SMARTPHONES looking to preserve already pressured margins.

• Display V. PRODUCT DIFFERENTIATION


• Resolution
In economics and marketing, product differentiation (or
• Processor
• RAM simply differentiation) is the process of distinguishing a
• Storage product or service from others, to make it more attractive to
• Rear camera a particular target market. This involves differentiating it
• Front camera from competitors' products as well as a firm's own products.
• Battery The concept was proposed by Edward Chamberlin in his
• Water protection 1933 The Theory of Monopolistic Competition.[2]
• Weight
Product differentiation is a marketing strategy whereby
• Dimensions (in.)
businesses attempt to make their product unique to stand out
• Starting price
from competitors. Businesses do this to gain an edge in
• Face ID scanner
industries where multiple competitors produce similar
• Wireless charging
products. There are other methods businesses can employ to
• S Pen
gain that edge, like pursuing a low-cost strategy and
• Iris scanner
advertising, but while those are legitimate marketing
• USB-C
strategies, they are different from product differentiation.
• Modular attachment system
Product differentiation means that some feature, physical
• Quad DAC for hi-fi audio
attribute, or substantive difference exists between a product
• Force Touch home button
and all other alternatives.
• No headphone jack
• Force Touch home button Examples of Product Differentiation
• Google Assistant
• Fast charging You don't need to travel far to see product differentiation at
• Squeezable side function work. A trip to your local grocery store will provide a number
of examples. Look in the cereal aisle for some bran flakes and
you'll likely have two options - generic bran flakes, probably
These are the few features available in almost all the packaged in fairly plain packaging, or Wheaties, the
smartphones except from few specific ones, the display is one 'breakfast of champions.' What is the difference between the
of the most important feature and it ranges from 4.8 to 6.2 generic brand flakes and Wheaties? Very little. But Wheaties
inches mostly it is around 5.5 with touchscreen function, is differentiated by its packaging. [4]
people usually select above 5 inch screen size due to obvious
reasons like entertainment, reading, image viewing etc. VI. PRODUCT DIFFERENTIATION IN
similarly the other features like processor, storage, RAM, SMARTPHONES
camera, finger print scanner, facial id, etc. are also important
in the selection of smartphones. The point to ponder here is Theodore Levitt’s 2 classic concept of product levels is
that, people are using readymade smartphones with some or used to determine the criteria under which companies can
little variations in design and features. be organized into strategic groups. According to him the
product levels are four, but later on Philip Kotler3 adds one
The arrival on common ground can also be seen in the feature more and thus the product levels become five:
sets. While there are some outliers, most smartphones have a
camera of around 5MP, include GPS and WiFi, and support 1. Core benefit – Kotler
an app store in some shape or form. In most cases, popular 2. The generic product – Levitt
apps (perhaps Angry Birds, or Facebook, or Twitter) are 3. The expected product – Levitt
available across-the-board, and in the future, the increased 4. The augmented product – Levitt
use of widgets and web-based app technologies will mean 5. The potential product – Levitt
that essentially all apps and services are available regardless
of device operating system.

With Strategy Analytics recently noting that smartphones


make up nearly one quarter of total device shipments,
software has become a much more important part of the
device package, meaning vendors and operators are presented
with a challenge. While it is easy to compare devices based
on facts such as processor speeds, camera specs, and other
hardware features, differentiating based on software
capabilities is a far more complex proposition, and certainly
less easy to convey in a consumer advertising campaign. This
again makes the main differentiating feature the price, which

All rights reserved © www.jmeit.com

14
Journal of Management Engineering and Information Technology (JMEIT)
Volume -5, Issue- 2, Apr. 2018, ISSN: 2394 - 8124
Impact Factor : 4.564 (2015) | Index Copernicus - ICV 2016 = 51.4
Website: www.jmeit.com | E-mail: editorjmeit@outlook.com | jmeit@outlook.com
The Six Product Levels - The sixth product level is the The most successful example is Xiaomi, which was an
level of compliance of the product with the group’s ecommerce portal with impressive software.
standard. We can assume that the sixth product level is a
combination of the benefits and functions of the product Along with software being the key differentiator and offering
which are at the other five levels. Thus, 1st level + 2nd level from smartphone brands, it became a source of revenue. Once
rd th th
+ 3 level + 4 level + 5 level 6th level. The sixth level an add-on service, over-the-top (OTT) services have
presents the whole way of functioning of the product, developed into the main revenue generator for many telecom
the total amount of benefits that it offers to the consumer. companies.
For example, all Smartphones today offer to the
And the Chinese have perfected the art so well, many
consumer almost the same array of benefits such as a
smartphone models are sold at a price lower than what it took
hard disc memory and a possibility to put an additional
to manufacture them. Every brand thus develops an
memory card, Bluetooth, Infrared, GPRS, EDGE, WAP, ecosystem around them of content producers and sellers,
built-in modem, WiFi, HSCSD, XHTML, USB, Push-to-
ecommerce players, app ecosystem etc.
talk, Mobile Java – all of them work together thanks to
the operating system and represent the functional value of The following images showing Smartphone share held by
the sixth level. vendors in India from 1st quarter 2013 to 4th quarter 2017 the
growth of various mobile device manufacturer from 2013 to
Differentiating smartphones on hardware grounds it is just
2017 and the various major players like Samsung, Xiaomi,
next to impossible, if Samsung comes up with a new
vivo, Lenevo, OPPO, Micromax, Reliance Jio etc. in the list
smartphone with a 5 inch display screen, a 4k camera, 8GB
there are some Indian and some are Chinese mobile device
RAM, some Snapdragon chipset, 64 GB memory, this same
manufacturers the market share of Samsung has been
phone can be replicated and released by other brands. The
decreased from 26% to 24% from 2013 to 2017, Nokia was
timeframe by which this happens can be as short as a week to
there in the race in 2013 but in 2017 it is not in the list another
15 days. A smartphone manufacturer can no longer
Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi was not in the list in the year
differentiate their product on hardware alone anymore.
2013 but in 2017 Xiaomi has taken a strong position with
Similarly if we talk about the camera, one camera, two
26.8% in Indian market. This shows the stronger acceptance
camera, front and back side, two camera on front, high mega
of smartphones in the Indian market with new and advanced
pixels and so on, everyone who is in the manufacturing
features are accepted by the users.
business of smartphones have limitation in hardware part and
other people are replicating the same with some
modifications and launching their product in the market. This
effect the market cap. And the growth of the companies, new
threats are continuously added to the list and they are eating
the share of the existing players.

VII. SOFTWARE BECAME THE


DIFFERENTIATOR AMONG CHINESE
SMARTPHONE MANUFACTURERS.
Many major Chinese smartphone brands bought Android
licenses and started creating their own forks. You have
Cyanogen, Xiaomi creating their MIUI fork, Meizu with
Flyme. All these Android forks have now become a major
threat to Android, the open source platform they were built
and derived from. A well known but unpopular Korean
example is Tizen from Samsung, along with Amazon’s Fire
OS, which did not do well either.

Software became the differentiator among Chinese


smartphone manufacturers.

This led to another rather unexpected development in the


market. Since software became more and more important and
sourcing hardware easier and easier, software companies are
now entering the smartphone market.

Software is not easy to replicate, and takes effort to create, Smartphone share held by vendors in India from 1st quarter
test and deploy in the market. 2013 to 4th quarter 2017 [4.]

Software could also be updated regularly, with new services IX. GLOBAL MARKET SHARE HELD BY
and features being added to the same smartphone. Thus, LEADING SMARTPHONE VENDORS FROM 4TH
instead of software development depending on the hardware, QUARTER 2009 TO 4TH QUARTER 2017 [5.]
hardware is being manufactured according to the software.

All rights reserved © www.jmeit.com

15
Journal of Management Engineering and Information Technology (JMEIT)
Volume -5, Issue- 2, Apr. 2018, ISSN: 2394 - 8124
Impact Factor : 4.564 (2015) | Index Copernicus - ICV 2016 = 51.4
Website: www.jmeit.com | E-mail: editorjmeit@outlook.com | jmeit@outlook.com
Following images gives the details of Global market share The below news caption shows the growth of Chinese
held by leading smartphone vendors from 4th quarter 2009 to smartphones makers grabbing 53% market share in India,
4th quarter 2017, this shows the global position of mobile Xiaomi is leading the race, to promote the Indian
device manufacturers Samsung was on 3.3 % in the year 2009 manufacturer of smartphones Indian government is also
and in the year 2017 it is on 18.4%. it is a great increase in supporting, recently government has increased the custom
the global position. The position of Apple is somewhat on duty from 15 % to 20 % on mobile phones, but still after this
better side like from 2009 it is on 16.1% to 19.2% in 2017. reform, people are favoring smartphones who are providing
The percentage of other mobile manufacturer 17.6% in 2009 their desired features in the smartphone. [6.]
to 38.6% in the year 2017. There has been intake of other
manufacturer who are eating the market share of other
established brand.

http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/chinese-
smartphone-makers-grab-53-market-share-in-india-xiaomi-leads-
race-118021400288_1.html

X. CUSTOMIZE SMARTPHONES
Another mobile device revolution or evolution is underway,
as some of the technology companies are beginning to
develop devices that are more customizable and reusable than
the current crop of the readymade smartphones and wearable.

Google project ARA – is the codename that Google’s


Advanced & Project (ATAP) group uses for its initiative to
create an open source hardware platform.

ZTE Eco – mobile – is working on mobile prototype, known


as ECO – Mobiles, the concept prototype features removable
camera, display and battery components as well as core
model for GPU, CPU, RAM, ROM. Eco – mobile allows
people to customize or upgrade their mobile phones more
cheaply. More importantly, it is highly efficient component
exchange mechanism, making the most of materials and
reducing waste.

Blocks modular smart watch - Blocks is currently


developing a modular smartwatch that will use the open
source TIZEN platform that is supported by Samsung and
Intel.

Bug Labs modular gadgets - According to their website this


company helps organizations innovate in the rapidly growing
IOT market. Bug Labs provide open source hardware module
called “Blocks” that can be used by customers to create their
own customized electronic devices.

Seek thermal infrared camera accessories for


smartphones -This device is plug into android power phone
via a micro USB port and into iPhone via Apple’s proprietary
lightening connector.

People are using smartphones - readymade smartphones by


mobile manufacturers all the mobile manufacturer are
providing almost similar type of features with some
differentiation or some are with brand value.

All rights reserved © www.jmeit.com

16
Journal of Management Engineering and Information Technology (JMEIT)
Volume -5, Issue- 2, Apr. 2018, ISSN: 2394 - 8124
Impact Factor : 4.564 (2015) | Index Copernicus - ICV 2016 = 51.4
Website: www.jmeit.com | E-mail: editorjmeit@outlook.com | jmeit@outlook.com
Now, it’s time for smartphones customization its people survey before launching the website, this is an extended part
choice what they want in their mobile device like applications of the research the current paper is limited to the proposal of
from Google play store, we are still using factory made ready customizing the smartphone as per the need and demand of
to use smartphone with no customer choice. the customer, as by the facts and figures in the research paper
it can be concluded that the upgraded technology is
Many mobile manufacturer are coming up with unique welcomed by the users and people are liking new featured
feature in their mobile phone like thermal camera, molecular mobile devices with quality product, 53% increase in the
sensor, mini mobile with 4G ready, robust mobile for field Indian market of the Chinese mobile devices is not a miracle,
work, the body of mobile phones are made up with the aero it is people demand with the factory readymade mobiles it is
plane grade aluminum, convertible mobile with zoom unimaginable with the custom made smartphone
camera, modular components that can be added for better specifications.
functionality.
REFRENCES
The author is proposing a new concept in which the mobile
user are free to customize their mobile device or smartphone [1.] https://www.marketing91.com/samsung-competitors/
more smartly as per their specific need or usage. The above [2.] Src: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product_differentiation
mentioned features are very attractive and these are not [3.] https://study.com/academy/lesson/product-differentiation-in-
present in every mobile phones and if user wants to have the marketing-examples-strategies-definition.html
current mobile phone with the added feature this cannot be [4.] https://www.statista.com/statistics/269487/top-5-india-
smartphone-vendors/
possible, in other case the user want to club two different
[5.] https://www.statista.com/statistics/271496/global-market-share-
features in one mobile device like thermal and molecular held-by-smartphone-vendors-since-4th-quarter-2009/
sensor it is not happening right now, but what if the user are [6.]http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/chinese-
given the power to custom made their smartphones and they smartphone-makers-grab-53-market-share-in-india-xiaomi-leads-
are ready to pay the price for that it would be mricle to the race-118021400288_1.html
user and the manufacturer they will know what to produce
and in what quantity to produce there will be a total market
shift from pushing the goods to the market to the need
specific manufacturing, the money goes into the
advertisements and promotions will be saved all the
manufacturer will have to agree on a certain point may be
region specific to cater the needs of the public. For this, there
would be a website on which user has to register and choose
each and every component of his smartphone and place the
order in a mentioned time frame the product will be delivered
to the customer. This can be done on the brick and mortar
way also, like the customer will go to the spceifc shop where
the user can choose the components in the list with or without
help of the vendor and choose the brand name to be put on
that smartphone and order the same and for confirmation the
price has to be paid through vendor or to the direct transfer or
through the payment gateways. The warranty and the service
part will be adhered to the brand name that was chosen by the
customer at the time of registration or ordering the
customized smartphone. No other company will be able to
attend the service request for the same, this will give the
revenue generation for the specific brand name for the later
stage, as the mobile is customized it can be serviced by the
authorized service center only.

There could be the win – win situation for manufacturer and


the customer in long run, the customer is getting what he
wants and the manufacturer is getting confirmed order with
the price and a lifetime service contract for the custom made
smartphone.

XI. CONCLUSION
To conclude the article, in fact it is a new beginning of the
research to find out what the customer want, to know the
tentative demands of the proposed features in the
smartphones and to better serve the needs of the customers in
the near future the mobile device manufacturer can go for a

All rights reserved © www.jmeit.com

17
View publication stats

You might also like

pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy