Smartphone Industry The WritePass Journal

Smartphone Industry Executive summary Smartphone Industry ). New entrants find it challenging to compete and gain in the market share which is dominated by major brands. However, some new smartphones manufacturers such as Sony and ZTE are rapidly gaining popularity and market share. Competitive advantage within the smartphone industry. The smartphone market is highly competitive, and it has experienced dramatic changes in the recent past. In 2007, Apple defeated BlackBerry from the leading position as the dominant smartphone maker Laffey (2011). Smartphone market competition has also been based on the two main operating systems, Google’s Android and Apples’ IOS (Park et al 2011). Apple has managed to take the leading position in the market because of its high specification products, integrated operating system and quality hardware (Laffey, 2011). Apple’s success is also attributed to its luxury brand image established during the reign of Steve Jobs Apple provides the eco-system of apps available online on Apple’s app-store platform (Park et al 2011). The Kindle Fire, an Amazon product is expected to challenge Apple by offering readerse new opportunities to access to Amazon’s online e-books store (Laffey, 2011). Amazon’s relationship with content providers will enable it secure the delivery of its apps and video content providing a new competition across the market segment (Laffey, 2011). The difference in pricing between Android and IOS phones has impacts on competition (Laffey, 2011). Most Android smartphones are affordable while some devices from Apple are less affordable. Apple benefits from a higher income from this (Laffey, 2011). Conclusion In summary, the current smartphone is no longer exclusive for early adopters. Streamlining of new innovations has led to increased competition and patent litigation. It is evident that the smartphone market is controlled by a few major smartphones makers. Smartphones have heralded a new era in the communication industry and changed several aspects of human lifestyle. New software makers need to develop an operating system to make a unique distinction in the current market. References Ahson, S. and Ilayas. (2006) Smartphones [online]. Intl. Engineering Consortium. Available from: http://books.google.co.uk [Accessed 4 April 2014] Boyes, W., and Melvin, M. (2012) Macroeconomics. Cengage Learning. Available from: http://books.google.co.uk[Accessed 4 April 2014] BBC (2010) ‘Leading mobile phone lose market share’, 10 November. Available from bbc.co.uk/news/business-11725411 [Accessed 4 April 2014] Egham (2012) ‘Gartner says worldwide smartphone sales soared in Fourth quarter of 2011 with 47 percent growth’. Garner [online]. 15 February. Available from: gartner.com/newsroom/id/1924314 [Accessed 4 April 2014] Ferell, O., C., and Fraedrich, J. (2014) Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making Cases [online]. Cengage Learning. Available from: http://books.google.co.uk[Accessed 4 April 2014] Henry, A. (2008) Understanding Strategic Management [online]. Oxford University Press. Available from: http://books.google.co.uk [Accessed 3 April 2014]. Himmelsbach, T. (2013) A Survey on Todays Smartphone Usage [online]. GRIN Verlag. Available from: http://books.google.co.uk[Accessed 4 April 2014] Hill, C., Jones, G., and Schilling, M. (2014) Strategic Management: Theory Cases: An Integrated Approach [online]. Cengage Learning. Available from: http://books.google.co.uk[Accessed 4 April 2014] Laffey, D. (2011) Strategic issues in Tablets and Smartphones: An Agenda (Non-referred research note). Journal of Strategic Management Education 7(4): 287-290 Park, J., Yang, L., and Lee, C. (2011) Future Information Technology: 6th International Conference on Future Information Technology, FutureTech 2011, Crete, Greece, June 28-30, 2011. Proceedings [online]. Springer. Available at: http://books.google.co.uk [Accessed 4 April 2014]