Marketing management assignment submitted in partial fulfillment of the

requirements for the degree of

Master of Business Administration
By
KARAN SHARMA (1927261)
PRATIK KUMAR (1927256)

ANIRBAN GUHA THAKURTA (1927203)

ABHISHEK KUSHWAHA (1927259)

YUVRAJ BATRA (1927226)

Under the Guidance of
DR. KAREEN ANAND

Institute of Management
CHRIST (DEEMED TO BE UNIVERSITY), Bengaluru

SEPTEMBER 2019
 HEWLETT PACKARD

The company was founded in a one-car garage in Palo Alto by Bill Hewlett and David Packard,
and initially produced a line of electronic test equipment. HP specialized in developing and
manufacturing computing, data storage, and networking hardware, designing software and
delivering services. Major product lines included personal computing devices, enterprise and
industry standard servers, related storage devices, networking products, software and a diverse
range of printers and other imaging products. HP directly marketed its products to households,
small- to medium-sized businesses and enterprises as well as via online distribution, consumer-
electronics and office-supply retailers, software partners and major technology vendors. HP also
had services and consulting business around its products and partner products. HP specialized in
developing and manufacturing computing, data storage, and networking hardware, designing
software and delivering services. Major product lines included personal computing devices,
enterprise and industry standard servers, related storage devices, networking products, software
and a diverse range of printers and other imaging products. HP directly marketed its products to
households, small- to medium-sized businesses and enterprises as well as via online distribution,
consumer-electronics and office-supply retailers, software partners and major technology
vendors. HP also had services and consulting business around its products and partner products.

HP is a very tough competitor of Lenovo with a market share of 25% in the global market. Still
HP manages to stay strong at 1st position.
 Hewlett Packard gives redistributing of business process, framework innovation, upkeep
and backing of innovation, backing and advancement of uses, organizing assets and
items, coordination administrations and counseling administrations, delicate products,
equipment, administrations and items identified with printing and imaging. Because of
this the company saves on labor cost and cost of raw materials also.

 Hewlett-Packard is known for its amazing printers and scanners just as for its
computerized cameras, workstations, work areas and other IT items. The items are known
to be solid and henceforth the brand has a good client base.

 In the year 2007, Hewlett-Packard propelled "TOUCH SMART PC" with a showcase of
touch screen and later it presented a PC that was a customer tablet with touch screen
facility. In the year 2008, Hewlett Packard acquired to the market a smaller than normal
scratch pad called "HP2133Mini-Note PC. Here they had first mover’s advantage.
 HP also provides AMC to customers who are interested in it at a discounted rates.

 HP has always used competitive pricing strategies. They have thoroughly studied their
competitors’ prices and the movement of their strategies.
 “A TRADE IN PROGRAM” where customers can come and exchange their product for a
new product.

 For targeting young people Hp usually comes up with festive bonanza in which they tie
up with luxurious accessories brands such as Bang & olufsen. Due to the tie up, the
product worth RS25000 has been provided by the company at mere charges of RS2500 to
3000. These offers make HP market leader as it focuses on psychology of Indian
consumers.
The organization was established in 1987 by Ren Zhengfei. At first centered around assembling
telephone switches, Huawei has extended its business to incorporate structure broadcast
communications systems, giving operational and counseling administrations and gear to ventures
inside and outside of China, and assembling specialized gadgets for the purchaser showcase.
Huawei had more than 188,000 representatives as of September 2018, around 76,000 of them
occupied with Research and Development (R&D). It has 21 R&D initiates far and wide, and in
April 2019, opened the committed Ox Horn Campus in Dongguan. Starting at 2017, the
organization put US$13.8 billion in R&D. Although successful internationally, Huawei has faced
difficulties in some markets, due to cybersecurity allegations—primarily from the United States
government—that Huawei's infrastructure equipment may enable surveillance by the Chinese
government. Especially with the development of 5G wireless networks (which China has
aggressively promoted), there have been calls from the U.S. to prevent the use of products by
Huawei or fellow Chinese telecom ZTE by the U.S. or its allies. Huawei has argued that its
products posed "no greater cyber security risk" than those of any other vendor and that there is
no evidence of the U.S. espionage claims. Nonetheless, Huawei pulled out of the U.S. consumer
market in 2018, after these concerns affected the ability to market their consumer products there.

U.S. measures intensified in May 2019; in the midst of an ongoing trade war between China and
the United States, Huawei was restricted from doing commerce with U.S. companies due to
alleged previous willful violations of U.S. sanctions against Iran. On 29 June 2019, U.S.
President Donald Trump reached an agreement to resume trade talks with China and announced
that he would ease the aforementioned sanctions on Huawei.
STRATEGIES CURRENTLY FOLLOWED

 Huawei follows a competitive pricing strategy in its marketing mix for its products. The
reason for this pricing strategy is because buyers (consumers) have more bargaining
power and can switch brands easily.
 Huawei always focuses on providing best quality products to its customers as pricing are
nearly same by all competitors. Huawei also charges high prices for its new and
innovative products that are not in the competitor’s product line.
 Huawei also sometimes follows elastic pricing policy and gives discount on its products
mostly sold through ecommerce. For its business division of Enterprise and carrier
products the company charges premium pricing strategy for its innovative products and
solutions.
 Huawei Company has its presence in more than 170 countries and employees more than
1.7 lakh employees out of which nearly 76 thousand employees work in the 21 R&D
departments all over the world.
 Huawei has been working on developing joint ventures with local companies or
authorities and the company provides these local authorities dividend for using Huawei
products. Huawei has got a wide distribution network which includes sales person,
distributers, suppliers.
 Huawei do not directly deal with the customers. Also the newly formed joint ventures
between Huawei and local authority helps to build new channels for its product
distribution.
 Huawei uses Omni channel to promote its brand and products. The company is involved
in promotional activities via TV, radio, print, social media, events and sponsorships.
 Huawei has hired Lionel Messi as its global brand ambassador. Some of the other
celebrities like Henry Cavill and Scarlett Johansson have appeared in ads for Huawei
products.
 Huawei also offers discount cards and coupons as a part of its sales scheme. The
company also engages in sponsoring various events and sports team like Norwegian Ski
federation, La Liga. Huawei is also active on social media websites for resolving
customer’s issue and better connectivity with people to increase brand awareness.
After having a great success in mobile market, Huawei started selling their laptops in 2015 even
after considering the fact that they would be going face to face with some of the big established
competitors of the market, they came up with Matebook series which targeted both apple and
HP. The main reason behind this series was to give quality of apple and functionality of HP. So
they are the followers, but they can become leaders in the following ways-:

 Huawei is known for its innovations so they can use this to their advantage and can take
first movers advantage for eg) they were amongst the first manufactures to incorporate AI
in their mobiles they can also use the same for their laptops as no one has tried this till
now.

 Huawei is also known for making its own processors instead of taking processors from
other manufactures which helps them save cost, similarly they can make processors for
their laptops, which they can tune according to the AI capabilities.

 Huawei can also tie up with big firms. For eg) tie up with wolf audio for the speakers in
the laptops, tie ups with firms which are less know will help Huawei to finalize deals in
lesser costs.

 Increasing their product portfolio will also help them target people of different class.
  Huawei can also have an advertising campaign in such a way that it encourages nostalgia.
For eg) As Indian consumers are known to be emotional, so the marketing campaign can
be made in such a way that it hits the sentimental aspect of the consumers.

INSPIRING INNOVATION

Asus is a multinational Taiwanese company which leads in the world of electronic gadgets like
computers, laptops, mobiles etc. It is currently 4th largest PC seller in the world.  Asus is
currently positioned in 32 nations with 400 service partners around the world. In every different
product profile Asus faces a huge competition like in laptop and PC it has HP, Dell, Apple’s
Macbook, Acer as its rivals.

Asus has the policy to focus on innovation as the whole future lies with it. Their famous
products are ZenBook series, VivoBook series, Republic of gamers, ZenBook Deluxe series,
EeeBook series, Asus gaming series and ZenBoom Flip series. The ZenBook series are premium
thin and lightweight and the prices start at Rs. 74990. The Republic of gamers products are used
for high-end performance and it is the thinnest gaming laptop in the world.

The current market share of Asus in consumer laptop division in India is 11 per cent which it
aims to increase to 15-20 percent by the end of 2019. The brand is well known for its gaming
laptops which could be seen by its market share of around 23 per cent in gaming laptops division
in the country.

Asus should follow the following marketing strategy for gaining edge over its competitors and
increasing its market share:

1. Product innovation strategy: Asus has made its name in the market as a company that
brings innovation with its products. With its wide range of gaming laptops, this brand has
differentiated its product from others. The company should invest more in its research
 and development and keep adding innovative features to its products, in order to maintain
its differentiated product status which allows the company to price its product higher than
its competitors.

2. Diversifying its products: The Company should come up with more mid-priced models
as product price differentiation is not a major factor in electronic goods industry.
Following a penetration strategy during the launch of these new models and then
providing different variants with higher specification at a higher price can be adopted.
This strategy will help the company gain more customers who prefer mid-price ranged
laptops and also cater to its existing customers who demand high specification laptops.

3. Promotion strategies: For promotion of its products Asus should focuses on age
segmentation like laptops users are mostly youngsters going out to college or schools,
working population or is a home asset. So every advertisement should be focused on this
age segment only. Generally Asus doesn’t spend much on its product promotion it more
relies on their quality for sales. In order to reach out to the shoppers with a mass
communication Asus can upload video on social sites explaining all about its product and
features whenever it launches a new product. This helps Asus to reach out more and more
audience without even spending much. Along with this Asus can also use traditional
methods like flyers and banner advertisement in their store rooms. Also techniques like
pitching their products on e-business sites and giving more discount in order to increase
the visibility of their new products.

4. Come up with affordable 2 in 1 type laptop: By type, the market is bifurcated into
traditional and 2-in-1 laptops. In 2017, the traditional laptops segment represented over
90.0% of the overall market revenue owing to its increased adoption by end users,
particularly gamers. Traditional ones offer advantages such as more storage space,
powerful processor, bigger screen size, and increased Random Access Memory (RAM),
among others.

5. Meanwhile, the 2-in-1 laptop segment is estimated to post the highest CAGR exceeding
1.0% in terms of volume during the forecast period. This may be attributed to continuous
innovations in design, which is leading to reduced size and easy portability. Moreover,
 this type integrates capabilities of a laptop and tablet into one device, offering benefits
such as energy efficient processors, light weight, and increased number of ports.

iNFORMED, iNNOVATIVE & iNSPIRED. THEY ARE GENERATION ‘i’

Introduction

iBall is an Indian company and has spread its network to reach consumers in most parts of India.
It has its headquarters base at Mumbai in Maharashtra. iBall has twenty-six branches and its
products are available in nearly seven hundred and fifty towns and cities. The company has
developed a very strong distribution network that includes a workforce of more than three
thousand employees. It has a robust sales-system with the well-trained sales force to create a
positive impact on the sales figures.

Products are easily obtainable from either small neighbourhood shops or high-profile retail
outlets. It includes a hypermarket, superstores, electronic goods outlets, discount stores and
convenient stores. The brand also has one hundred and twenty-five service centres that are self-
owned to offer after-sales services to its consumers.

When it comes to market share in laptops market in the country, I ball has a very low market
share of less than 6% where other firms such as Lenevo and HP lead with a high market share of
22.5% and 21.7% respectively.
Being a company with low market share in the market and with a large number of competitors
such as Asus, Acer, Dell, etc, I ball should formulate its strategies in the following way to gain
market share:

Defining strategic objectives and opponents: I ball should consider competing with firms of its
own size whose performance are at par with I Ball.

Choosing general attack strategies: Adopting Flank attack technique to compete with such
competitors would be best suited to the company as this is a side attack rather than front attack,
particularly suited to companies with less resources than competitors. I Ball should keep prices
realistic and affordable ranging from low price to mid-price so that one can easily make a
purchase. Since most Indians belong to the middle-class section of society and in order to make a
successful penetration the products must have good quality along with pocket-friendly price
range. Higher its sales figures greater will revenues be and hence the company should cut down
its basic profit margin in favour of higher sales.

It can also be seen that the most popular models of I ball are mid-price ranged laptops

Choosing specific attack strategy: After adopting a flank attack technique, the company
should decide a specific attack strategy. A mix of Price – Discount Strategy and Cheaper good
strategy would be best suited as per the current market scenario. As per these strategies the
company offers a comparable product at a lower price (in case of price discount strategy) and an
average or low quality product at a much lower price (in case of cheaper good strategy).
I ball has adopted the cheaper good strategy by launching the iBall Comp Book laptops two
variants – 11.6” excellence and 14” Exemplaire. iBall Comp Book Excellence with 11.6” (29.4
cm) was launched at just Rs. 9,999 leading the revolution. I Ball Comp Book Exemplaire 14”
(35.8 cm) was also presented at an extremely appealing price of Rs. 13,999 only for the user.

Dell is a US global PC innovation organization that creates, sells, fixes, and underpins PCs and
related items and administrations. Named after its organizer, Michael Dell, the organization is
one of the biggest innovative enterprises on the planet, utilizing in excess of 145,000 individuals
in the U.S. and around the globe.

Dell sells (PCs), servers, information stockpiling gadgets, arrange switches, programming, PC
peripherals, HDTVs, cameras, printers, MP3 players, and hardware built by different
manufacturers. Dell was an unadulterated equipment merchant for quite a bit of its reality,
however with the securing of Perot Systems in 2009, Dell entered the market for IT
administrations. The organization has since made extra acquisitions away and organizing
frameworks, with the point of growing their portfolio from offering PCs just to conveying total
solutions for big business customers.

Dell was recorded at number 51 in the Fortune 500 rundown, until 2014. In 2015, it was the third
biggest PC merchant on the planet after Lenovo and HP. Dell is the biggest shipper of PC
screens worldwide. It was a publicly traded company and an open market organization
(NASDAQ: DELL), just as a part of the NASDAQ-100 and S&P 500, until it was taken private
in an utilized buyout which shut on October 30, 2013.

In 2015, Dell procured the undertaking innovation firm EMC Corporation; following the
completion of the process, Dell and EMC progressed toward becoming divisions of Dell
Technologies.

STRATEGIES TO FOLLOW:

DELL should follow the following marketing strategies to compete with the market leader
LENOVO:-

 Dell should open Kiosk areas that enabled clients to have a vibe of the item before buy.

 Dell should use various promotional techniques to reach out to its potential customers.
The promotional strategy in the marketing mix of Dell focuses on 360 branding through
TV and online ads etc. It should distribute brochure to the public through newspapers
etc. Apart from festive discounts, it should also give regular offers to tap in the customer
base and carry out online promotions through contests. It should send newsletters to
users registered with Dell which provides latest information of its products, innovation
that increases customers interest along with bonus products and waiving off shipping
charges for certain products. Dell uses the slogan “Yours is here” which indicates that
customers can customize their products. Dell also hosted conferences such as Dell World
that featured new technology and services of Dell.
 In notebook category, Dell should price Inspiron series laptops at lower prices followed
by XPS, which is priced premium and Alienware series accounts for highest priced laptop
in its notebook product portfolio. The pricing strategy in the marketing mix of Dell will
set different set of prices based on the consumer segment it is targeting which includes
consumer segment and business segment. The pricing also varies based on the hardware
chosen and the operating system version selected. Dell should allow customers to
customise their laptop hardware configuration which differentiates it from its
competitors. Also it should provide various bundling offers as accessories and extended
warranty for the customers.
  DELL can reduce competition through collaboration. For example- Xerox’s addition to
the company as a partner for providing printing products and services has served the
purpose of integrating one more technology to its lists of comprehensive business
services.

Acer Inc. founded by Stan Shih and his wife Carolyn Yeh, In 1976 is a Taiwanese
multinational hardware and electronics corporation, specializing in advanced electronics
technology, headquartered in Xizhi, New Taipei City, Taiwan. Acer's products include desktop
PCs, laptop PC, tablets, servers, storage devices, virtual reality devices, displays, smartphones
and peripherals.

Acer also sells gaming PCs and accessories under its Predator brand. In the early 2000s, Acer
implemented a new business model, shifting from a manufacturer to a designer, marketer and
distributor of products, while performing production processes via contract manufacturers. In
2015, Acer was the sixth largest personal computer vendor in the world. Currently, in addition to
its core IT products business, Acer also has a new business entity that focuses on the integration
of cloud services and platforms, and the development of smartphones and wearable devices with
value-added applications. Acer has 7,000+ employees worldwide, operates in 70 countries, and
has approximately 95,000 retail locations spread throughout 160+ countries.
STRATEGIES TO FOLLOW:

ACER should follow the following marketing strategies to compete with the market leader
LENOVO:-

 Partnering with any big, renowned IT company to gain knowledge and experience about
the Indian market.
 Focusing its resources and attention and resources selling to the government organization
and corporate customers in order to build a strong consumer chain.
 Acer is suffering from decreasing market share in India from the past two years. So, acer
can start their operations with a changed name to create a variety in the products that they
offer and almost to re-capture the market.
 Acer can also enter into acquisition with some company to consolidate its hold on the
market.
 Refocusing its focus from direct sales to indirect channel driven sales and building strong
relationships with the dealers
 Offering higher incentives to channel distributors for promoting sales.
 Acer needs to further improve its already strong network in order to fully utilize the
opportunities presented by the Indian market. This would allow them to venture into the
rural areas and increase their market share.
 Unlike western countries where the mindset of the people is to use and throw, an average
Indian is likely to use a product as long as it is viable. Hence, Acer could explore the
demand of spares and focus on providing a good after sales service in order to maximize
revenues from the sales of spares.
Industry Computer Hardware Electronics

Founded

1 November 1984

Founder Liu Chuanzhi

Headquarters Haidian District, Beijing

Area served

Worldwide

Revenue

US$51.038 billion (2019)

Owner Legend Holdings (30.6%)

Website www.lenovo.com
Lenovo Group Limited, often shortened to Lenovo is a Chinese multinational technology
company with headquarters in Beijing. It designs, develops, manufactures, and sells personal
computers, tablet computers, smartphones, workstations, servers, electronic storage devices, IT
management software, and smart televisions. Lenovo is the world's largest personal computer
vendor by unit sales, as of March 2019. It markets the ThinkPad and Think Book business lines
of notebook computers, IdeaPad, Yoga and Legion consumer lines of notebook laptops, and
the IdeaCentre and Think Centre lines of desktops.

Lenovo was founded in Beijing in November 1984 as Legend and was incorporated in Hong
Kong in 1988. Lenovo acquired IBM's personal computer business in 2005 and agreed to acquire
its Intel-based server business in 2014. Lenovo entered the smartphone market in 2012 and as of
2014 was the largest vendor of smartphones in Mainland China. In 2014, Lenovo acquired the
mobile phone handset maker Motorola Mobility from Google.

Lenovo is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the Hang Seng China-
Affiliated Corporations Index, often referred to as "Red Chips".

BUSINESS STRATIGIES

 Since its founding in 1984, Lenovo Group Limited has enjoyed a prodigious rise to
become one of the world’s largest technology companies. In this article, we take a look at
the strategic model underlying one of China’s most successful corporations.

 At the heart of Lenovo’s growth in recent years has been a strategy—known as “protect
and attack”—that was put in motion by CEO Yang Yuanqing in 2009. As its name
suggests, this strategy combines defensive and offensive elements. Defensively, Lenovo
seeks to build on its success in China, where it currently occupies a dominant position as
China (and the world’s) top vendor of PCs. Offensively, Lenovo seeks to grow
internationally by leveraging acquired assets and expanding sales to emerging markets.

 In carrying out this strategy, Lenovo makes use of two interrelated business models,
referred to by Lenovo executives as their “Transactional” and “Relationship” business
 models. The transactional model emphasizes sales to retail consumers and small to
medium-sized businesses, both directly (through online and physical Lenovo storefronts)
and indirectly through distributors and retailers.

 The relationship model targets enterprise customers such as educational and

governmental institutions, as well as large businesses. Sales occurring through this model
are characterized by a greater degree of personalized service by Lenovo staff, and are
executed through a combination of internal sales representatives and business partners.

 For most companies, becoming a market leader in China would be amply ambitious. For
Lenovo, however, it is only the start of their dreams. Having established themselves as
the leaders of China’s PC market, they have since undertaken to expand their presence in
emerging markets such as India, Russia and Brazil.

 Lenovo’s executives are well aware that the diverse markets in which they operate—
which include the Americas, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia—are each home
to unique consumer preferences, competitive landscapes and regulatory regimes. As such,
simply copying the factors that contributed to Lenovo’s success in China and exporting
them throughout the world would unlikely result in success in other markets. Instead,
Lenovo has sought to leverage the local expertise of competitors through acquisitions.

These are the business plan that the company is following right now. To sustain in the market
company needs to keep innovating with ideas and strategies as there is heavy competition in the
computer industry. Following are some business ideas that the company can follow to become
the market leader.
 STRATIGIES TO BECOME MARKET LEADER

Sustaining a Competitive Advantage

Competition in the technology industry is fierce. As continuous technological change redefines

the market, the competitive landscape shifts, advantages erode and threats surface. In this
environment, maintaining a competitive edge becomes a challenge and only the strongest
innovators succeed. For Lenovo, the world’s dominant producer of PCs, this story is not new. In
recent years, the company has consistently outpaced competitors achieving significant growth by
increasing market share internationally through innovation and strategic acquisitions. Staying
ahead remains central to Lenovo’s business plan as the company should sustain its competitive
advantage through further growth and innovation. The company’s goals should relatively simple:
grow market share and revenue while simultaneously developing a global culture that should be
exceptionally effective. Achieving these goals will require leaders throughout the world to
operationalize the company’s “Protect and Attack” strategy. In executing the strategy, Lenovo
should be dedicated to protect its core legacy business and geographic presence while attacking
new market opportunities in regions with high growth potential. Driven by exceptional success
and continuous, stable growth, Lenovo should remain focused on implementing its Protect and
Attack strategy across all geographies, customer segments and product lines as the organization
continues to build its business worldwide.

A Strategy’s Success Depends on Senior Leaders

Rapid growth has added complexity for Lenovo. Executing a unified and consistent strategy
across an increasingly expansive global business is a challenge. Responding to these growing
demands, Lenovo should be implementing its strategy in a new way and should be partnering up
with BTS for this initiative. Lenovo’s senior management recognized that the continued
effectiveness of its Protect and Attack strategy depended on the business acumen capabilities and
strategic alignment of its top leaders. To be successful, Lenovo needs to engage this critical
population of senior executives, demonstrate the challenges and opportunities of the business
strategy, and build the skills for execution. BTS collaborated with Lenovo on a tailored business
will simulate to develop the execution capabilities of high level leaders across global locations.
The simulation experience realistically modeled the shifts in the industry, integrated Lenovo’s
Protect and Attack strategy, and will illustrate the implications of leaders’ decisions on long-term
business performance.

A Business Simulation Builds Execution Capabilities

The program will deliver to more than 300 of Lenovo’s most senior executives as part of the
Chairman and CEO’s annual Leading Lenovo global event, hosted in China, Spain and the
United States. The one-day experience will challenge the company executives with diverse
backgrounds and responsibilities to collaborate in new ways and work together to build
execution skills. Organized into teams, the senior leaders should participate in a competitive
simulation, executing a strategy over six accelerated years at a company closely replicating a
current and future-vision of Lenovo. To be successful, top leaders should be challenged to set
goals, analyse results and operationalize their plan while drawing insights from the experience.
 Industry Conglomerate

Founded

July 1875

Founder Tanaka Hisashige

Headquarters Minato, Tokyo, Japan

Area served Worldwide

Revenue 3.693 trillion (2019)

Owner Shibaura Seisakusho

Website www.toshiba.com

Toshiba Corporation is a Japanese multinational conglomerate headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

Its diversified products and services include information technology and communications
equipment and systems, electronic components and materials, power systems, industrial
and social infrastructure systems, consumer electronics, home appliances, medical equipment,
office equipment, as well as lighting and logistics.

Toshiba was founded in 1939 as Tokyo Shibaura Denki K.K. through the merger of Shibaura
Seisaku-sho (founded in 1875) and Tokyo Denki (founded in 1890). The company name was
officially changed to Toshiba Corporation in 1978.

Toshiba is organized into four groupings: the Digital Products Group, the Electronic Devices
Group, the Home Appliances Group and the Social Infrastructure Group. Midea Group, a
Chinese company, bought a controlling 80.1% stake in the Toshiba Home Appliances Group in
2016.
BUSINESS STRATIGIES

Core Competencies (TCO C)

The core competencies of Toshiba Corporation concentrate on its strategy to be a leader in

innovation. The company focuses its marketing strategies on capturing opportunities of the
future. For this reason, its consumers tend to move in the direction that Toshiba Corporation
Limited provides in technology. In such a way, they acknowledge that consumers may be
shallow in their visions. Therefore, they look into the future so as to develop innovations that
consumers will have to acquire. The company's core competencies focus on the development of
new technologies. The company has previously pioneered essential technologies such as small
hard disk drives, long-lasting and more efficient batteries, and crisper screens. The company has
used these competencies to attract and retain a large pool of customers globally.

Industry Dynamics (TCO A)

The computer industry has changed since its inception to the modern-day computers. There has
been an increasing demand for computers with the corresponding rapid growth. The industry has
incorporated new inventions and developments in comparison with the computers and software
used in the 1980s and 90s. There is one aspect that is critical in the industry, and it is
connectivity. Computers are considered to be valuable depending on their ability to establish a
connection. With the invention of the World Wide Web, connectivity has become a vital factor
in the world of computers. The reason is that the feature allows people to share information and
resources. In the past, networking was possible through the use of local area networks and wide
area networks.

Technology Sourcing and Internal Innovation (TCO D)

Technology sourcing is a fundamental factor in an organization. Since it is almost impractical for
an organization to be self-sufficient, it has to rely on other technologies. It gives the organization
the opportunity to save money and have the best technology. In 2014, Toshiba acquired OCZ
Technology Group. Apparently, it will operate independently to provide high-performance solid
state drives (SSDs) for computing systems and devices. Thus, the acquisition expands the
corporation's solid-state storage capabilities. Moreover, it will make it possible to develop new
and unique solid-state storage technologies, which will keep the company as a market leader,
while the company's goal is to be a leader in the market and industry. The acquisition of OCZ
Technology Group means that Toshiba has 100 percent control over it, and it's the only
beneficiary of the company's products and expertise. It is also an approach aimed at getting what
the company does not produce from an expert and a leader in that sector. 

Product Development Strategy (TCO E)

Toshiba Corporation manufactures its products in three different fields, which are
communication, automotive and motor control. The company collaborates with other companies
and utilizes its strong in-house engineering. Moreover, it improves integrated solution capacity
and promotes developments in the market. In the automotive field, it offers image recognition
and automotive analogue. Communication entails sending and receiving IC through the lower
consumption sensor networks. The motor control involves motor driver, power management and
microcomputers. Furthermore, the company is investing in green technology in its product
development strategies.

STRATIGIES TO BECOME MARKET LEADER

Communication Planning:

The communication plan is all the communication activities planned to promote a business,
brand. The communication plan may also include an outline of the constraints that will be sent to
delivery agencies in the implementation of planned actions and details of budget allocation. The
communication plan is characterized theoretically media plan to the extent that it takes into
account all the communication actions planned (direct marketing, POS, advertising, events, etc.
In practice, the term communications plan should be used narrowly to refer to a communication
plan advertising only.

Market communication:

Marketing and communication are two different areas but work closely together, so that the
distinction between the two is not always obvious. It is essential to precisely define the “target”
of consumers affected by a given product. According to the market, the criteria that shape the
targets are highly variable: professional sports, family, economic, community, youth, disabled,
etc …

Marketing strategies and tactics:

The marketing strategy is a coordinated action plan implemented over a long term by a company
to achieve its business objectives and marketing. The marketing strategy is a component of
corporate strategy. Depending on circumstances, the marketing strategy can be approached at a
global level of the company or to apply only to a product or family of products. It is thus possible
for a business activity varied to combine several marketing strategies according to their areas.

The marketing strategy should be developed from the analysis of strengths and weaknesses of the
business and marketing of a study of its environment. Marketing strategy, helps organizations to
focus their attention to complete resource utilization to increase sales and win over their
competitors.

Branding Strategy:

Branding is defined as the process of creating and managing brands. Is to develop and maintain
the set of attributes and values of a brand so that they are consistent, appropriate, distinctive,
which may be legally protected and attractive to consumers.

Brands influence our lives profoundly impact the way we see the world. A strong brand means
value for a company, even higher than the performance of the products themselves, as they
translate into loyalty from consumers.
HISTORY

Founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, Apple began as a personal computer
company providing desktop computers for businesses and the home. The first computer, the
Apple 1, was hand built by Wozniak and did not come with a keyboard or an outer case to
protect the computer. The products were considered a kit, and users had to supply extra parts
themselves.

The Apple 1 sold for the interesting price of $666.66, or around $2,800 adjusted for inflation.

Apple was incorporated in 1977 after Wozniak sold his share for $800. The Apple II was first

sold in 1977 and had the first major piece of business software, VisiCalc, a spreadsheet product.

Apple went public in 1980 for $22 a share and generated more money on its IPO than any

firm since Ford Motor Company 25 years earlier. Following a dispute with the Board, Steve Jobs
resigned from Apple in 1985 and started a new firm. With Jobs unaffiliated with Apple for the
next 15 years, Apple experimented with various other products, including CD players, digital
cameras, speakers, and others. Throughout the 1990s, Apple experimented with several different
product lines of personal computers, with limited success. Apple’s products were generally
significantly more expensive than that of competitors, not compatible with much of the leading
software or with the more popular Windows machines, and also were not able to multitask as
well as Windows-based machines.

By 1996, Apple was struggling immensely and the firm acquired Steve Jobs’ firm, NeXT.

After the Board fired the existing CEO in 1997, Jobs was back, acting as interim CEO of Apple.
In the same year, Jobs identified Jonathan I have, and the two started working to rebuild Apple’s
products and brand name. I have is currently the Senior VP of Design. After several Mac
upgrades and new software products such as iMovie, in 2001, Apple introduced the iPod and the
firm sold 100 million units in 6 years. The year 2003 brought about the iTunes store, which
synced $0.99 downloads to iPods and remains an industry leader. Apple launched the iPhone in
2008 and the iPad in 2010. In 2011, Steve Jobs passed away and current CEO Tim Cook now
leads Apple.

GLOBAL MARKET SHARE OF LAPTOPS

We can see that the report above shows a decline of 2.5% units shipment of the laptops and
desktop of apple computers in quarter 1 of 2019. It’s market share is 6.6% when we compare this
to the market leader which is HP Inc. it is 14.1% less. The market share data is for quarter 1 of
2018.

CURRENT BUSINESS STRATEGY

 Apple’s Generic Strategy (Porter’s Model) & Objectives:-

Apple Inc.’s generic strategy is broad differentiation. This generic strategy focuses on key
features that differentiate the company and its information technology products from
competitors. Through the broad differentiation generic strategy, Apple stands out in the market.
For example, elegant design and user-friendliness of products, combined with high-end branding,
effectively differentiate the technology business. This generic strategy means that Apple always
aims to set itself apart from competitors not by price but by competitive advantages based on
product design that attracts customers. Such design includes seamless connectivity among
devices and cutting-edge aesthetics. Even though this generic strategy makes Apple different, the
company still broadly reaches various segments of the market. The firm’s products are designed
for everyone, thereby supporting a broad market reach. For example, Apple targets individuals
and business organizations through the MacBook product line. In this way, the generic strategy
of broad differentiation supports the company in maintaining its competitive advantage,
leadership, and position as a high-end and high-value technology business.

The broad differentiation generic strategy has significant implications on Apple’s strategic
objectives. For example, to apply this strategy, the company must continue emphasizing
innovation through research and development. Apple must keep developing innovative products
so that the business maintains its competitive advantage. Competitors eventually catch up with
new technologies and new products, so the broad differentiation generic strategy compels the
company to continuously innovate to keep itself always ahead of the competition. Thus,
continuous innovation is one of Apple’s strategic objectives based on the broad differentiation
generic competitive strategy. Instead, the company competes by selling various goods and
services that suit the various segments of the consumer electronics and information technology
services industries. Thus, another of Apple’s strategic objectives based on its generic strategy is
to penetrate markets to ensure a broad reach. Such expansion and business growth are achieved
through intensive strategies for growth.

 Apple’s Intensive Growth Strategies (Ansoff Matrix):-

Product Development. Apple uses product development as its main intensive strategy for growth.
Product development requires that the company develop attractive and profitable technology
products to grow its market share and business performance. Apple implements this intensive
growth strategy through innovation in its research and development processes. Through product
development, the company uses innovation as a critical success factor and competitive
advantage. For example, the business continues to innovate products like the iPhone, iPad, and
Apple Watch. In this intensive growth strategy, the company grows because new products allow
the business to generate more revenues, such as through the sale of new iPhone models. Apple
Inc.’s organizational structure supports this growth strategy. The structure’s product-based
divisions enable strategic management specific to product development. Also, Apple Inc.’s
organizational culture emphasizes innovation that supports product development.

 Market Penetration:-

Apple Inc. uses market penetration as its second most significant intensive strategy for growth.
Market penetration involves gaining a larger share of the current market by selling more of the
company’s current products. For example, Apple applies this growth strategy by selling more
iPhones and iPads to its current markets in North America. Also, the company achieves more
sales by adding more authorized sellers to boost competitive advantages in its current markets.
This approach penetrates markets where Apple has not yet achieved a significant position. In
relation, under the market penetration intensive growth strategy, the company uses promotion
through various websites and media outlets. Advertisements encourage more people to buy
Apple products. This intensive growth strategy agrees with the company’s broad differentiation
generic strategy by addressing the need to broadly capture the market through the sale of more
technological products to more customers. Apple Inc.’s marketing mix or 4P influences the
effectiveness of the organization’s competitive advantage and this intensive growth strategy.

 Market Development:-

Apple uses market development as a low-priority intensive strategy for growth. Using the
company’s competitive advantages, market development involves selling existing products in
new markets. For example, Apple Inc. applies this intensive growth strategy by authorizing new
sellers in markets where the company does not have any presence yet. This growth strategy
agrees with the generic strategy of broad differentiation by expanding the company’s market
reach, such as by introducing its current consumer electronics to new overseas markets. This
generic strategy for competitive advantage also requires offering products to different market
segments, which Apple satisfies via market development. Through its various product models of
consumer electronics and other goods and services, the company fulfils this strategic
requirement. In relation, the business strengths discussed in the SWOT analysis of Apple Inc.
facilitate the implementation of market development.

 Strategic Analysis and Recommendations for Apple Inc.:-

Apple’s generic strategy of broad differentiation adds competitive advantage by making the
business stand out. Differentiation in product function and design supports the firm’s goal of
leading the market through technological innovation. Innovation is at the heart of Apple Inc.’s
business. However, to improve its application of this generic strategy for competitive advantage,
the company must aggressively penetrate markets. This recommendation is especially applicable
in developing countries where the corporation has limited market reach for its information
technology goods and services.

 Apple Inc.’s main intensive growth strategy is product development.-

Market penetration and market development have lower priority in this technology enterprise.
These intensive growth strategies agree with and support Apple’s generic strategy. The company
is strong in product development through innovation. However, to improve performance, Apple
needs to emphasize more on market penetration and market development. These two intensive
growth strategies can improve the company’s resilience against aggressive competitors like
Samsung. Also, Apple Inc.’s operations management can optimize the effectiveness of these
growth strategies and the broad differentiation generic strategy for competitive advantage.
HISTORY

MSI's five founders Joseph Hsu, Jeans Huang, Frank Lin, Kenny Yu and Henry Lu all worked
for electronics company Sony before establishing MSI. Sony's corporate downsizing in 1985
brought them together. With the engineering background working for Sony, they established
Micro Star International together in August 1986. In 1997, MSI inaugurated its Plant I in Jung-
He city; in 2000, it inaugurated its Plant III in Jung-He city. In 1998, it became a public company
with an IPO (Initial Public Offering) on the Taipei Stock Exchange (TAIEX). In 2000, MSI
Computer (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. was founded, and in 2001, MSI Electronics (Kunshan) Co., Ltd.
In 2002, MSI set up its European logistics center in the Netherlands.

In 2008, MSI was ranked among the Top 20 Taiwan Global Brands. In 2011, the firm was named
one of the Top 100 Taiwan Brands, distinguished among 500 brands. By 2013, MSI has been
awarded from Taiwan Excellence for 15 consecutive years. In 2015, MSI was ranked the fourth-
best laptop brand of 2015 by Laptop magazine. According to research, MSI was the largest
gaming laptop supplier worldwide in 2016.

MSI launched "Join the Dragon" team sponsorship program in April 2017 to discover talented
eSports teams. Also in April 2017, MSI names certified partners for the creation of an RGB
ecosystem with MSI Mystic Light Sync which includes CORSAIR, SteelSeries, G.SKILL,
Cooler Master, in Win, Phanteks and others. Mustek and MSI sign laptop distribution deal in
2017.

ESL has partnered with MSI for upcoming ESL One events in 2018. MSI was the official partner
of ESL One Cologne 2018, one of the biggest events on the CS: GO calendar.

In August 2018, MSI was rated the Best Gaming Laptop Brand of 2018 by Laptop Mag. New
designs of its GS65 Stealth Thin and GE63 Raider RGB laptops earned the company a stellar 84
out of 100 and put it on the top spot.

In April 2019, MSI was rated the worst in customer service compared to other laptop brands by
Laptop Mag. The magazine noted that while MSI's web and social support haven't improved the
company's phone support has gone downhill.
MSI INCOME STATEMENT

The revenue for company in 2018 was 118,527.27 million TWD. It had a profit margin of 5.10%
in the same year. The net income generated was 6041.13 million TWD.

CURRENT BUSINESS STRATEGY

 Micro-Star is an old company which has famous and well-reputed brand name. It has
skilled workers and highly qualified leaders who understands the market. This has an
added advantage of loyalty from consumers.

 Product-innovation Strategy:- It has won International Innovations Design and

Engineering Awards in 2012 for its gaming notebook which has contributed to its good
reputation. This has created a high brand value for the company and generated high level
of trust among consumers.

 Its manufacturing plants of Micro-Star are based in Taiwan and Mainland China where
cost of labour is comparatively low as compared to USA or Europe.

 Distribution-innovation Strategy:-MSI has an across-the-board and wide-ranging sales

and distribution network. This enables MSI to cover a huge number of clients all over the
world. Considering all these advantages of MSI, it can be said that company is in a very
good position to catch new opportunities.

 Intensive Advertising and Promotion:-Apart from years of dedication to top-end

gaming hardware, MSI has sponsored more than 20 eSports teams worldwide and is the
host of world-renowned gaming tournament MSI MGA (Masters Gaming Arena). MSI
 seizes every opportunity for face-to-face interactions with global gamers and fans.
Gaming is the universal language MSI and gamers share and MSI has tapped this
potential which has further strengthen its brand image.

CONCLUSION

 World is getting more and more digital and people are switching to advanced computers,
laptops, and other electronic devices. MSI is a well reputed brand and it can fulfil the
needs of the customers. If it continues to launch new products which are according to the
needs of clients then business of MSI will surely continue to prosper.

 Gaming industry has become a huge market. A significant portion of products of MSI is
related with gaming industry. As we know, gaming industry is expanding day by day. If
MSI continues to focus on gaming industry then it is most likely that it will grab the
maximum share in gaming industry. Nowadays, new games require highly advanced pcs,
graphic cards and similar accessories. MSI must continue to hold the firm grip in
producing quality products which are required in gaming industry.

 Lack of investment in research and modern technologies is a weakness of MSI. It was

observed that company wasn’t investing much in this area as compare to its competitors.
It is necessary that MSI spends enough in this area which will keep it ahead of its rivals.

 MSI is facing a problem from tough competitors and narrow market. MSI needs to use its
extensive distribution and sales network to compete with competitors.

 MSI’s need to work on newer technologies and launch more advanced products to
capture the market which comprises consumer with more advance requirement.

 MSI should make full use of friendly tax structure and economical labour to counter any
kind of economic threat in future. These can also help it increase its profit margin.

 The competition in industry is very high and profit margin is very low. MSI needs to
expand its products which will give it an edge over its rivals.

 The most important thing MSI must do is spend more on research. It will help the
company a lot in expanding its business.