Strategy Analysis of Bangladesh Smartphone Industry

Prepared By:
Sowrav Hosen
Sayed Asad Uddin
Ghani Rehman
Content Overview:
 Current Smartphone Industry Overview
 Market Players
 Overview & Strategy
 Market Leader
 Challenger
 Follower
 Niche
 Industry Overview:
 Smartphone industry in Bangladesh is growing at an exponential rate- seeing around
140 percent growth every year

 Currently there are 21 million smartphone users in the country

 Over 20 home-grown and foreign brands in the market

 No smartphone manufacturing plant in Bangladesh, lion share of handsets exported

from China and re-branded here

 Local companies gaining market share, foreign ones' declining

Market Players

 The major players in the smartphone industry are –

 Symphony
 Samsung
 Walton
 Nokia
 Huawei
Market Players
 As of Decem 31, 2018, the market shares of the companies
are:

Market share of smartphone manufacturers in

Bangladesh
4 4
4
Symphony
8 Samsung
Walton

12
Maximus
55 Nokia
Micromax
13 Others
Market Players
 With 55% market share, Symphony is the current
Market Leader.

 Samsung is at 2nd position with 13% market share & is

the main Market Challenger for Symphony.

 Presently, Walton is the Market follower with 12%

market share

 With a smaller, specified customer segment, we are

considering Nokia as Market Niche with 4% market
share.
Company Overview: Symphony
 First Symphony smartphone was produced in 2008

 First company to introduce dual SIM and QWERTY phone in

Bangladesh

 Pricing ranges between Tk 3,700 to Tk 26,000

 Has own App and VAS stores

 First Bangladeshi brand to be in a leadership position in local

smartphone market
Strategies of Market Leader
[Symphony]
 Strategies like cost control through aggressive
pricing strategy, product differentiation such as
contemporary features and style are among the
prime strategies of symphony to hold their
market share.

 Also, a country-wide distribution network and

customer service center with ATL(above the line)
help defend its market position.
Strategies of Market Leader
[Symphony]
 To become the market leader,
Symphony did pro active marketing to
capture and expand it’s market share.
They did anticipative and responsive
marketing.

 They also employ defensive marketing

strategies such as position defense,
flank defense, counter offensive
defense in response to attacks from
market challenger.
Strategies of Market Leader
[Symphony]
 Pro Active Marketing: Responsive marketer finds a stated need
and fills it & anticipative marketer looks ahead to future needs
of customers. Two proactive skills that Symphony use are ---

 Responsive Anticipation: Symphony observed the tendency of peoples’

using SIM cards of multiple operator in Bangladesh & was the first cell
manufacturing company to bring mobile sets with dual SIM feature.

 Creative anticipation: In response to the increasing demand of tablets (7

inch to 10.1 Inch) in the market, they have introduced a hybrid between
smartphones and tablet “Phablets” in the market.
Strategies of Market Leader
[Symphony]
 Defensive Marketing Strategies:
 Position Defense: Through price leadership, symphony solidifies its position in the
consumer minds. Consumers view Symphony as a brand that provides latest
technologies in minimal price. They have smartphones ranging from 5,000 taka to
30,000

 Counter Offensive Defense: In response to Walton’s new Primo ZX and Samsung’s

Galaxy Grand they have launched Xplorer Z IV which has better technology with
lower price than the other competitors.

 Flank Defense: They have different smartphone models that are similar to their
flagship model which act as flanks. & defend against possible attacks.
Company Overview: Samsung
 International brand, worldwide market
leader with 24 percent market share

 Focuses more on high-end devices at higher

price

 Product pricing ranges from Tk 7,500 to Tk

80,000
Challenger Strategies of
Samsung
Frontal Attack

Using its vast infrastructural and financial resources, Samsung it

taking on Symphony by coming up with products that are equal
in quality, and sometimes even better.

For example, Samsung S Duos model offers the same features as

Symphony's RX2 or VX2 in a similar price range, while Samsung's
model promises higher brand value and service.
Challenger Strategies of
Samsung
Bypass attack
Samsung have capitalized on the high-end range of smartphones where
Symphony or even Walton are absent. Its Galaxy line of smartphones
is the highest selling high-end device in the country, thus creating a
profitable bypass for Samsung.

Encirclement Attack
With a product line with varying quality and price range as low as Tk
7,500 to Tk 80,000, Samsung is launching encirclement attacks on the
market leader. The aim is to lure customers with cheaper promotional
offers (combined with guerrilla attack tactics) and then steadily push
them to upgrade.
Company Overview: Walton
•Started production in 2009

•Marketing mantra - “A Walton phone in every

hand”

•Productionline includes 22 different models of

smartphones running Android operating system

•Pricingfor smartphones range from Tk 3,990 to

Tk 30,990
Follower Strategy of Walton
 Walton uses imitator strategy & adaptor strategy to win some new
customers and to hold current ones.
 Imitator: As an imitator, it copies some features from some existing
popular models, such as design but differentiates in packaging,
pricing, location etc.

Samsung Galaxy S3 Walton Primo S3

For example, Walton named one of it’s latest models as Primo S3 which is
similar to Samsung’s Galaxy S3. But, the design is different.
Follower Strategy of Walton
Adaptor: Some of Walton’s available smartphones are improved versions
of some other existing models of leading brands.

Samsung Galaxy S2 Walton Primo s2

The design of their previous model Primo S2 was adapted from Galaxy S2
and the LG Nexus 5. It was not a counterfeit copy but front design was
similar.
Company Overview: Nokia
 In Bangladeshi handset market since 1997

 Was market leader with around 52 percent

market share even in late 2005

 Symbian operating system-based Nokia

handsets saw sharp decline following Android's
emergence starting from 2009
Company Overview: Nokia
 Nokia refused to join the Android platform, instead
partnered with Microsoft to introduce Windows phones

 Nokia's Windows-based Lumia line now holds 3.3

percent market share worldwide, and around 4% in
Bangladesh

 Nokia introduced three Android-based handsets in late

2013, but abandoned the initiative due to
disappointing sales
 Strategy of Market Niche
[Nokia]
 Market Niches offer high value achieve lower manufacturing
cost & specialized in their targeted customer segment. Nokia
shows the following niche characteristics:

 Very selective people prefer windows to other smartphone OS.

Nokia is popular in this customer segment with their innovative
Lumia smartphones.

 Nokia is also expanding their niches with the latest and most
updated windows OS (Windows 8 mobile) which is more flexible to
use with other devices run by Windows 8 operating system
(laptops, tablets etc).

 Nokia has improvised on their smartphone cameras & targeting the

customers segment who are enthusiastic about mobile photography.
 Strategy of Market Niche
[Nokia]
 PHOTO LUMIA mobiles

Nokia Lumia 1020 has 41 megapixel camera, Provides cross-platform

unprecedented in the smartphone industry Windows operating system support
Thank You!!!