Is Htc's Competitive Position Sustainable? How Or Why?

The sensation of the iPhone is obvious in person; everywhere you go, someone has one of these devices in their possession. With millions of units selling every year, it is no wonder that the device is becoming highly ubiquitous and iconic. Like other Apple products, the iPhone is something that is easily recognized all around the world. The same phone has been selling for over four years now with cosmetic and hardware updates for each year’s new iteration, along with an operating system that is becoming more refined. Since its release in 2007, the iPhone has been a massively successful product for Apple, who has sold more than 100 million units in the iPhone's first four year, including 18.6 million in the first quarter of 2011 (Artman). Other competitors make smartphones that are better than the iPhone in many ways, yet Apple is selling more than ever. Other companies release new phones faster than the yearly refresh of Apple’s iPhones, but the latest isn’t always the greatest. It isn’t the technology that makes the iPhone successful, but rather the cool factor that the device expresses (Mintz).

There are many competing brands of smart phones and Samsung has reported a decline of profits in 2014. Information from GSM arena shows than Samsung released 54 new phone models in 2014 , compared with 24 by HTC , 11 Motorola and 2 by Apple, leading to increased production costs and lack focus on a specific customer segments thereby losing some of its competitive advantage (GSM Arena , 2015).The lack of popularity of its own OS (Tizen ) and dependence on Google’s Android platform makes it vulnerable on google to develop an “ecosystem”. There are component integration issues as well as loss revenue from potential App sales (Strategic Mangement insight , 2015). Negative publicity from litigation due to patents are likely to continue as technology patents are vague and Samsung with is large portfolio is likely to infringe on some of the patents (Tibken, 2014).

Apple and Samsung are the major competitors in the smartphone field. We would, like to discuss why they’re leading and conclude which one is better. In the electronic industry these two companies fight are considered as the highest massive ever. They mainly clash for brand image and brand reputation but any consequences regarding this fight, the impact should be faced by both these companies in terms of brand reputation loss and also the loss of huge amount of money over the litigations We would like to discuss the following,

HTC start up as a professional original engineering manufacture company (OEM) for PDA and other computer parts in 1999. While it changes its core business from PDA to smart phones, it discovered an opportunity of developing its own brand. In 2007, it brands itself into HTC while introducing the “TOUCH” series. This paper discusses the theory of global strategy for individual organizations and the necessary strategic actions for HTC in order to transfer itself into a leading smart phone company in the

2000-2006: HTC made first time profits when it engineered and developed PDA for Compaq computer. HTC made an alliance with top hardware companies and became best hardware maker which led to release of the XDA, the first Windows based smartphone by collaborating with Microsoft. HTC operated in ODM business and Mobile operator business. HTC designed customized phones for Mobile operators based on their specifications which led them to gain attractive contracts from different Mobile operators. HTC contracts with mobile operators was reason for HTC’s early success. HTC relationship with Handspring to develop Treo smartphone facilitated the opportunity to learn about software and User-Interface design. By 2006, HTC was shipping more than 70% of the world Windows Mobile smartphones.

What do people look for when purchasing a smart phone? What are some of the major selling points that convince consumers that iphones are better than androids or vice versa? Some people would argue that the two are different in many ways. But when looking closely at the new Iphone 4s and the Android sells you can see that there are minimal differences.

In 2014 both Apple and Samsung sold a combined total of about 108.2 million units of their products! Samsung sold about 71 million units while on the other hand Apple sold 94.75 million units. For the past few years, the competing and comparison between Apple and Samsung was at its maximum. Fights started between people to prove an idea about which company is the best but they did not know that they were only comparing their smartphone. That is not the only thing a person should concentrate at while comparing two of the biggest multinationals in the world. People should look at the sales of all of the company’s products, their profits and losses, the history of the company, and the reviews of the people about their

Two operating systems currently dominate the smartphone market, Apple and Android. It all started six years ago when Google launched its android system. However, its approach was much different. Google had made just the software, not the device, giving the software free to phone makers to alter and adjust in anyway they pleased to fit their over 70 different phones. Google believed that by offering it free, in the long run would create more internet friendly phones and more ad views for Google. I think that this strategy was successful due to the fact that Android is the world’s most popular operating system loved by many smartphone users. My point here, that Android is the better operating system, than Apple, should interest those who are

Based on the analysis of the market and given the potential alternatives, we recommend that the third alternative will be the best solution for HTC. A Porters analysis was undertaken for an assessment of the smartphone market which shows that there are two main forces to take into consideration: competing sellers and buyers. Considering these characteristics of the market we believe that HTC will be able to feasibly and profitably enter the smartphone market under its own branded phone.

Motorola, famous amongst mobile phones, and one of the top cellular phone companies in the world till late 1990, later it was captured by the company Nokia. While writing this case we have thrown light on the challenges and problems faced by Motorola around 2006-2007. One of the ideas incorporated in order to recapture the market in the year 2006 was to slash the prices of almost all the cell phones which impacted the returns of the company. Motorola did announce in the year 2007 that they will revive shortly and would have the market share back.

Smartphone market is fast-moving and very high competitive due to intense competition between two big smartphone producers, Apple and Samsung. At the beginning, Apple dominated this market solely by introducing a new innovative type of smartphone by Steve Jobs that has revolutionized people lifestyle and mobile industry. A few years after launching iPhone, a new fast following competitor, Samsung came into this market, and their sales have outperformed Apple from the year 2011 (According to Chart A1 in Appendix). In term of developing their product, Samsung has created its products by following Apple’s technology since the beginning of producing its smartphone, therefore there are many patent lawsuits between them. Since Steve Job passed away, Apple has continued to develop its core competence, which is an innovation of new type of smartphone that could help them to take back their market share from its rival, Samsung. Nonetheless, the competition between Apple and Samsung will still continue intensively in the future.

Apple operates with fierce competition in the consumer electronics segment which comes in many different forms. There are a large number of competitors in the different market niches who offer many similar products. Furthermore, many of these competitors' products are priced much less than an Apple branded products. Just as soon as Apple releases a new product, major companies begin imitating it immediately. In the personal computer industry, market pressure is continuously being exerted from such companies such as IBM, Dell, HP, and Toshiba (Wildstrom, 2009). Furthermore, with its flagship product the IPhone, Apple competes with companies like HTC, Palm, Blackberry, and Motorola (Wortham, 2011). Apple has had significant success despite the competitive environment because Apple commands a brand loyalty and dedication to innovation that few companies have ever achieved.

HTC Corporation (HTC) is a Taiwanese operation founded in May 1997 in Taiwan, which is one of the most influential, creative and leading players in global telecommunications with an n increasing influence in the industry’s future (HTC quietly billion, 2012). HTC’s portfolio includes smartphones and tablets powered by the Android and HTC Sense™ operating systems (HTC Annual Report, 2010). Focusing on smartphone market; devoting to innovation and design in the mobile phone industry; and committing to develop exceptional technology and products to cater for the diverse and exceed needs of users are HTC’s current brand strategies. In addition, HTC response to market changes fast and provides

smartphones, first dual-mode GSM/ WiMAX phone, first 3G Android phone, and first 4G LTE Android phone. Also, HTC Sense, launched in 2009, was a momentous breakthrough that revolutionized the mobile phone experience. Consistent innovative product launches also enhance the visibility of the company 's brand. The company 's significant R&D capabilities gives it’s a competitive edge to reach the market first with many industry leading innovations and features. Strong relationships with industry leaders The company has strong relationships with many technology companies and telecom service providers. It maintains strong long-term partnerships with technology industry leaders, including Microsoft, Google and Qualcomm, which serve as active labs of research and development and product evolution. For instance, HTC 's launch of the world 's first Windows Mobile smartphone and first Android smartphone is an example. These partnerships ensure that the hardware, software, and content management and delivery systems are united in seamless and intuitive ways. HTC 's products are currently sold through major carriers and local retail channels in major markets in Europe, the Americas and Asia.

India was lucrative since the Indian handheld market is booming and slowly becoming one of the world’s biggest and fasted growing markets. There being a lack of certain technology, gives HTC the opportunities to fill new market gaps. The company’s products are standardized for the global market, while strategies are adapted to respected countries. HTC seems to be efficiency seeking when looking especially at the Indian market. HTC is selling phones globally and in India they are trying to succeed through International Specialization. The company was benefiting at first, from the lack of top of the line mobile phones in the Indian market. Its future strategy is to keep this trend going. The company is trying to take over the top and middle class mobile phone market in India by being the first to offer the latest and greatest technology available and ignoring the lower class mobile market. It managed to do so already by introducing the first fully touch phone and fully Android powered phone.