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for_mad55.docxSamsung is a major competitor in the consumer electronics industry. The company has a wide variety of strengths that have kept them going strong over the 78 years that they have been in business. Along with the many strengths of the company there are many weaknesses the company needs to work on. With globalization and the world in general moving forward there are multiple opportunities the company has to consider as well. Along with this comes multiple threats as well that the company needs to consider (Samsung).
Samsung has multiple strengths that has kept them in business for such a long period of time versus the stiff competition in the industry. In the consumer electronics industry staying ahead on research and development is the biggest key. A consumer is always looking for the product that brings the most to the table and has the latest and greatest abilities. Samsung prides themselves in their research and development as they are often the first to possessing new features with their products. If the company does manage to fall behind somewhere for example in the cell phone industry versus Apple Inc, they have shown they can replicate and improve upon the products that have been released by them.
Another strength is that the impressive market share that Samsung currently holds. As of 2015 they held a market share of 21.4% in the cell phone industry. This is significantly higher than their biggest competitor which is Apple Inc. who holds 13.9%. The ability to hold a larger market share than competitors is very important to the success of a company. (SWOT analysis of Samsung).
Samsung also has very strong relationships with retailers throughout the United States and other countries around the world. Where Apple often depends on their own stores, Samsung is better known for selling through retailers which they have built strong relationships with over time.
Samsung does have multiple weaknesses that they are facing as well. Many users who have Apple products feel that their iOS is better than that of the Android. Each operating system has their own look to them, but the idea that Apple’s is better in people’s minds represents a weakness that the company has to deal with.
The company also faces very limited growth potential where they are doing business. In general people already have the products that are provided by Samsung such as televisions and wireless phones. Samsung is fighting to keep a hold onto these customers from competitors which represents a different kind of challenge then growing in their current market.
There are many opportunities for a Samsung that they need to take advantage of. While many regions which Samsung is doing business in do not have room for growth, there are regions in the world that they could expand their business to. For example there are areas in India and Africa that represent huge opportunities for Samsung as they have not quite made it to the technology level that countries like those in western Europe or even the United States have.
Another opportunity that Samsung has is the increasing demand for new wearable technology products such as watches. Watches that people can make calls and check e mails on have become more popular in recent years and Samsung has the opportunity to capitalize on the consumers desires in this area.
In many countries the middle class is on the rise and because of this, more people are going to be able to purchase these products. There used to be multiple countries where the population for the most part was too poor to afford products that Samsung produces. There has been a shift recently though and more people are in the middle class and able to afford their products.
Another opportunity that Samsung has is the use of online sales to promote and get their product to their customers. People are not going to stores as much as they used to, but rather are ordering products online using sites such as Amazon. These types of online sales channels can provide not only another way to sell to customers but cost savings as well. Not having to sell a product in actual stores could save the company money if online sales were to completely make in store sales irrelevant someday (SWOT analysis of Samsung).
While Samsung does have many opportunities that they can take advantage of, there are threats that they are currently facing as well. While Apple was not a major competitor of Samsung when they first entered the cell phone industry they are now. Apple not only is a competitor, but they have ways of keeping their customers by making it impossible to transfer their information to a competitor’s phone.
They face another threat via Chinese manufacturers such as Huawei and Xiamoi who are potentially major rivals for Samsung in the near future. The industry is one that does allow for competitors to emerge and these are just two of them in the Asian markets that could be a threat in the near future for them.
Arguably their biggest competitor Apple only competes with Samsung in certain areas of the consumer technology industry. Apple could decide to attempt to take over some of Samsung’s market share for other products such as cameras or other home appliances such as televisions.
In order for Samsung to continue their success they need to make sure that they stay ahead of the competition from a research and development standpoint. This is by far the most important area when dealing with the technology industry. The company has shown that they can compete with the best, but they do have some weaknesses and threats that they need to thwart before they become too much of a burden to face.
Works Cited
Dudovowski, J. (n.d.). Samsung SWOT Analysis. Retrieved January 1, 2017, from http://research-methodology.net/samsung-swot-analysis/
Samsung. (n.d.). Retrieved January 1, 2017, from http://www.samsung.com/us/aboutsamsung/
SWOT analysis of Samsung. (2015, October 21). Retrieved January 1, 2017, from http://pestleanalysis.com/swot-analysis-of-samsung/
