Consumer Behaviour Analysis of Samsung Smartphone Industry

Samsung Company
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Samsung was founded by Byung-Chull-Lee in the year 1938 began as a trade export, selling
fish and vegetables. Now the company has grown to be an emerging global organisation. For
more than 70 years. Samsung has worked on manufacturing diverse and high-tech electronic
concept products that lead in the global market today. The recent series of Galaxy S series
has tremendously increased the market share of Samsung. This case study talks about the
consumer behaviour with respect to the Samsung smartphone industry. Since Samsung caters
to a variety of customers and deals with the global rage of customers, they must analyse the
customer preferences based on various demographic factors. Samsung is now in the maturity
stage of the product life cycle and is facing a very strong competition from local brands in
certain geographical locations as they offer similar features at a cheaper price. Samsung has
to consider the consumer reviews and try to continue improving its market position and
quality products. They also have to work on building brand loyalty and reputation. This
report discusses about the marketing concept in relation to Samsung smartphones. It
elaborates on the marketing strategy of Samsung smartphones and it states the
recommendations that can help the company in making profits.
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INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this case study is to analyse the consumer behaviour specific to Samsung
smart phone market. For this case study, we will discuss about the consumer behaviours that
affect the smart phone industry. The report begins with the information about the history and
growth of Samsung Electronics Industry Co Ltd followed by the background of the company.
The background of the company discusses about the major target audience of the Samsung
industry specific to mobile phones, industry and the competitors and the emerging trends in
the industry. It later moves and to the consumer behaviour analysis, reason for Samsung’s
success and recommendation. The case study concludes with the professional reflection.
BACKGROUND
History
Samsung Electronics Industry Co Ltd was established in the year 1969 in Suwon, South
Korea as Samsung-Sanyo Electronics. They began as a home electronics business and
quickly became a major manufacturer in the Korean market. Despite the 1977 financial crisis,
Samsung Electronics was one of the very few Korean companies that continued growing.
Samsung has now been recognised as an industrial leader in technology and now ranked as
top 10 global brand (Samsung, n.d.)
Industry and competitive market
The mobile phone technology first began in 1983 by Motorola when they launched a cellular
portable phone for commercial purposes. The first ever smartphone was created by IBM
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called the Simon Personal Communicator with the functions of a cell phone and PDA
(Twedie, 2015)
In 2002, Nokia and Motorola shared over 50% of the mobile market. The industry has a lot of
competitors such as Sony, HTC, Xiaomi, Huwaei, Nokia, Apple to name a few. Samsung
surpassed all the brands as now has the largest market share in the world in terms of number
of units sold.
Target audience
Samsung targets a rage of age groups from seniors to centennials by providing them with
products usable on a daily basis as well as products for industrial purpose. Unlike Apple,
Samsung target audience expand from young generation to consumers with lower salaries
(Manoa, 2014).
Current and emerging trends
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In order to be competitive, smartphone industry has to adopt to the constantly emerging
trends and consumer requirements and embrace advanced technology. Currently most of the
consumers see for smartphones with good cameras, fast processors, good memory, durable
battery life and sleek body. Smartphones now are definitive gadgets that combine the features
of a TV, Camera, gaming systems, video player, mp3, instant messaging services etc. The
smartphone industry is extremely dynamic even though the market is in the hands of very few
players.
CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR ANAYSIS
1. Social Influence:
Different products are perceived to be appropriate to specific social classes by customers.
Phone is necessity, but is more of a luxury product that customers hold. They prefer latest
models and top most brand depicting a form of status consumption. Most of the consumers
highly depend on their social circle in order to purchase a smartphone (Castaldi, Addeo,
Massaro, & Mazzoni, 2011).
2. Consumer Diversity:
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