Analysis of the Australian Smartphone Market: Trends and Forces

This report analyzes the Australian smartphone market, which is characterized as an oligopoly dominated by major brands like Apple and Samsung. The study explores the various environmental forces impacting the market, including competitive, economic, political, legal, technological, and sociocultural factors. Competition from new and established firms is a significant driver, while economic forces, such as Australia's strong GDP and consumer spending, also play a crucial role. The report also discusses the impact of technological advancements, the saturation of the market, and the influence of sociocultural factors, particularly the aging population's impact on smartphone adoption. The report highlights the importance of marketing mix strategies, including strategic partnerships and customer interaction platforms. The report concludes by referencing key sources like IBISWorld and Marketline to support its findings.

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SMARTPHONES MARKET IN AUSTRLIA
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The smartphone market in Australia is considered to be an oligopoly, and this happens when
certain firms take the more significant percentage of the product in the market, and they will
change their way of functioning according to their competitors (William et al. 2015, pp. 43-44).
The smartphone market comprises more than 87% of the overall number of phones used by the
Australians ( Marketline 2016). This market is dominated by major brands like Apple and
Samsung.
There are several environmental forces that either affects this market directly or indirectly and
these are; competitive forces, economic forces, political forces, legal, technological and
sociocultural forces. In this case, competition is one of the leading forces that drive this market.
This force makes small and new firms to enter the market which is often controlled by the larger
firms like Apple which already have a reputation in Australia. The two giants put a lot of
competition pressure to other manufacturers in Australia because opportunities for new comers
in Australia is very rare (IBISWORLD 2016, p.19-20).
On the other hand, economic forces are a threat in the Australian market, and this is because
Australia is one of the countries with the strongest GDP in the world and this makes it to need
high technology products. Thus, in an economy where the average income of a household
increases, then the people will want to acquire new and expensive phones (IBISWorld 2016, p 4-
5). If the financial index fails, people will not feel confident about getting new products because
of lack of confidence in their economic status.
The sales retail of smartphones in Australia is increasing, and this is because many people are
driven to replace their previous phones. Leading manufacturers of smartphones often release
their latest phones annually, and because smartphone technology is advancing at a slow rate,
many smartphone customers in Australia are choosing to wait for a longer period so that they can
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upgrade their phones. Some of the reasons why the smartphone market in Australia is advancing
at a slow rate is because of the saturation of smartphones in the market thus no new product is
being introduced, and also, the manufacturers of these phones do not make major upgrades on
new models to facilitate or force customers to upgrade their phones. In 2017 alone, the volume
sales of smartphones declined by three percent to 7.6 million units.
Due to the advancing nature of technology currently in the world, smartphones are becoming an
important part of the people of Australia because of the various functions and features that come
with smartphones. This has changed the idea of carrying several gadgets like cameras because
these smartphones come with high-end quality cameras. Additionally, these innovations and
demands for new technology are considered a positive aspect of the smartphone market in
Australia. The development of 3G and 4G networks has led to many people wanting to access
gadgets that use this network. This will increase the smartphone market in Australia (Ewing and
Thomas 2010). The advancement of technology used in the smartphones is the major marketing
strategy that manufacturers of these phones use to attract their customers. Manufacturers expect
smartphones of the future to be better and relate to the future and upcoming trends. According to
research, in the years 2016 and 2017, the demand for smartphones in Australia has increased, but
in 2017, the sale has gone down because there have been no major improvements in the new
smartphones that manufacturers being produced.
Regarding attitudes, beliefs, norms, customs, and lifestyle, which are aspects of sociocultural
forces. According to this force, the aging population is one of the significant factors that
currently affect the smartphone market in Australia (Pride 2015, p 51). The older consumers in
the society have proved to be one of the major problems that are facing the Australian
smartphone market. This is because older people do not often change their gadgets. Most of them
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usually retain their old phones despite the fact that new products are often produced yearly. This
is because they do not have an interest in the new technology that the manufacturers come up
with because their basis of having a phone is communication. Moreover, they often end up
feeling that getting a new phone while the old one is still working is wastage of money especially
when one changes his or her phone after every one and two years. Therefore, this aspect has a
negative impact on the smartphone market in Australia.
Younger people are often the ones who expand the smartphone market in Australia, and this is
because they normally change their phones frequently. Young people want to be on par with the
latest technology in the market, and thus, each time a smartphone is introduced, they will always
be interested in its aspects and specification. It the new gadget has better characteristics than
their current phone, then they will have to acquire the new phone. This aspect is what increases
the smartphone market in Australia and manufacturers such as Samsung will always produce
new gadgets with this group of individuals in mind.
Marketing Mix Startegies
Smartphone companies should partner with allies to provide products that are competitive in the
market.
Smartphone companies should offer platforms where customers can easily interact with the
company.
Smartphones should try to use different platforms to market their products, ie, partner with
marketing institutes.
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References.
Cloutman, N 2016, Mobile phone and table wholesaling in Australia, Industry report,
https://www.ibisworld.com.au/industry
Ewing, S. and Thomas, J., 2010. CCi digital futures 2010: the Internet in Australia.
https://researchbank.rmit.edu.au/view/rmit:39653
IBISWorld, viewed 14 November 2017, retrieved from IBISWorld Database. www.ibisworld.com
Marketline 2016, Mobile phone in Australia, industry report, viewed 14 November 2017,
retrieved from Marketline Advantage Database. https://www.marketresearch.com
Pride, WM, Ferrell, OC, Lukas, BA, Schembri, S, Niininen, O 2015, Marketing principle, 2nd
edn, Cengage Learning, South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. https://books.google.com
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