Smartphone and Blackberry Essay

Submitted By alexpalacio
Words: 1249
Pages: 5

BLACKBERRY (RIM)
STRATEGIC ANALYSIS

BY:

BLACKBERRY (RESEARCH IN MOTION)

Blackberry is a brand that was created by Research in Motion's (RIM) Founder Mike Lazaridis in 1996, providing wireless web enabled devices across multiple networks. RIM is a Canadian based company founded in 1984 that formally worked with RAM and Ericsson, developing a two way paging system and wireless email network.

- Geographic areas served: Worlwide
- Main competitors; Apple Inc, Google Inc, Nokia, Samsung.
- Partnership: Foxconn (Manufacturer of smart phones).

The company's goal and vision is clear: "to provide solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market, including the software that allows the BlackBerry Smartphone to provide mobile access to email, applications, media and the Internet."

Blackberry Mission Statement is to be a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of innovative wireless solutions for the world wide mobile communications market. Through the development of integrated hardware, software and services that support multiple wireless network standards, RIM provides platforms and solutions for seamless access to time-sensitive information including email, phone, text messaging (SMS and MMS), internet and intranet-based applications.

Blackberry current strategy is to take the company back to its roots by focusing on the company’s core business customers instead of chasing after the broader consumer market.

BUSINESS ANALYSIS OF RIM

1. PORTER’S 5 FORCES ANALYSIS

A. BARGAINING POWER OF SUPPLIERS:

- There is limited number of suppliers because most of the companies like research in motion are designing, manufacturing and programming all the devices themselves. However there are numerous hardware and software suppliers.

- Blackberry’s operating system is complicated therefore it limits the number of software developers that will work with them. This problem was seen recently with the launch of the BlackBerry Z10 struggling to get some applications for it.

- Blackberry supplier’s power is MODERATE

B. BARGAINING POWER OF BUYERS:

- The bargaining power of customer is HIGH because they can cheaply and easily change. The demand is very elastic and the information is not asymmetric. First because the market is price in-elastic. The change in the price of the product does not cause a significant change in the demand of the product. And also because most of the products are standardized, it is difficult to respond to consumers requirements in constantly innovating and creating additional value. Consumers have more choices but less differentiated products.

C. THREAT OF SUBSTITUTES:

- Substitute Product is LOW, except fixed line phone there is limited number of substitutes (Now days not many people are using a home phone line any more). The substitutions are designed with additional functions and features. The most recent substitutes are the notebooks but even these products do not have the same finality than phones.

D. COMPETITIVE RIVALRY:

- There is very low product differentiation.
- There is high rivalry amongst there direct competitors Nokia, Apple, Google, Samsung.
- The competitive rivalry is HIGH.

E. THREAT OF NEW ENTRANTS:

- Large Rivalry.
- It is difficult to enter this market because competitors must constantly innovate, launch new products, develop additional features at the best quality possible, increase production capacity, levels of services and at low prices in order to survive. Thus this market requires huge capital investment in R&D and manufacturing costs for instance.
- Threat of new entrants is LOW

2. SWOT ANALYSIS

STRENGTHS:

- Blackberry uses all their strength in focusing in a narrow customer segment ( governments and corporates), satisfying the needs of this niche, something that some business rarely do.
- Blackberry phones are highly secure. It’s phones provided a secure encrypted network that allowed sending emails between phones without