A Research On Samsung Company: Evaluations And Recommendations

Introduction

Samsung is a multinational company whose headquarter is in Seoul which is the capital of South Korea having numerous subsidiaries. Samsung has become a synonym for reliability due to its excellent quality of its products and services. In the year 2017, this company has been ranked as the 14th largest company in the world with a brand value of USD 56. 2 billion. This company’s business has a principle focus on the electronic devices, heavy industry, construction, and defence industries. Apart from these, advertising, insurance, and entertainment businesses are also other major subsidiaries of Samsung. It is the largest producer of electronic devices all over the world. Now, Samsung has become one of the most identifiable names in technology and manufactures about a fifth of South Korea’s total exports. Lee Byung-chull is the founding father of this company. He started as a grocery trading store in the year1938 in a Taegu city of South Korea. In its opening time, it trades and exports only domestic products. In the decade of the 1960s, this company stepped into the electronics industry with the development of various electronics-focused divisions such as Samsung Electronics Devices, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Samsung Corning, Samsung Semiconductor & Telecommunications. Thereafter, it entered the construction and shipbuilding industries between 1975 and 1977. In the year 1988, Samsung entered into the phone market and started manufacturing mobile phones. SH-100 was the first mobile phone created by Samsung. In 2011 and 2012, Samsung released the Galaxy S II and Galaxy S III, which becomes the world's most popular smartphone. By the end of 2012, Samsung becomes the largest mobile phone maker in the world. At present, Lee Kun-hee is the Chairman, and Lee Jae-youg is the Vice Chairman of Samsung Group.

Brand Values, Philosophy and its Motive

A name, symbol, color or design or all of these put together makes a brand. The brand has always been considered to have a higher value than the benefits of a product by marketers. Interbrand (A New York-based marketing consultancy, specializing in brands and branding management) has released its “Best Global Brands 2018” list and Samsung has ranked 6th on the list with an estimated brand value of $60 billion. The brand value of Samsung was increased by 6. 5 percent. In the year 2017, Interbrand had estimated its brand value as $56. 2 billion. Samsung is considered as a second-largest firm over the world in terms of information technology after Apple Inc. This is all happened because of Samsung’s core values. People, excellence, change and innovation, integrity, and co-prosperity, all these are core values of Samsung. A company is by its people that they serve. Samsung is dedicated to giving people a wealth of opportunities to reach their full potential by providing them with not only products and services but also providing them with a platform to learn, inspire and innovate by sponsoring science technology programs where children can learn and aspire. For long-term success in the business, Samsung always keeps in the mind the market needs and demands. The Business of Samsung is based on working ethically and it is committed to becoming an environmentally and socially responsible corporate citizen in all its communities around the world. Samsung follows a simple business philosophy that is to devote its talent and technology to creating superior goods and services that contribute to a better global society. Samsung sets a high value on its people and technologies to attain its goal. Its branding philosophy is built on five main pillars like innovation, cutting-edge technology, world-class designs, recruiting the world’s best talents, and internal branding. Samsung has three main objectives. First and foremost is to manufacture high-quality products. The Second one is providing services that give customers the best satisfaction. Lastly, to retain the leadership position in the world market in the same line of business.

Audience Analysis

Samsung aims a diversified range of customers ranging from normal day to day usage devices to industrial standard equipment. Samsung has divided its customers into some groups and offering each group distinct goods and services based on their common character. The first group of customers ranges from 16 to 25 years old and the second group of consumers ranges from 26 to 55 years old or even older as long as the person has the ability to purchase. Audience from 16 to 25 age group is generally Samsung's smartphone target customers because they are most proficient in the use of the latest technology. This group includes high school and college students, and graduates who need modern electronic devices which are multifunctional and transportable. These consumers are growing as the company saw these customers has more spending power in recent years compared to in the past. Major audience from 26 to 55 age group, targets the largest portion of Samsung's target market as this is the group of customers that have the most ability to buy any of the product Samsung has to offer in the market be it smartphones, smart television, cameras or any other household products like refrigerators, microwave, vacuum cleaners or washing machines. This group comprise upper-middle-class professionals who usually have hectic schedules and need to communicate with their friends and families. The second group of customers will proceed to expand in the forthcoming years.

Competitors Analysis

Samsung is a multinational company, it markets and sells its manufactured product all over the world. Samsung has numerous competitors. The competitors are those who trade the same products and services in comparison to your business. Samsung manufactures smartphones as well as other electronic home appliances. In the field of smartphones, no doubt that Samsung is a leader but many other companies are also giving tough challenges to it. Samsung’s main competitors in this field are Apple, Sony, HTC, Huawei, Xiaomi, One Plus, Lenovo, Nokia, Oppo, Vivo, Motorola, Microsoft, Google’s Pixel, Micromax, I-ball and Intex. Nokia was having a dominant place in the mobile market. Both Samsung and Apple acquired dominant place after dethroning Nokia in the market of mobile. There is no doubt that Apple is Samsung’s number one competitor. Every year both these companies launch their smartphones. Samsung launches Note series and Galaxy series whereas Apple launches its new iPhone. Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, HTC and Micromax, these companies are giving tough competition in the Asian countries. These competitors are also impressing consumers with the designs and functionalities of their mobile phones. Further, Huawei is the second competitor of Samsung. This company operates with strong competitive pricing which undercuts other competitors. Besides this, Xiaomi is the fourth biggest smartphone making company and the third-highest competitor of Samsung in the world because of its manufacturing capacity and huge distribution. This company mainly focuses on two countries that are India and China because these two are the most populated countries in the world. In the field of electronics and home appliances, L. G, Philips, Whirlpool, Sony, Onida, and Panasonic are the strong competitors of Samsung. L. G is the number one competitor of Samsung in this sector. It has a dominant place concerning television, refrigerator, washing machines, and other kitchen and home appliances whereas Samsung has lesser goods in the kitchen and home appliances segment. Moving further, Philips is another strong competitor of Samsung where consumer durables are concerned. It has a wide product portfolio. Its television, sound system and kitchen products are giving strong competition to Samsung’s manufactured goods. Besides this, Whirlpool is the number third competitor of Samsung. In the washing machine market, it has a leadership position in comparison to Samsung. Panasonic is another competitor of Samsung having a stronghold on various goods like Air-conditioners, refrigerators, TVs, and kitchen appliances.

How does Samsung differentiate itself from market place?

Samsung has a strong commitment to research and development, as they believe that they are a company of its people, therefore, they are constantly trying to deliver people what the people require now and what they will be expecting in future from them which inspires them to innovate and design products. This core philosophy had led them to be industry leaders from the very beginning. Samsung came into the electronic business in 1973 with its first television and sold 5 million TVs till 1978 and became the world's number one manufacturer which led Samsung to dominate in other sectors such as home appliances, mobiles, computers, etcetera. Samsung knows how to hold this position and for that they invest 80 percent of their profit into research and development which is visible in their products, as Samsung was the first mobile brand to come up with a note and with curved displays. Samsung has more than 36 Research and Development Centres across the world which makes them the second-largest patient holders in the USA which hold their future consumer-oriented technologies.

Tagline

Samsung has always used taglines that represent innovations. This company used different taglines for different periods. The first tagline of Samsung was “Samsung for Today and Tomorrow” which they used in the year 1993 and it lasts up to 2002. The other taglines which Samsung used for different periods are “Imagine”, “Next is What?”, “Turn on Tomorrow”, “The Next Big Thing is Here”. At present, Samsung has started using “Do what you can’t”. This tagline capture Samsung’s unique positioning among other competing brands. It inspires people doing regular tasks every day and how advancement in technology could make them easier and hassle-free which will save users time in their busy schedule. This tagline helps them in capturing market share as it directly relates to the customers and instigates their curiosity that what next can be done which makes them eager to buy new Samsung products and use them. For example, every year they release the phones of the same size but with a bigger screen so that people can experience what they could not as last year. They learn what they can give more in a product without changing the product. Another example is their TVs as they are getting bigger and bigger in sizes which reduces space for sceneries or photographs on walls. They made TVs which dubs as a digital picture when not in use space and living up to brands tagline of what people were not able to do before them.

Strengths

As a brand, Samsung’s strengths include high quality and innovative products, investment in research and development, potential of manufacturing good designed and environment friendly goods, its image or position in the world market, large product portfolio, solid financial position, global presence, leadership position in mobile market, and its design features & technology. Samsung has started focusing on the quality and innovation of their products. To succeed in the technology segment, innovation plays a crucial role. To ensure and maintain a good quality of products, Samsung has started investing huge capital on research and development. In the year 2017, it was on the second place after Amazon company in terms of investment in the research and development among the technology companies. Samsung has great potential for manufacturing designed and environment-friendly products, which is proved by the awards it has received over the years. It has received more than 400 awards from the last 14 years. The Consumer Electronics Show (CSE) continuously awarding Samsung company from the last 14 years for its product’s design and innovations. Besides this, Samsung has a large product portfolio which includes smartphones, computer goods, electronics, home appliances, cameras, semi-conductors, and memory cards & chips. At present, Samsung has surpassed many big companies such as Nokia, Sony, L. G, and Intel. The Presence of its offices and hubs in all parts of the world is another strengthening point of Samsung. It has 217 operation hubs globally and offices across 73 countries of the world. Moving further, through its innovations, high-quality products, and services, Samsung has earned a good reputation in the global market. It has built its brand by building a relationship with customers by providing them the best satisfaction. Design features and technology is also a strength of this company, as it is the first company to introduce dual-screen mobile, the first phone with polyphonic ringtones, better camera quality, color phone screen, and many more.

Weaknesses

Apart from strengths, there are also some weaknesses in this company. The main deficiency is that Samsung is a hardware company, it has not its own software i. e. Operating Systems for their products. So, it has to depend upon other companies for software. The second weak point is that due to its large product portfolio it is difficult for them to concentrate on each product. Thirdly, it has a weak position in the computer industry. HP, Lenovo, Apple, and Dell are the major manufacturer of PC and the share of Samsung is very much small in comparison to them. Further, Samsung is highly reliant on western countries like America and Canada for selling their products. In the case of fluctuations in these countries, it may affect the revenue and profit of the company. Besides this, the emergence of new companies like Huawei, Oppo, Lava, Micromax, etcetera also weakens Samsung’s competitive position in the consumer market. Samsung seems to be pretty eager to launch its products only to be the first in the market and by doing this practice they are overlooking testing of their products. A prime example of this is their note series Note 7. It was the first phone with a bigger battery in a small factor which led to the exploding of phones. The case was so worse that they need to recall their product. After a few years, this happened again with Galaxy S9, as its optical scanner was not working correctly, and the phone was getting unlocked by just showing a picture of the owner. This was another major strike to them which was fortunately solved by a software update, but sadly lost reputation cannot be recovered. Another incident happened again when Samsung launched world's first folding phone in February this year the Galaxy Fold which is world’s first folding display but as soon as it came into the market people reported that the screen is coming off like a peal and once again the phone was recalled until the issue was fixed by them. We thought this would be their last mistake but that was not the case as their recently launched phone Galaxy S10 which allows anyone to unlock the phone. These continuous mistakes make users doubtful about their products as product reliability is also as important as its features.

Recommendations

Samsung is required to amplify its brand image, identity, product portfolio, its architecture, brand vision, and brand positioning. Further, it should invest more capital in technology, design capabilities, and brand marketing just to remain in the competitive market and to maintain lead over its competitors. As we know, reputation is very precious for every brand, so, Samsung should ensure the quality of its manufactured products before launching them in the consumer’s market. As some past incidents like recalling Note 7, unlocking problems with Galaxy S9 and S10 caused a bad impact on Samsung’s goodwill in the world market. Therefore, Samsung needs to understand that testing a device is also as much important as the functionality of a device and they should spend more money on the testing facility as they spend on research and development. It will not only save their money as well as save them from global embarrassment due to their negligence which demolishes their brand value. They should focus more on Quality rather than quantity. Additionally, Samsung also required to build brand equity in other product categories such as laptops, tablets, and accessories. Moreover, it should work more on creating its personality and making an emotional connection with people. For this purpose, it should focus on emotional branding. Emotional Branding means creating emotional connections to one company that distinguishes it from the others, it is all about creating brand faithfulness overtimes. Apple and BMW are well-known examples of this. For engaging more customers, Samsung should make proper use of social media like Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Etcetera for the promotion of their products. Besides this, it should employ or take help from Public Relations Professionals in building their brand image and position in the market. Samsung should also pay attention to making its software for its products. As Samsung is only a hardware company, it has to depend upon other companies like Google and Microsoft for the operating system for their goods. Apple owns its operating system for all its products.