Ricky Folmar, Robert Gleinser, Brandon Guardiola International MGMT 4316 11-21-15 Samsung vs. Apple Will the battle ever end between Samsung and Apple? No one really knows but we do know that these two companies have been battling over the last 5 years for the top spot in the wireless device industry. They are the two biggest companies in terms of market share in our country when it comes to cell phones and they want to continue their growth internationally as well. It becomes difficult to compete with international companies in places like China because of their ability to offer great android phones at a good price. Samsung and Apple have to adjust strategically in order for them try to maintain competitive in the international industry. When it comes to price, Samsung and Apple will never win, however with their quality product they can win over international markets if they approach it with the right strategy. Samsung began producing their first black-and-white television to sale in 1972 (Samsung, 2015). Since this production, Samsung has developed and sold several items including washing machines, refrigerators, microwave ovens, air conditioners, personal computers, mobile phones, and several other technical appliances (Samsung, 2015s). However, when it comes to its biggest products, it would have to fall in the wireless industry where Samsung has made a significant impact by offering a wide variety of devices on the android platform for customers. Although they have been successful as of late, there was a time where they were struggling and needed to revamp their strategy. Even though they were excelling well with TV's sells, and certain appliances, they were not making any movement in the wireless industry and a change was needed. According to critic, Michal Lev-Ram, \"Samsung decided that its low-key approach wasn't working especially in the U.S., so president of Samsung's U.S. mobile operations assembled his local leadership team to figure out a way for Samsung to control its own destiny, instead of relying on partners to tell its story to consumers\" (3). So rather than sitting around Ricky Folmar, Robert Gleinser, Brandon Guardiola International MGMT 4316 11-21-15 hoping for its product to make an impact, Samsung decided to make the impact on its marketing team, revitalizing it until it met the standards Samsung wanted. They knew that marketing their product was just as important to selling the product as anything so they rebuilt the marketing team from scratch. According to Lev-Ram's article, \"Samsung spent $349 million on marketing in the U.S. in the first three quarters of 2012, compared to $191 million a year earlier\" (4). Obviously Samsung is focusing on their marketing aspect and improving it in order for its customer base to be more aware of its product and brand in the U.S. industry. Ideally, Samsung wants Apple customers to give them a shot and for them to prove their worth and show them they have a better product than Apple. Samsung had to come up with the right advertisement in order to entice customers to try them out and it has worked. When it comes to their product offered in the U.S., Samsung targets customers who want to be innovative with their technology while also giving them more ability for customization on their device, something that Apple doesn't offer with their often constrained operating system. With that being said, Samsung still has a lot of work to do if they want to eclipse the number one spot in the U.S. cell phone wireless market. According to Digital Trends, Jason Hahn, \"Apple claimed 43.6 percent of all smartphones in the U.S. in the three months ending in September, according to comScore's latest numbers, Samsung followed with 27.6 percent\" (1). This statistic is crucial simply because Samsung revealed their 2015 models in August while Apple released their 2015 models in September. It shows that Apple's new releases had a greater impact than Samsung's did this year in a less amount of time. Samsung has a lot of work to do to get its customers to stay loyal to their brand, while also convincing Apple users to switch to Samsung. Hahn also stated that, \"90 percent of Apple users said they prefer Apple for their next smartphone, while 5 percent said they prefer Samsung. Meanwhile, 84 percent of Samsung users said they prefer Samsung for their next smartphone, Ricky Folmar, Robert Gleinser, Brandon Guardiola International MGMT 4316 11-21-15 while 10 percent said they prefer Apple\" (1). As you can see from the last quote, Apple seems to have a little more commitment from its customers than Samsung does. A difference of 5% is a lot when it comes to the amount of cell phones that are sold these days. Keep in mind that there are four nationwide carriers that offer their phones and many different prepaid stores that sell them as well. Furthermore, the latest quarter numbers show that the latest devices available are in Apple's favor something that Samsung looks to turn around in the 4th quarter. Overall, Samsung needs to do a better job in the U.S. industry when it comes to their latest devices and getting customers to switch from Apple to Samsung, otherwise they will continue to fall second to Apple and not make up any ground it is lacking. Established in San Francisco, California, Apple is known to already have a solid foundation in the U.S. market, and their business strategy deserves a lot of credit for that. Apple is known for their innovative strategy and tightly integrating their products to work seamlessly together. It started with the apple computer now apple has made their mark here in the U.S. by also producing outstanding selling products like the Ipod, Iphone and Ipad. In addition, developing their own proprietary features like ITunes, Icloud, Imessage and facetime have really helped Apple separate themselves from other cell phone manufacturers who operate off of either the Windows or Android operating system. According to Apple's website, \"The Company's business strategy leverages its unique ability to design and develop its own operating systems, hardware, application software and services to provide its customers products and solutions with innovative design, superior ease-of-use and seamless integration. As part of its strategy, the Company continues to expand its platform for the discovery and delivery of third-party digital content and applications through the iTunes Store\" (Apple 2015). As you can see from the quote above, Apple relies on their own innovation for their business strategy. Apple ensures that its operating Ricky Folmar, Robert Gleinser, Brandon Guardiola International MGMT 4316 11-21-15 systems are up to par with its hardware along with providing the customer with an array of different choices when it comes to content on their device like the Itunes store, apple music, apple pay and many other features. Along with all the features it offers within its products, Apple's business model in the U.S. is known to be consistent over the last several years, especially when it comes to its products and release dates. Over the last 6 years in the U.S., there has been a new model Iphone released, with the last 4 years the model being released in September. Usually during its model changes, Apple unveils its latest and greatest operating system that usually includes something highly new and innovative for its customers to be excited about. Something about Apple is just so structured and organized, which I believe really helps them because their customers can almost anticipate when something new will be out, and they will definitely want their hands on it. Their strategy has been a success for Apple, especially around their launch dates. This year definitely supports that evidence with the new release of the Iphone 6s and 6s plus models. According to the Apple Press Info, \"Apple today announced it has sold more than 13 million new iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus models, a new record, just three days after launch\" (Apple 2015). I know that Apple's expectation was to set a new record in sales, however there were a lot of doubts since this generation was the \"s\" version of the phone, which includes significant changes but the phones are the same dimensions as last years' models. Still even with those doubts in mind, Apple still generated a successful launch, ignited by the special event they launched on September 9th in which they revealed all the new features and new IOS capabilities. As long as Apple continues to be innovative with its products and maintains its persistent business model, I see them to continue to dominate the U.S. market when it comes to cell phones and tablets. They currently have too many loyal users and many potential users that are wanting to switch which gives them the advantage over Samsung right now. Ricky Folmar, Robert Gleinser, Brandon Guardiola International MGMT 4316 11-21-15 China is another country that values its wireless technology. China, being one of the biggest countries in technology development, is one of the main sources that phone companies try to target for sales purposes. With a population over one billion people, it is a smart technique that companies aim their sales toward that country. Samsung has been a successful company in this country. \"Some 355.2 million smartphones [were] shipped across the globe in the third quarter, up 6.8% from a year ago\" (Howell, 2015). This successful company continues to grow and develop new phones for the public to enjoy. However, top rivals in China have recently shown increases in sales since, \"top global maker Samsung hit a speed bump in high-end smartphone sales in its quarterly report Thursday\" (Howell, 2015). Nevertheless, this prosperous company hit great stride for quarter three. \"Samsung saw sales rise 9% to about $45 billion, as its mobile segment sales grew 10%, with an 82% profit gain tied mostly to strong chip sales, as well as mobile sales. But it warned about rivals\" (Howell, 2015). On the other hand, Apple has also been around for some time in China. Their major competitor is Samsung. \"Apple said as part of its estimate-beating September-quarter earnings that its revenue from sales in Greater China nearly doubled to $12.5 billion, a higher dollar amount than it logged in Europe and accounting for almost a quarter of its total revenue of $51.5 billion\" (Howell, 2015). As stated by Cook on his conference call with analysts, \"'Revenue in Greater China nearly doubled year over year, and we continue to focus and invest heavily there'\" (Howell, 2015). With the revenue being as high as it is, it would only make sense to focus on consumer sales. Cook also mentioned that the Apple stores in this country are among the busiest in the world. \"Apple now has 25 and plans a total of 40 by mid-2017 in Greater China, which includes mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan\" (Howell, 2015). This is a significant strategy Ricky Folmar, Robert Gleinser, Brandon Guardiola International MGMT 4316 11-21-15 for this company in order to continue being such a successful business. Apple has also increased in its market share from \"11.8% a year earlier to 13.5%, seeing a 22% boost in shipments\" (Howell, 2015). Compared to Samsung, the community in China leans toward Apple products. Actually, Apple stated that \"30% of the people who bought iPhones in [quarter three] to replace a smartphone were switchers from Android the largest percentage Apple has ever seen\" (Howell, 2015). Overall, both products are very well off and have successful businesses of their own. Their strategy is to become more prosperous than the other. They each have their own techniques and strategies. But, there is no doubt that they each have a certain level of uneasiness about another corporation becoming more successful and taking customers away, just like Apple took android customers away. Both companies are finding ways to continue to be the top cellphone retailer. In conclusion, \"China is becoming increasingly important for high-end smartphone makers, and it's a market where Apple iPhones are gaining traction\" over Samsung phones (Howell, 2015). Since their first production, Samsung has broadened their products to allow a person to use only Samsung for their everyday electronic needs (Estrin, 2015). The expansion of Samsung into other countries has lead Samsung to be a large part of the South Koreans economy (Estrin, 2015). Samsung \"is responsible for a fifth of South Korea's exports and about 17 percent of the annual gross domestic product\" (Estrin, 2015, p. 4). New York Times (2015) stated, \"if Samsung collapsed, the whole Korean economy would collapse\" (p. 11). These quotes show how much Samsung means to its hometown country of Korea and there is no doubt, without them, Korea's economy would not be as stable. Ricky Folmar, Robert Gleinser, Brandon Guardiola International MGMT 4316 11-21-15 Samsung's success has been accompanied by the success of Apple Inc. Apple's recent release of their iPhone 6 and 6 plus created another wave of competition for Samsung (Dilger, 2015). In attempt to lessen the effects of Apple's release, Samsung released their new Galaxy in rose pink gold around the same date (Dilger, 2015). \"Apple's iPhone sales grew a healthy 26% annually crossing 20 million unit monthly sales mark for the first time ever in November 2014\" (Shan, 2015, p. 1). The rise of new Apple products that are deeming popular for their size and capability have lead to a \"higher than expected demand\" in Korea and other countries (Shan, 2015). \"Apple's iPhone market share soared and reached record levels in Japan and Korea markets\" (Shan, 2015, p. 3). The sales of Apple iPhones in Korea accounted for one-third of the total number of smartphones sold in November (Shan, 2015). By Samsung releasing their new Galaxy around the same date that Apple released their iPhone 6 and 6 plus models, Samsung was planning to hopefully have an edge on Apple by having a competing phone. However, Apple continues to globally market their popular products. Apple has won the hearts of Koreans with their large screens and innovative operating system and features. There are many ways apple could go about making themselves better known, and a great way to continue their global popularity is by finding a location to build a factory that makes Apple products. Having a direct line to South Korea would be huge in Apples' growth moving forward and surely Samsung would not like it. Another factor to consider before building a factory in South Korea is understanding the details about the country's market. This is a big issue moving to another country where there are different rules and regulations that come with it. Apple needs to do its thorough research before investing too soon and possibly making a mistake. However, if Apple can successfully move a factory to South Korea where they are known for technology, this would be huge for them in several ways. Ricky Folmar, Robert Gleinser, Brandon Guardiola International MGMT 4316 11-21-15 Both Apple and Samsung make very high quality devices, there is no doubting that, however consumers still have their preferences based on their phones' functions, capabilities and particular features provided through the phone. Both companies have had new releases of their phones within the last few months and both companies are pushing their own proprietary features to try to win customers over. Samsung released its Galaxy s6 and s6 edge models in April, while releasing its Note 5 and Note Edge + models in August. Meanwhile, Apple had their prototypical release month of September, in which they revealed the Iphone 6s and 6s plus models. Samsung had the most significant change in their devices considering that all of their 2015 models do not have a removable battery nor expandable memory, something that all previous Samsung models had before. It was a brave move by Samsung removing two of the features Apple doesn't have, but they didn't have much choice if they wanted to make their newer models much lighter and thinner for customer's to carry around rather than having a bulky, heavy battery in the back of the phone. In addition to that, they also upgraded the software significantly with their newer models along with huge camera improvements, ones that definitely can be noticed when comparing older Samsung models. When it comes the Iphone, many considered the changes miniscule simply because the newer phones are the same dimensions as last years' models. That is not the case however, since there are some major upgrades to the Iphone like the camera increasing to 12 megapixels in the back while front camera is 5 megapixels including flash, the new 3D touch feature is enticing as well as the latest IOS 9 operating system released by Apple. Of course the newer phones are supposed to be better than the older models, but the question is which device will consumers prefer more? Critic Sasha Segan, of PC Magazine, discusses his preference about apple vs android in his article saying, \"When it comes to apps, especially games, there's still a gap. Many games aren't available on Android, and the more uniform nature Ricky Folmar, Robert Gleinser, Brandon Guardiola International MGMT 4316 11-21-15 of the IOS platform means a lot of small developers still turn there first. That's always been the case. It's not just Apple's excellent hardware, but the strength of the overall IOS ecosystem that makes the Iphone 6s worthy of our Editor's Choice Award\" (6). It is hard to differentiate the two companies' phones because of the high quality hardware and features each phone presents now, therefore we have to rely on comparing the operating systems and their own proprietary features that they offer. It seems like right now, that Apple has that slight advantage over Samsung based on its strong development of its IOS and its continued innovation of integrating their products to work seamlessly. In conclusion, Apple and Samsung are both very good at what they do, and they will continue to produce better products every year. The challenge is, who will stay at the top? Will Samsung ever dethrone Apple? Or will Apple continue its dominance? Nobody will ever know, but we do know that both of these companies produce high quality products, that market for different types of customers. They have both been successful in different ways and will continue to do so as long as they continue to be innovative and creative for their customers, providing them with the best technology at the touch of their fingers. General comments: 1. I feel that you could write more professionally and formally by adopting the frameworks and terminologies that you have learning from our course or other courses you have taken; 2. You might make your writing more structured and each paragraph or part serves one single purpose that would make the whole paper an integrative and logic one. 3. Please be more focused on the questions asked in the project instructions. In other words, please focus on the two companies' INTERNATIONAL strategies, and propose a new strategy for Apple to maintain its competitive advantage in global market. 4. Please continue to revise and polish your work, as I may not point out all the places that have room to improve. Ricky Folmar, Robert Gleinser, Brandon Guardiola International MGMT 4316 11-21-15 5. Please make sure that your paper can pass the similarity check (by avoiding copying other resources). You need to submit your final version through the link on project folder for turnitin similarity check. A paper with 20% or higher similarity rate is subject to a fail grade. Please turn your paper a few days earlier than the deadline so that you have time to deal with possible high similarity rate and resubmit again. The deadline for final submission is Dec 10. Once your team submitted the final paper, please fill out the peer evaluation form located in \"Quizzes\" section. EVERYBODY should finish the peer evaluation or your grade submission will be postponed