Response to: http://www2.macleans.ca/2013/11/13/apple-vs-samsung-in-billion-dollar-patent-fight/

Recently Apple and Samsung the two technology giants has been undergoing legal action with billions of dollars in jeopardy concerning the copyrighted and patented products being copied. Over 26 Samsung products has been classified as violating several Apple patents and around 1.05 billion dollars are being compensated; however, the jury has then been notified that they have not counted over 13 products and half a billion dollars of fines.  This signifies that creativity and originality within a business is way more vital to success than the raw figures of revenue and profit. Samsung is trying to offer the same target market as Apple with essentially the “same feel” of products but with smaller costs and higher profits; this although is a reasonable business plan, it must be careful with its development of products.

 Response to: https://blogs.ubc.ca/colechristiansen/2013/11/17/snapchat-gives-facebook-the-cold-shoulder/

A very interesting article about the two rival social media giants: Snapchat and Facebook. The market power and size of Facebook is not as big as everyone makes it out to be. The three billion cash deal offered to Snapchat was turned down without a thought from the 23 year-old CEO, Evan Spiegel. Although this may seem irrational, Evan must think that Snapchat is worth significantly more, but what will be its main revenue stream? Knowing that the main revenue stream for all social media is advertising, there is only so much room on the screen of an iPhone until advertisements become pointless. Some recommendations hold have been pointed out. Snapchat must analyze and consider their business canvas and compare it to its market capital separate from the beliefs and optimism of a CEO.

Despite the rise of all living fees such as rent, food, clothing and all the other necessities in life, Canadians are said to be looking on “the bright side.” All the collective retail stores across Canada have reported a rise in revenue in the month of September compared to other previous years. Due to the advancements in technology and globalization in North America, these first-world countries are worrying less on their credit debts and focusing on purchasing the sea of new products introduced every fall. Vehicle and electronic sales have risen due to the release of the new Apple, Samsung, Google products – phones – and advancement in vehicle motors and safety regulations. The rise of revenue from retailers is the result from of these large companies marketing their products successfully and towards the right audience and that these high-end products are considered more of a necessity compared to other countries in the world due to the stable demand when living expenses are rising.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/canadian-retail-sales-rise-despite-climbing-consumer-debt/article15479251/

Krispy Kernels is a snack making company that originates from the province of Quebec, Canada. Recently they have reintroduced a brand of potato chips that are receiving a large amount of negative publicity; it is called Yum Yum Chips that possesses an argued stereotypical and racist packaging. It can be argued that a cartooned aboriginal boy in a feathered hat and a loincloth conveys a disrespectful caricature but is it truly unethical to release this advertisement? I will argue no. The reason as to why this product received much negative publicity is because Krispy Kernels did not notify consumers of their value proposition for this product. Yum Yum Chips were an active product in the 1960s and is  reintroduced in spirt of the Christmas season so reminisce the aboriginal roots and origins. The main reason; however, is in memory of the death of Paul Jalbert: the founder of the family business who passed away in October of 2013 at 94. After the understanding of this story, I believe the media will take back the negative comments towards this family business and also the importance of notifying consumers of the values and positions of a business.

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/11/16/yum-yum-chips-logo_n_4288330.html?utm_hp_ref=canada-business#slide=2240561

Response to: https://blogs.ubc.ca/annabellechen/2013/10/07/foreign-wireless-companies-friend-or-foe/

In Canada there is an introduction to brand new telecom companies throughout and providing everyday Canadian citizens with more affordable service rates. Noted in the blog, these little companies are rarely a threat the telecom giants such as Rogers, Telus and Bell; however, from a consumer and student’s point of view, the big surge of cost-leadership small business causes a major threat to the oligopoly market of the Canadian telecom industry and will in turn affect their decisions. There is no doubt that the three giants will still hold the large majority of market power due to the poor receptions provided by the new companies but it will cause the price for service to drop in general. As seen from current events, Rogers cell contract has dropped to two years instead of three allowing consumers to feel more free and dropping their fees to gain back loyal customers.

Rogers price drops Moto X to $100 on a 2-year term

Over the past decade Boeing Aviation has been dominating the Japanese market; however, recent news from the failures and defects of the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner brought upon a gap that was quickly filled by the European company Airbus that sold 9.5 billion dollars worth of A350 wide-body jets. The faulty products from the Boeing company drew plenty of negative perceptions on the quality of their products as well as the outlook of the company. Shown by a change in their brand positioning, Boeing’s supplier power has decreased significantly as airlines alter their preferences towards their substitute companies. However, as Boeing is developing their new line of Boeing 777x’s, Emirates Airline is considering in ordering 30 to 50 billion dollars worth of planes. If Boeing reconsiders their priorities, maintaining Emirates as a valuable customer in their customer segment and offering deals to strengthen the customer relationship is vital for Boeing’s future well-being. This event shows the competitiveness in competitors and the potential gain and loss from each transaction as well as the importance of a business’ brand positioning.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/08/business/international/jal-orders-9-5-billion-worth-of-airbus-jets.html?pagewanted=1&ref=business

A 787 being treated after faulty technical problems.

Ford is currently America’s second largest car manufacture but in light of recent events, they are going for number one. In the next three years they are hoping to manufacture up to 8 million vehicles worldwide increasing their sales and revenue by a tremendous amount under Chief Executive Alan Mulally‘s unified manufacturing strategy. Ford is also constructing over 15 factories worldwide in areas such as China and India and converting ninety percent of all their workshops to be three shifts (24 hours). I believe Ford is very likely to climb the charts in the next few years as they are undergoing massive growth with support of a very qualified executive, Mulally who has also been elected to be Microsoft’s next CEO. Ford increasing their long term assets and their liabilities – increased labour and variable costs – shows that they are, too, confident with their business strategy. However the most defining variable for Ford is the new 3D printing technology for prototype parts, this decreases the average manufacturing time from six months to only three days! The company did not disclose the specific cost savings but said it was very significant. This technology will save tremendous amounts of liquid assets and shown in class, an increase in revenue in the upcoming years along with the decrease in overall costs will give rise to the large net income received by Ford.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/us-business/ford-aims-to-make-its-factories-more-flexible-efficient/article14725318/

The social media giant Twitter has grown tremendously throughout the seven years of its existence. Now consisting of more than two hundred million active users around the world and recently generating more than ten times the revenue from three years ago, Twitter have proven itself to be very successful and therefore released their initial public offering recently at $20.62 a share valuing the company at 9.7 billion dollars! They have acquired a 350 million dollar point of difference by purchasing MoPub, a mobile-advertising firm directing their niche market mostly on smartphone and iDevice users to give themselves a jumpstart to success. While there is scepticism on Twitter’s chance for success, I believe they hold a good chance in conquering the social-media world. Considered the “most popular second screen for television viewers,” – on top of Facebook – they are expected a dividend from the 350 billion dollars spent on TV advertising in 2012 and an evident shift in consumer’s tastes towards the liking of Twitter; even Facebook their greatest competitor have given in on allowing the hashtag function for their site to hoard users. However, due to recent events on the shutdown of the government, markets in the stock exchange will be more volatile and Twitter must consider their options wisely.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/schumpeter/2013/10/twitters-ipo

The Twitter Bird

The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) is an independent agency originated from the United States providing consumer protection; two weeks ago they discovered Facebook has violated a signed agreement from 2011. The agreement highlights that the website must receive permission from their users to be able to release private information; however, Facebook used this opportunity to advertise products under random users’ names and also granted many search engines to display personal profiles in results to increase the ‘visit count’.

Facebook has been on edge since large companies all over the world have been giving second thoughts on wether or not Facebook is a valuable and effective marketing strategy. Facebook took the liberty falsifying ads to gain clients. Although Facebook may see this as a good idea in advertisements, their business ethics are questioned: with a database of millions of private users, are they aware of the danger it can cause to each and every user? While more than ninety percent of the American youth and more than one billion users around the world, Facebook’s actions has made their personal information worldwide. Late last week Facebook settled for a twenty million dollar lawsuit, but will they learn?

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/12/technology/personaltech/ftc-looking-into-facebook-privacy-policy.html?ref=business&_r=0

http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/privacy-groups-charge-facebook-policy-changes-violate-ftc-order-152208