The battle between the two smart phone companies has been going on for the past decade. The latest recorded market share for smartphone shows that Samsung is leading with 30.6% of the global market share and Apple has 24.1% of the global market share. Together, the two smartphone power houses own over 54% of the global market share for smartphones. Both companies are very competitive with each other, 2 years ago, Samsung sued Apple for copying their technology and ended up paying $1.05 billion as the jury decided that Samsung copied iPhones software. The battle between the two firms will resume in March 2014.

I believe that it is good to have 2 big smartphone companies in the market rather than a monopoly dominating the whole industry. The competition drives technological improvements further at a faster rate, if Apple was the only existing firm who produces iPhones without Samsung’s interference, their growth would not have been as substantial as we see today. It is due to pressure from each other’s competitors that they are able to innovate and produce better products.

Citations:

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

Zappos has an outstanding customer service that no other company in the world has. I really agree with you that they are really interesting by the fact that they only employ passionate people who are optimistic about their work and they are specially trained for the job. I took a look at the link in your blog post and i find it really surprising that the customer received a full refund for the shoe that fell apart. This really shows that the company Zappos prioritizes their customers and they try their best to keep their customers happy. I believe they will have a strong customer base as a result of their excellent customer service quality.

Moreover, as you’ve mentioned in your blog, there is a 24/7 call service, which answers questions from their customers. This is really helpful and there are not many companies in the world that provides this service and this is a point of difference that distinguishes Zappos and the other firms in the market. I am shocked that they would suggest their competitors to their customers who wants to purchase shoes that they don’t have. This adds emphasis on the fact that Zappos is more than just a company who focuses on making profits, but also the main goal of the firm is to keep the consumers happy.

Response to Aylin’s Blog 🙂

Technology is evolving at a rate in which we can’t control. Innovations occur on a daily basis replacing old technology faster than ever. I agree with your statement that video game consoles will not be replaced by app games and that app games cant provide consumers with the gaming experience that a console can provide. Being a gamer myself, i enjoy the thrill of a game being played on a console such as an xbox over an app game on an iPhone, any gamer would tell you that the feeling is very different. Although the statistics suggests that mobile apps have taken over $58 billion off the global market for traditional video games, but i believe that consoles still have a larger consumer base and customer loyalty.

I also agree that app games is a growing market because it is easily accessible. However, i also think that app games are relatively cheaper if compared to a console. Normally, an app would cost around 1 dollar in the iTunes app store, where a xbox or a ps3 would cost up to nearly 400 dollars and extra for games. Personally, i think that app games are mainly for killing time in the short term, whereas consumers will spend hours and hours on a game console.

Response to Yssa Romero’s Article 🙂

Recently, Facebook tried to buy Snapchat for $3 billion, however, this offer was rejected by Even Spiegel who is the current CEO of Snapchat. During an interview with Spiegel he claimed that Facebook will not be able to purchase Snapchat with $3 billion dollars or more. Spiegel strongly believes that Facebook will soon begin to diminish in the world today and it will be long forgotten in the upcoming years. Many assumptions are made in this claim, they are assuming that consumers will change their taste and stop using Facebook in the next 3 to 5 years. Facebook has made some successful companies acquisitions in the past and one of them being Instagram.

Although Facebook failed to acquire Snapchat, there is no evidence to support Spiegel’s claim that Facebook’s downfall will be in the next few years. Facebook has over 1 billion users and many more potential users in the future. Facebook has established a strong consumer base and customer loyalty. Users that have left myspace, twitter, to join Facebook has never gone back. However, it is crucial for Facebook to maintain their current status in the media industry because there is an increasing number of emerging firms into the market that create more competition in the market such as Snapchat.

Citations:

The energy industry is rapidly expanding over the years, especially in big developing countries such as China. China has been burning fossil fuels such as coal to generate electricity and large amounts of it. It is an efficient method to generate power and electricity, however, the environmental impact is devastating as a result of this act.

The article claims that oil sands producers in Alberta has been backed by the IEA (International Energy Agency) and the government to continue their production as it is not the major factor that is affecting climate change. However, this would mean that the BC province would not meet their GHG-reduction targets.

During the discussion in our Comm 101 lecture, we evaluated the pros and cons of the environmental side of business. The cost of the oil sand producers in Alberta to continue their production would be the environmental impact its production will cause. During our lecture, we concluded that it is essential for a business to make profit so they can continue to operate, but it is just as important for the company to maintain an eco-friendly way of operating. Although, there will be a drastic increase in the amount of Canadian energy exports to China, which will increase potential economic growth, the environmental impact would be a costly trade off in the long term.

Citations:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/oil-sands-not-a-major-source-of-climate-change-says-iea-economist/article15480326/

The income gap between the highest earning worker and the lowest earning worker can be a dramatic difference. This is seen in business’ all across the world and especially in large business’ such as the firms that are listed under the Forbes 500. However, the article explained that Mr Lee, who is the owner of Lee Valley tools does not agree with the huge chasm between the top paid employee and the lowest paid employee. Mr Lee asserts that the top paid worker within his company will never make 10 times more than what the lowest paid worker will earn.

Mr Lee’s company has demonstrated that it is important to make the workers feel secure and part of the company by reducing the income gap between them. Mr Lee’s method of operation will potentially provide more incentive for workers that are receiving a lower pay to still have incentive to work harder and increase their productivity. Statistics in the article has shown that a CEO working in a firm in the US will make 354 times more money than the lowest paid employee in the same firm. This is an astonishing number and it also highlights the severe income gap we can see from these statistics.

I believe that Mr Lee’s business conducts will not only benefit the workers by making them feel like they play a important role in the company, but it is also beneficial to the company as a whole. It will prevent problems such as diseconomies of scale, where workers feel alienated and they feel like they are redundant as they perform the same task everyday and receive a relatively low pay for it.

Citations:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/time-to-lead/how-one-company-levels-the-pay-slope-of-executives-and-workers/article15472738/

China recently opened up a free-trade zone in Shanghai, which allows businesses who were originally restricted to trade freely to now trade with lowered barriers to entry. This is a good opportunities for start-up businesses because it provides them with leverage entering the market. Businesses who weren’t able to compete in the market due to tough competitions are now able to join the market with the lowered barriers of entry. In the free-trade zone, these companies will not have to pay high percentage of tax, which allows them to lower their average cost of production. This is beneficial for the economy in Shanghai because with more businesses entering the market, there will be more competitions, which stimulates innovation and productive efficiency. This will also help generate economic growth in Shanghai, which is already one of the fastest growing cities in China.

Foreign businesses will also be able to join the free-trade zone as they originally were restricted from doing this. The introduction of more foreign businesses in the Chinese market will create room for diversity. Businesses will adopt cost leadership strategy, which means lowering the prices to the average price in the market or even lower to compete with the other firms in the market. This is beneficial to the consumers because they have a wider consumer choice and lower prices for goods and services.

Citations: http://articles.latimes.com/2013/sep/30/world/la-fg-china-free-trade-20130930

The US government has shut down a couple of days ago and thousands of workers are made redundant and it has brought numerous companies to halt in the US economy. It happened because the US government could not vote on a new budget plan for the upcoming financial year. The shutdown does not mean that social security, medical payments and the military services will stop, the essential services will still continue. However, thousands of workers who used to work at the Pentagon will be made redundant and put on leave without pay. The US government shutting down will have a couple effects on businesses. First of all, people are being laid off without pay, this means that the national income will decrease, because the worker’s expenditure decreased as they are being made redundant without pay.

A problem stated in the article would be the manufacturing of Blackhawk Helicopters. Blackhawk helicopter’s production line will not be able to continue as there were no government representatives to ‘sign off’ products. US is the world’s leading economy, the military industry is accountable for a huge portion of the countries’ economic growth, as a result of the government shut down, 400,00 staff from the defence department, 40,200 from the commerce department, 12,700 from energy department and 18,500 from the transportation department were let go. US already owes China 16 trillion dollars, the government shutdown will further delay the economic progress. The only question is, how long will the US government be trapped in this turmoil.

Citations:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24419564

On September 23, 2013. Apple announced that they sold 9 million units of a combination of the new iPhone 5s and 5c during the first 3 days after it is released. Until today, there are over 200 million users in the world today that are currently using the iOS 7 operating systems, which was newly introduced by Apple long side with their new devices. The new iPhone 5s comes in 3 colours and the retail prices for the models are (in US dollars) $199 for 16GB, $299 for 32GB and 399 for the 64GB. On July 13th, it was declared that the market share of Apple in the phone industry was at a staggering 40.4% in the No.1 position followed by Samsung in No.2 with 24.1% of the overall market share. Together the two smart phone power houses are accountable for more than half of the total market share for smart phones. If Samsung disappears from the smart phone market, Apple would be a monopoly leaving the other phone companies such as HTC, Motorola and LG way behind its tracks.

The Samsung S4, which was released in late April this year sold approximately 20 million units around the world within 60 days after the device was released. Apple has already established a firm start by already selling 9 million units in the first 3 days after the iPhone 5S  and 5C was released. It raises the question of whether the Samsung Galaxy smart phones will be able to maintain the current position in the smart phone industry before giving in to the No.1 seller Apple. If Samsung loses their market share to Apple in the upcoming years, it means that Apple will be dominating the smart phone market. If Apple becomes a monopoly in the smart phone industry, it could have both positive and negative impacts for consumers. Some positive impact would be that people around the world would be using the same phone, allowing more compatibility and convenience as iPhones are unable to connect to Samsung phones to transfer photos and files. A negative impact of iPhones becoming a monopoly would be that consumer choices will be limited and if Apple will be able to raise the prices of iPhones and exploit the consumers as the consumers will have no other options.

It will be exciting to see whether Samsung can continue to keep up with Apple’s innovation in the next few years.

Citations:

http://wallstcheatsheet.com/stocks/apples-iphone-5s-edges-out-samsungs-galaxy-s4-in-september.html/2/

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2013/09/23First-Weekend-iPhone-Sales-Top-Nine-Million-Sets-New-Record.html

http://www.comscore.com/Insights/Press_Releases/2013/9/comScore_Reports_July_2013_U.S._Smartphone_Subscriber_Market_Share

Business ethics are moral codes that corporations and the individuals within the company should act upon. Operating on the basis of ethics aids corporations in establishing what is right and wrong. In the course of history, there are many examples that demonstrate different powerful companies that are convicted of unethical malpractices; such as Nike’s production of soccer balls through child labor. Business ethics are often violated due to corporations incentive to maximise their profit, this often misguides them into making unethical decisions harming the employees of the firm and sometimes external parties. Another infamous corporation’s unethical act would be the Coca-Cola company in India, they would dump their chemical waste into the rivers of India causing the people who live near the river to catch various different diseases.

It is essential that corporations make ethical decisions as well as maintaining a profitable business. Not only is it beneficial to the environment in which the company operates on, it also has many positive impacts to the firm. Operating on an ethical basis will attract more customers to purchase the firm’s product, which will help increase revenue and profits for the firm. The customers will also be willing to pay higher prices for your products knowing that the company operates on ethical morals. The employees of the firm will also be willing to stay with the firm, this reduces the chances of strikes from the employees and it will raise the productivity of the workers. The labor force will also be interested in joining the company because they will be attracted by the positive attributes of the company. Investors will also be more willing to provide capital to companies who act on a ethical level.