Monthly Archives: October 2011

Direct Business Model?

Posted on by
Reply

Image Courtesy of Focalprice

In today’s class, Mahesh described advantages of the Direct Business Model and illustrated it extremely well with Dell’s situation. After a company popped into my mind: Focalprice.

Focalprice, one of China’s biggest e-commerce export site, hosting several thousand products for customers to make orders through their website. After customers place orders, the company sends these orders to manufactures and pack the products for shipping. Since Focalprice is a large and established company, shipping is free due to their contracts with the Hong Kong Post Office.

Is this an example of a Direct Business Model? I believe it is a mix between the traditional and the Direct Business Mode. Firstly, customers do not buy directly from manufacturer; they buy from a shop or middleman. However, Focalprice does not charge a hefty commission, as the cost of their business is only maintenance of the website, shipping, and packaging. Furthermore, the customers feels likes they are buying directly from a manufacturer because of the low prices.

I believe Focalprice is a unique business model, or one that we have not learned yet. Yet, the business model of Focalprice is as or even more effective than the Direct Business Model.

Word Count: 200

Steve Jobs left four years worth of plans for Apple

Posted on by
Reply

Image courtesy of Twitter

As we all know, Steve Jobs, Apple’s irreplaceable CEO, has passed away on October 5th. Steve Jobs was the co-founder of Apple along with Steve Wozniack in a garage. However, he was “forced” to resign in 1985 when the Board of Directors sided with John Sculley and striped Steve Jobs’ managerial powers. But in 1997, Steve was back as the interim CEO of Apple when the company was going downhill. As the CEO, Steve released the iMac and iPod, which helped the company recover from its financial crisis. Afterwards, Steve led Apple to success with the release of the iPhone and the iPad, making Apple briefly the most valuable company in the world.

Now, questions arise about Apple’s future. Will Apple be able to continue conquering the market, or will they fall once again? Apparently, Steve Jobs left Apple four years worth of plans, hoping to ensure success for Apple after his death.

Is that healthy? Will a company fall just because of his absence? According to many SWOT analysis done for Apple, its strengths and opportunities should overshadow its weakness, even if Steve Jobs left without leaving plans for Apple. Will they succeed?

Only time will tell

Word Count: 196

HP Touchpad, end-of-the line or new beginning?

Posted on by
Reply

Picture courtesy of HP.com

Apple’s iPad has dominated the tablet market, but Amazon’s Kindle Fire is likely the iPad’s biggest competitor, according to Nicole Dee’s blog post. I believe that would be the case, as the Kindle Fire has great specifications and features that rival the iPad, like the dual-core processor. However, Hewlett-Packard (HP)’s Touchpad has taken the No. 2 spot in the tablet market right before the Kindle Fire’s launch.

Recently, HP announced the discontinuation and decided to slash off $300 for their tablet: from $399 to $99 for a 16GB version. As the news hit the internet, consumers were scrambling around, trying to obtain one. According to the blog Fast Company, the HP Touchpad has became the second best selling tablet, behind Apple’s iPad.

As Fast Company noted, the main reason why the Touchpad was able to claim this spot was because of the price cut. Slashing $300 off the tablet was an incentive for consumers to purchase the product at a frightening pace. However, the HP Touchpad costs around $318 to make, according to iSuppli‘s teardown of the device.

Is this HP’s strategy, or is the Touchpad done for real? Most likely, it’s a mix of both.

Word Count: 190