Elaine successfully analyzes in her blog that BlackBerry is in a trough, that is, it’s sales have been continuously declining. Her blog post immediately drew my attention as over the summer, I investigated the reason for the BlackBerry’s decline in my home country, India. Along with that, I found out the reaction of customers in India, in specific, my home city, Jaipur. Using the tools learnt in COMM 101 and on the internet, I have come up with the following analysis:
It is evident from the Porter’s Five Forces analysis that the smartphone market it extremely competitive. In this market, customers perceive BlackBerry’s as cowboy products, that is, they are overpriced. The reason for this is, in my opinion, the company’s past complacent attitude as they have been left in the dust by more innovative companies such as Samsung and Apple. Thus, it is recommended that:
- the company prices its smartphones more competitively in the short run to attract customers;
- the company should focus on the mid-range smartphones and pivot its value propositions and marketing techniques accordingly: the premium market is saturated by the iPhone, Galaxy S5, HTC One, etc., while the low income market may brand BlackBerrys as inferior smartphones;
- the company must invest in Research and Development to avoid complacency in the future.
Using these recommendations, BlackBerry can find its own unique position on the market ladder, and hence, regain its lost market share.