Jasmine Chen's Blog

In Juan Alvarez’s first and second  article, he believed that “Boeing’s recent story has become a fine example of poor positioning strategy.” I agree with his opinion because they tried too desperately to differentiate themselves from other airlines with something that was irrelevant with the needs of present airlines. Boeing tried to stand out from others by coming up with a futuristic aircraft design for its customers that looked very luxurious and appealing. However, the opportunity cost of holding on to the 787 Dreamliner became so great that JAL (Japan Airlines) and other companies eventually switched to the competition, Airbus’s new A350. Boeing’s idea of having a luxurious cabin and aircraft with the newest modern technology is really impractical as the cost is too great, therefore the plane ticket will be too expensive for the airline to generate much revenue as customers won’t be willing to pay so much for a mere flight across the globe. They should focus on how to strengthen their value proposition through what’s practical and with reasonable costs.

Sources:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathansalembaskin/2013/10/11/boeing-marketing-reorg-illustrates-hazards-of-innovation/

http://www.economist.com/blogs/schumpeter/2013/10/airbus-wins-big-order

Boeing’s Investment in Innovation Leaves Company Grounded

http://www.digitaltrends.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/787-dreamliner-3.jpg

As mentioned in JiaYi Liu’s blog, “The rise of the iPhone and more affordable Android phones rapidly took over its (Blackberry’s) position in the competitive market.” The video talked about Blackberry Ltd’s new launch in its Blackberry Messenger (BBM), which has so far proven to be very successful in the marketing aspect of raising brand awareness. However, I agree with JiaYi’s questioning of this marketing strategy. Many of these BBM users are only downloading this new app because it’s free, but will they actually be willing to purchase a Blackberry device now that it has in a way regained some of its popularity? “Is this a good marketing strategy?” To me, the looks of it tells me that it isn’t because many people are only using it because it’s currently free to download. It is likely that this wouldn’t make consumers want to purchase a BBM more if they are already able to use it’s messenger features on Androids, Samsung and iPhones. Blackberry is still in the brink of danger as new IM services surface, like Line, WeChat, WhatsApp, and so on.

Sources:

http://static.itpro.co.uk/sites/itpro/files/bbm.jpg

Start downloading BBM on your smartphones!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ot43jyU0eZs

Last year, Samsung Electronics lost a patent battle with Apple. A new trial starting this week will determine how much more Samsung has to pay for that loss. Last year of August, a California jury found that Samsung infringed on a series of Apple patents and was told to pay more than $1 billion in damages. However, the price tag was later revisited by the judge and vacated about $450 million of that original award, declaring that it was unclear how the jury calculated the original figure. Samsung was still required to pay Apple $600 million. The new trial is to determine whether Samsung should pay more or less than the $450 million that was vacated. $1 billion wouldn’t greatly affect the companies’ finances for Samsung and Apple, the two biggest profit makers in the electronics industry. The fight over damagers is more about the future than the present. The trial compared Apple’s products with Samsung’s to illustrate how similar they were. It involves five patents, including one that covers the design of the face of a mobile device as well as cover 13 products. The bigger and more powerful your company is, the more rivals you’ll have. And to defeat those rivals, the company will sometimes have to pull out dirty tricks from their sleeves and do anything they can to take them down. This article accurately portrays how Apple is fighting to take down Samsung as it threatens to take their number one spot in the electronics industry.

Sources:

http://guardianlv.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Samsung-vs-Apple-BT.jpg

Five years after the economic crisis struck the continent, youth unemployment climbed to staggering levels in many countries including Spain (56% for those 24 and younger), Greece (57%), Italy (40%), and Portugal (37%). For people 25 to 30, the rates are half of two-thirds higher and still rising as described in this article. Interviews with young people around the continent reveal  that the era of recession and austerity has persisted for so long that new growth will be enjoyed by the next generation, leaving this one out. As a result, many in the troubled south have two options to choose from the new European reality. They must decide to either stay home, with protection of family but a dearth of jobs, or they can travel to Europe’s north, where work is possible to find but they would most likely be treated as outsiders. There, they compete for low-paying, temporary jobs. After reading this article, with real-life examples of young adults who are fighting to keep their low-wage job, it got me wondering, “What would a bachelor degree give me in the future?” However, what’s really important is the experience gained throughout the university years, taking part in clubs and events; getting the opportunity to meet new people.

Sources:

http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2010-06-16-unemployment.jpg

Just a few years ago, most of our online social activity was on Facebook. Many of us were active members of several Facebook groups and we used it to stay up-to-date on friends and family. However lately, our revolving life around Facebook has slowed to a crawl. Is it just me, or is Facebook dying down? For my account, I rarely post updates or add photographs anymore. During a quarterly earnings call this month, David A. Ebersman, Facebook’s chief financial officer announced that there is a “decrease in daily users, specifically among younger teens.” The comment confirmed that the service had become less appealing for a lot of its users. Even though it may still be the default social network for many people, but perhaps it isn’t as crucial as it once was during the hype. A question to ask is, “Are teenagers really crucial for Facebook to thrive?” Twitter was able to achieve market capitalization of $25 billion without a firm grasp of the teenage demographic. If teenagers are spending less time on Facebook, other users might follow that, therefore affecting the company’s overall potential to make money. For Facebook to bring itself back up to its peak again, it must come up with a new strategic way to attract its users.

Sources:

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2013/11/17/business/17-BITS/17-BITS-tmagArticle.jpg

In this article, economists believe that reducing sexual inequality in education is vital to promoting development. Failing to educate girls will limit economic growth in the developing world by wasting human capital. So as a result, the UN set the goal of eliminating gender disparity in all levels of education by 2015. The more developed countries like China, Bangladesh, and Indonesia seem more likely to achieve this target, while Africa will not. The ratio of boys and girls who attend secondary school on the continent is 100 to 82. So to solve this issue, the common response would be to invest more money to girls’ education. The UN, NGO, and Camfed (a charity) all got involved  in financing school places for girls in 15 Saharan countries. But a new paper  suggests that such actions are not enough to end inequality in education. Girls in rural Uganda had to help out at homes during droughts to support the family’s income in the short term as that area is employed in rain-fed agriculture, while boys weren’t affected by this at all. Therefore, to keep girls in school, they may need to focus on measures to boost household income when times are tough. This article portrays that society is working harder towards annihilating gender inequality; sexism. The belief that guys can bring in more prestige for the family than girls and that they can do better. It makes me believe that the world is becoming a better place to live in for females, with increasing opportunities to shine.

Sources:

http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21588927-new-research-hints-better-method-ensure-girls-africa-stay-school-when

http://cdn.static-economist.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/290-width/images/print-edition/20131102_FNP003_0.jpg

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304387813001120

Apple recently started selling the new iPad Mini. Somehow they were able to squeeze all of the Air’s capabilities into the Mini, and by doing so, Apple has made the process of choosing iPads easy. Both the Mini and Air have a high-resolution screen branded retina. The batteries in the devices can easily last up to 10 hours under intense use. The only difference is in size; Mini’s screen is 7.9 inches diagonal while Air is 9.7 inches. The iPad Mini is a lot lighter and comfortable in the hand. On top of that, it is $100 cheaper in all configurations. So how do we choose between the two tablets? To decide, we should weigh our options. For entertainment purposes, like watching movies and playing games, get the iPad Mini. However if it is for work purposes, like typing, then consider getting the bigger screen one- iPad Air. As new generations take over with improving technology that is easier to access, consumers now purchase products not for needs, but more often to fulfill their wants and desires. A great example would be the iPad Mini, which is mainly just a device used for entertainment purposes. We have become too wasteful of our resources, trying to attain all our wants.

Sources:

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2013/11/14/business/14ipad-span-alt/14ipad-span-alt-articleLarge.jpg

Snapchat, a social media service run by two 20 year-olds, recently turned down an offer worth billions of dollars in an article on The New York Times. This non-profitable business has yet to pass its third anniversary. So far, Snapchat’s leaders have turned down offers, including a recent multibillion-dollar proposal from Facebook, who is currently the leading social network. The reason behind this is because they think signing a contract now would leave many more billions on the table. Snapchat leaders think that it could potentially become one of the first social media companies in the United States to build its business largely around revenue beyond advertising. The company recently said that it processes 350 million messages a day. That is quite a big jump from February, when the company was only processing 60 million a day. A potential suitor for Snapchat is Tencent, one of the three Internet giants in China. This developing business could potentially take up an even higher offer. However, they shouldn’t wait any longer for better offers as I believe that Snapchat has already reached its peak in popularity and it will most likely start to decline from this point on. So while there are still billion dollar offers coming in, the Snapchat leaders should pick the right timing to accept one before it’s too late.

Sources:

http://www.smartinsights.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/snapchat.jpg

Rumours have been going around that Cerberus Capital Management LP is interested in Blackberry and this article published on October 2nd further confirmed this fact. Blackberry Ltd. has been under extreme pressure to find a buyer as quickly as possible as the sale process itself is likely to be scaring away a big portion of its remaining customers. It is not yet clear whether Cerberus would eventually bid for Blackberry, but in the meanwhile, Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. remains the only player holding a tentative offer. Blackberry reported a $1 billion quarterly loss because its new line of smartphones flopped, like the Blackberry Z10. This company, once shining in glory for its qwerty keyboard, has now hit rock bottom as the hype quickly shifted towards Apple’s and Google Android’s virtual keyboard. Reality can sometimes be horrific as the more technology advances, the faster the consumer tastes will change and companies end up having a difficult time keeping up with them whilst keeping a lead from their competitors. They need to adjust in accordance to the needs and wants of the consumers. Companies need to learn to adapt well to changes and for Blackberry right now, what they need is a firm offer in order to salvage any hope of a turnaround.

Sources:

http://www.technesstivity.com/2011/06/rim-going-down-the-beginning-of-the-end/

http://www.economist.com/blogs/schumpeter/2013/09/blackberry

The release of the two new iPhone models for Apple resulted in nearly double the sales of previous releases. The article mentioned that the recent launch of the iPhone5S and iPhone5C sent stocks rising up by about 5 percent. Apple said that it sold nine millions new iPhones over the first weekend that they went on sale. That compares with five million iPhone 5 smartphones sold last year in that model’s first weekend. This was the first time Apple released iPhones at the same time in multiple countries around the world. Sales of the new iPhones exceeded analysts’ expectations, as they predicted Apple would sell between five million and eight million. The strong sales gave Apple a much-needed boost as its revenue has been flat and its profit growth has slowed. But Apple always finds a way of bringing itself back to one of the top in the industry. Rumors have been passing around that the company has lost its ability to innovate after the death of Steve Jobs, however, these reports are clearly wrong as it is evident that the company is not only verbally striving for the top in the industry, but they’re taking action and making it happen through differentiation strategy. They make their iPhones appealing to the customers by promoting the sleek and pricey look to its outer appearance and having features that no other phones have; this is also known as using differentiation strategy.

http://www.technewsdaily.com/579-comparing-the-iphone-4-to-other-top-smartphones.html

http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/01/apple-iphone-5s-and-5c-now-available-at-virgin-mobile/