The most recent list of the world’s most valuable brands has Apple unseating Coca-Cola for the first time from its #1 spot. Meanwhile, BlackBerry has fallen from its precarious position at #93 and dropped off the ranking altogether.

I noticed that Blackberry LTD’s current financial state has frequently been mentioned in class. A number of reasons can be attributed to their current downfall; an analysis of their competitive strength and business position by Porter’s Five Forces illustrates some of the underlying issues. The mobile phone industry is already well established so the threat of new entrants is relatively low. Buyer power, however, is high due a concentrated demographic that is actively seeking the best value for their money and therefore influencing prices. Most significant is the competitive rivalry with other brands; with Apple and Samsung capturing more than 50% of the Smartphone market, various other competitors are eager to increase their market share.  Since product differentiation is limited, failing to keep up with the innovations of rival companies consequently made Blackberry lose its momentum in the industry.

Source: http://business.financialpost.com/2013/09/30/blackberry-ltd-falls-off-top-100-global-brands-list-as-apple-takes-top-spot/?__lsa=0a67-5a93

I’ve often heard that before booking hotel rooms, you should clear your browser cache because sites will provide different offers depending on the information garnered from your cookies. One of the optional readings, “How deep are your pockets?; Personalising online price”  stood out to me, as I did not know that this method of pricing was so commonly utilized. The text explains how online retailers are being offered software that analyzes a user’s information to determine accurate pricing.  For example, if the same IP address repeatedly accesses a site, higher prices will be displayed as opposed to the cheaper rates offered to appeal to first time customers.

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This once again brings up the topic of ethical business practices. In a successful business, knowing and appealing to one’s target demographic in order to deliver value propositions is vital. If a company pays for a consumer’s information in order to evaluate their audience, however, I believe it is a blatant infringement of people’s privacy. Corporations need to be extremely cautious when employing such techniques; Amazon received backlash in 2000 when they sold DVDs at differing prices to see which web browsers were favored by shoppers unconcerned with cost.

Source: http://search.proquest.com/docview/1022920631

While browsing through the blogroll for my section, I came across an entry on Olivia Krieger’s blog that piqued my interest. Upon reading it, I recalled that a clicker question earlier in the week had sparked a very similar discussion; how concerned is Apple with the sale of iPods?

According to the statistics provided, iPod sales have been declining despite Apple’s growing dominance in the technology industry. I agree with the points made in Olivia’s blog regarding the diminishing purpose of owning an iPod. Today, there are a multitude of alternate methods to access music, whether it be streaming from platforms like SoundCloud or downloading third party apps such as Songza.

In most situations, companies should take advantage of opportunities for innovation in order to appeal to wider sections of their consumer base. For Apple, however, I feel like attempting to reinvent or restore attention to iPods would be a poor decision. Recent sales for iPods should be of little concern Apple considering that iPhones and iPads essentially provide the same functions and are much more prevalent in today’s society.

Source: http://www.intego.com/mac-security-blog/is-the-ipod-beginning-its-slow-demise/