As Bruce mentioned in his blog in_electronics_japan_still_matters.html, things are not going well for Japan. The Japanese electronics companies are facing fierce competition from other companies such as Apple, HTC, and Samsung. The chipmakers in Japan are also suffering from their competitors from Taiwan and Korea. However, Japan still holds an influential power in the electronic industry.

As Japan produces a huge percent of the electronic products in the world such as semiconductors, BT resin, and all kinds of electronic components; it has a relatively large supplier power. The catastrophes such as earthquakes and tsunamis that took place not long ago can have a big impact in the electronic world. As productions are shutting down one by one; electronic giants such as Nokia and Apple, who are the major customers of Japan’s electronic components, can then be greatly affected.

In this blog post, we see the dependence of huge companies, such as Nokia and Apple, to the Japanese producers. The Japanese producers hold a certain degree of supplier power as it is hard for Nokia and Apple to switch suppliers. This also displays the focus of most Japanese companies, quality. As Japanese producers are able to produce products as such high quality; it is hard for the consumers (which in this case, Nokia and Apple) to look for a close substitute.

I would like to expand on Masaki Tajima’s blog apples-big-iphone-disappointment. As Masaki suggested, Apple’s consumers would start to expect more and more lists of innovative features and designs from its new products as it plays and increasing role in the market. When Apple’s new products don’t live up to the expectations, disappointment among the loyalties is created. In this case, the introduction of the iPhone 4s raised a questionable concern of the public. People looked forward to more than just improvements of its existing features from iPhone 4, they wanted something fresh.

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Although Apple has a large consumer base, such disappointment might also lead to a decrease in consumers’ loyalties to Apple. As the mobile device market is becoming more competitive day after another, consumers would be easily tempted to look for other close substitutes. The introduction of iPhone 4s might, therefore, lead to a decrease in projected sales of the upcoming products. As a result, the threat of substitute for Apple, iPhone 4s specifically, would be increased. Although not to the point of brand crisis, it would definitely have a negative impact on Apple.

An entrepreneurship is best defined as a business enterprise that makes a profit through undertaking risks and innovations. Nokia is just one of the many examples that fit well by the definition. Nokia, the Finnish firm, is one of the leading multinational communications corporations and the largest cell phone manufacturer nowadays, although it is currently being challenged by many other competitive rivals such as Apple, Samsung, and HTC. Nokia, however, were able to rule and established its position in the industry for many decades through its emphasis on innovation.

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Nokia was able to introduce new products with a variety of features that match the customers’ tastes and preferences. It was able to produce mobile phones and sell them at a reasonable price. Through its innovative products, Nokia was able to secure a large amount of loyal customers. On the other hand, Nokia had also managed to cut down its costs of production to achieve economic of scale through its experiences. Nokia, although slowly declining today, is still an entrepreneur that demonstrates new products, new production methods, and new market.

After reading the article “Canadian manufacturer refuses to move off-shore” and Clarisse Ong’s blog post staying-in-canada-refusing-to-outsource, I agree with her response on the fact that refusing to outsource is beneficial to Canada. It saves job opportunities for the Canadian people, and it also contributes to the overall economic development. Moreover, as the article mentioned, Cancoil is competitive in the industry because of its innovation. This implies that Cancoil is aiming to achieve the differentiation strategy.

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On the other hand, according to the article, the founder of Cancoil Thermal Corp, Chander Datta, stated that he is not tempted to move his business offshore to countries like China or India like a lot of the other Canadian manufacturers do. He believes that outsourcing to the third world is a short-lived phenomenon. He pointed out that the high cost of transportation together with the increasing low wages in the third world outweigh the benefits derived from the lower cost of production.

It applies to what we’ve learn about the generic strategy. A company should focus on only one strategy in the long run. If it attempts to achieve both differentiation and cost leadership strategy, it would project a confusing image for the company; and therefore achieve no advantage in the end.