With Apple just releasing the Iphone 5S and 5C, it would probably take some time before Apple releases a new smartphone in the market. That being said, this may be LG’s chance to gain some market share and strengthen its position in the market through the release and introduction of its new smartphones with bendable OLED screens set to be released later this month.

Since this point of difference is new to the market, gaining the first mover advantage will definitely benefit LG; this is because its introduction to the market will definitely spark the customer’s interest and willingness to purchase it as it is not only a faster upgrade than its predecessors.  Hence, it is a battle between LG and Samsung to release this first in the market.

Source:http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-lg-curved-screens-smartphone-20131007,0,3500864.story

In Amazon.com’s German operations, threats of strikes during Christmas season: one of the busiest and probably most profitable season for the online shop is on the way in order to persuade the company to provide higher wages. Thus, delays on customer deliveries will have a negative impact on their image, causing their customers to not trust in the service they provide.

With this in mind, shouldn’t Amazon immediately negotiate with their trade union? However, this is not the case. Amazon seems like it won’t budge against these threats due to previous strikes having little or no effect to their operations. Apart from this, Amazon is considering on moving its operations to Germany’s neighbouring countries.

Amazon ignoring the trade union’s demand may not a very good idea as it will damage the business’ reputation, allowing it to be labelled as a socially irresponsible firm which does not care about the welfare of its employees.

Source:

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/oct/06/amazon-strikes-pay-germany

As a promotional strategy, Coca-Cola released a campaign that featured a series of bottle caps that were supposed to be used to create humorous sentences. However, Coca-Cola has been under bad publicity due to their carelessness. This is because the words on the bottle caps were either in French or in English; however, English speaking-customers are under shock and disbelief due to the offensive implications some of the French words had in English. Such words were “retard”, which means late in French and “douche”, which means shower in French.

Perhaps Coca-Cola’s marketing team should have clearly distinguished the difference of both languages in order to minimize offence.  Such little mistakes did not only cost Coca-Cola money as they had to get rid of the other bottle caps but it also damaged its reputation.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/marketing/offensive-phrases-on-bottle-caps-prompt-coca-cola-to-cancel-canadian-promotion/article14427173/

Despite Android phones having better specifications than Iphones, Apple still manages to have the most market share and sales, this may be because of the prestige and the lifestyle associated with Iphones. With the release of the Iphone 5S and 5C, wouldn’t Apple be making a loss through the costs associated with the production and marketing of the 5C? This is because psychology may play a role in this: even when customers intended to buy the 5C, won’t they be tempted to pay the extra hundred dollars to purchase the 5S as it offers more prestige and durability (5C is made of plastic)? Does this mean that the 5C serves to make the 5S look more appealing and therefore boosts its sales? This is probably not the case because it still has higher sales than Android Phones and it also serves to broaden Apple’s customer base.

 http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-09-23/apple-sold-9-million-iphones-last-weekend-dot-heres-why