Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Team Paper: Mi-Case
Team Paper: Mi-Case
Team Paper: Mi-Case
TowsonUniversity
ProfessorPeev
MKTG445001
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Team Paper: Mi-Case
I. Executive Summary
price. Our product Mi-Case is a durable phone case infused with the technology from a
wireless travel router, essentially allowing the user to create their own high-speed
wireless connection using their existing service provider. By activating the phone case, it
will create a personal password protected Wi-Fi network that you can connect to through
your smartphone. Our technology uses existing 3G/4G/LTE coverage and allows you to
connect your mobile device to the phone case, avoiding excessive data usage. Mi-Case is
essentially a portable personal Wi-Fi hotspot that enables you to set up your own secure
Wi-Fi network.
When creating Mi-Case, we focused our primary target market on traveling business
workers in Australia. We used research from the Australian Bureau of Statistics along
with Australian Travel Trends to calculate the actual amount of employed Australians
over the age of fifteen who travel for business purposes. Once calculated, our primary
target market equaled 610,000 traveling business workers, of which we then determined a
penetration rate of 13% or 78,000 consumers. With a first year projection of 78,000 units
After extensive research, in order to calculate the price of our product Mi-Case requires
two materials to manufacture, both will be purchased in bulk on a weekly basis from our
chosen wholesaler providers. The first being protective phone cases that fit a variety of
smartphone models and the other a Small Wireless Travel Router. The phone cases will
be purchased from Case Escape for $3.25 a piece (Case Escape, 2016). The second
material required for the production of Mi-Case is a Small Wireless Travel Router that is
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Team Paper: Mi-Case
capable of supporting all 3G, 4G, and LTE network devices. The wholesale provider of
these routers will be Alibaba, who will sell us our desired amount of routers for $24.60
per unit (Alibaba, 2016). The manufacturing costs to produce our product include an
$9,900 per machine (GlobalSources, 2016), and employee salary costs that vary
depending on the consumer demand of our product. All said and done, the production
cost of a single Mi-Case is $50.10 in the first year of sales, therefore we will sell each
Mi-Case for $120.00 leaving us with a profit of $69.90 for every unit sold or a 40%
return on interest.
Based off of our product price and primary target market, Mi-Case recognizes portable
wireless travel routers as its biggest competitor. While wireless travel routers are capable
of creating their own Wi-Fi networks, our product holds a much higher value due to its
unique structure. Mi-Case is compatible with all 4G, 3G, and LTE networks and
functions at a much higher rate than the leading competitors, allowing potential
consumers to communicate at a more efficient rate. Also, Mi-Case is a 2-in-1 product that
infuses the technology from a wireless portable travel router with a durable phone case,
As previously stated, being a new luxury business product, Mi-Case is expected to face
challenges when entering the technology market. The main challenges we may face
would be the duration of battery life and the dimensions of the case itself. The
dimensions of the case allow your smartphone to be protected at all times, eliminating the
risk of damage when dropped. As for battery life, Mi-Case has an expected life of six
hours at full function. Therefore, decreased operating times will extend the battery life
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Team Paper: Mi-Case
when not functioning at max speed. Mi-Case has looked into future manufacturing
abilities of added technology to charge itself along with your phone, but will not be
releasing additional product information until their three year projected revenue has
surpassed itself.
technology trends for 2015 (ARN,2015). The first trend listed is Computing
Everywhere, which is ideal for our product because it enhances the Wi-Fi connection of
your mobile device. The article later states that Australian businesses need to prepare to
evolve into 'digital businesses' and that they will see a huge disruption to the marketplace
Michael Warrilow ( ARN, 2015). According to The Sydney Morning Herald, in 2011
ownership rates of a smartphone have skyrocketed from 37% to 64.6% in 2013 (Godfrey,
2013). These trends depict that an increased amount of Australians are becoming tech
savvy and also supports the fact that Australia has one of the highest rates of smartphone
usage in the world. Additionally, ABC news reported in 2013 of the 3,800 consumers
under the age of thirty surveyed, that nine out of ten were addicted to their smartphone
and every one out of five were checking their smartphone every ten minutes (Australia,
2013). Therefore, it was determined that the majority of Generation Y Australians were
considered to be addicted to their smartphones. Since such a high rate of the Australian
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Team Paper: Mi-Case
business workers and their employer while on the go. Also, its unique features such as
being a 2-in-1 durable phone case makes it convenient and beneficial for our users while
differentiating our product from local competitors. With a regular wireless travel router
you must plug the device into your phone while carrying it separately. This can be very
inconvenient while traveling because you are most likely juggling your phone, the router,
traveling gear, and any other necessary work supplies at one time. Since the technology is
built into Mi-Case, you will always have a free hand to carry any additional travel or
work supplies.
The next feature that differentiates Mi-Case from its leading competitors is its
compatibility with many devices. The technology we are using is compatible with 4G,
3G, and LTE networks. Most travel routers are only compatible with one or the other,
leaving some users behind if their device uses another network, giving Mi-Case the
competitive advantage. Finally, Mi-Case performs at a faster speed than most other
wireless travel routers. Mi-Case will function at a speed of 300 Mbps whereas many
other wireless travel routers operate at speeds of 100-150 Mbps. This feature is essential
to traveling business workers due to the need for constant communication with their
When positioning our product, the top direct competitors for our product are wireless
travel routers. These devices can generate wireless connections, like our product, but
have very limited options. One must purchase a specific router that is compatible with
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Team Paper: Mi-Case
their service provider network. Next, there are a variety of size and speed options to
choose from, which affect the price of each wireless travel router. This can become an
issue when changing service providers and needing faster operating speeds, ultimately
causing the consumer to have to purchase a new device to satisfy their future needs.
As for our indirect competition, phone accessories are our main concern. These
accessories include phone case companies such as an Otter Box, which is known for their
cases being very durable, Mophie, which has an extra battery built into their casing, and
Lifeproof, which prevents your phone from being damaged by water. The one thing these
cases do not offer is the unique and secure Wi-Fi component, which gives our product the
comparative advantage. Our case also provides password protection for your devices
secure network. This will set us apart by having the case owner create their own personal
and unique password that will lock out all other devices from being able to breach their
3. Target Market
Of the total Australian population, our target market consists of consumers ages
fifteen and over, making up 82.15%. Within this range, 11.6 million people are employed,
making up 61.4% of those fifteen years of age and over (Travel Trends, 2016). We then
wanted to create our market penetration rate to focus primarily on traveling business
workers, so we researched how many people travel in Australia, which was 6.1 million
people, of which 10% travel specifically for business purposes, providing us with our
primary target market of 610,000 Australians (Travel Trends, 2016). Therefore, in our
first year of production, our projected penetration rate is 13% of our primary target
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Team Paper: Mi-Case
Table 1 displayed below lists both materials that are required to manufacture a
single Mi-Case, the wholesale provider that will supply each material, the device
compatibility each material is capable of supporting, and the price at which one unit of
Phone Case Case Escape iPhone: 7/7s, 6/6s, 6/6s Plus, $3.25
5/5s/5c
Samsung Galaxy: S7/S6/S5,
Note 7/5/4
Total $27.85
Source: (Case Escape, 2016), (Alibaba, 2016)
The first material required for manufacturing a Mi-Case is a phone case that is able to fit
a variety of smartphone models. These phone cases will be provided by Case Escape, a
Samsung cell phones. Case Escape is able to provide our company with protective phone
cases that fit all iPhone and Samsung smartphone devices. The models of smartphones
this wholesale provider will sell us include all iPhone 7/7s, 6/6s, 6/6s Plus, 5/5s/5c
models and Samsung Galaxy S7/S6/S5, Note 7/5/4 models. Case Escape will sell each
unit for $3.25 with any order over 5,000 units (Case Escape, 2016). The second material
required in the production of our product is a Small Wireless Travel Router that is
capable of supporting all 4G, 3G, and LTE network devices. The wholesale provider of
these routers will be Alibaba, an e-commerce company that focuses on selling a large
variety of products in large quantities. Alibaba will supply our business with Small
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Team Paper: Mi-Case
Wireless Travel Routers at a rate of $24.60 per unit (Alibaba, 2016). In total, both
materials necessary for the production of a single Mi-Case will cost our company $27.85
per unit.
In addition to the material costs displayed in Table 1., other fixed and variable costs
associated with the production of Mi-Case include annual warehouse leasing costs,
equipment costs, and employee salary costs. These manufacturing costs are displayed in
Table 2 below.
The above table includes both fixed and variable manufacturing costs associated with the
production of our product. Our company will lease a warehouse located in Sydney,
Australia that is capable of supporting the manufacturing, storing, and shipping of Mi-
Case. This warehouse will cost $46,000 a year (CommercialView, 2016). In addition to
this annual fixed cost of $46,000, two variable costs are also necessary in the
manufacturing of our product. These variable costs include the annual equipment costs
and employee salary costs. The equipment used in operation is the ZJMECH Technology
Co. machine. This machine is used to integrate both the phone case and the technology of
the wireless travel router together, ultimately producing a Mi-Case. Each ZJMECH
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Team Paper: Mi-Case
Technology Co. machine will cost $9,900 and is capable of producing roughly 75 Mi-
Cases daily, or 27,375 Mi-Cases annually (GlobalSources, 2016). In the first year of
operation we expect to sell roughly 78,000 units. In order to meet this demand our
company will purchase three machines, which will cost $29,700. In the following years
projected product demand. The last variable cost factored into our total manufacturing
cost of our product includes the employee salaries of our workers. The salary at which
each worker is paid correlates directly with the specific position an employee holds
within the production process. The projected increasing product demand of Mi-Case will
require more employees, in which case additional workers will be hired accordingly
(PayScale, 2016).
that our business has sold to over a three-year operation period. This table lists the annual
projected units sold, income before production costs are subtracted, production costs,
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Team Paper: Mi-Case
By the end of the third year at market, we estimate to have sold roughly 468,000 units,
Pricing: Competition
Table 4 lists a few of Mi-Cases top competitors and each of their specific
speed at which each product functions at, the size dimensions of the product, the network
compatibility of the product, and the market price at which each product is sold.
Strong Rising: EL976 High 100 3.74 x 2.36 x 0.7 4G/LTE $70.00
Speed LTE Router Mbps
Sentar: R95 Mini Travel 150 3.66 x 2.32 x 0.56 4G/3G $58.00
Router Mbps
We have recognized other wireless portable router retailers as our largest competitors.
Typically, wireless portable routers run anywhere from $40-$80 and although Mi-Case
has a set retail price of $120 which is slightly higher than that of our leading competitors,
it is clear from the table above that Mi-Case holds a much higher value than the
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Team Paper: Mi-Case
competition due to several key factors. One being that Mi-Case functions at a much more
efficient speed of 300 Mbps, as opposed to its competitors whose most competitive speed
sits at 150 Mbps. Secondly, Mi-Cases size has dimensions that are almost identical to its
competitors. With that being said, unlike Mi-Case, the competitors products lack
convenience due to the fact that their product is not physically attached to the device for
competition by being the only wireless portable router that is actually attached to the
users phone while also doubling as a protective phone case. The convenience of having
the product attached to the users device at all times while also acting as a protective case
for their cell phone makes the Mi-Case a much more usable product for wireless portable
router consumers. Lastly, Mi-Case is compatible with all 4G, 3G, and LTE network
devices where the competition is only able to support one or two of these networks.
Because of this, the Mi-Case user is able to operate with all smartphone network
providers. These key factors separate Mi-Case from its leading competitors, deeming it a
much more desirable product to potential consumers and, in turn, will be more willing to
5. Distribution
To maximize the distribution of Mi-Cases we have created an online website
where you can purchase our products. Once all online payments have been verified, our
warehouse manufacturers will ship our product using flat rate boxes that cost $2.10 for 10
units from the Australian Postal Corporation. Our product weighs about 80kg, so we
would utilize their small flat rate satchels that allow us to send up to 500g with the
dimensions of 335 x 220mm (Flat Rate Satchels, n.d) . The Australian Postal Corporation
also has a program for businesses to join called Business 250, this ultimately gives you
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Team Paper: Mi-Case
discounted prices, up to 10% off, and flat rate prices if your business will be shipping
over 250 units per annum (Business 250, n.d). With our goal of distributing 78,000 units
in the first year, surpassing 250 units this will not be an issue.
billboards will be our main form of promotion along with our promotional website. We
want to target Australia's top electronic stores such as JB Hi-Fi, Dick Smith, and Kogan
to carry and promote our product in stores. Then we will use billboards as a major portion
of promoting our product, the smaller 6x3m billboard sites range from approximately
$1,900 to $3,600 per month, print cost is approximately $500 and installation starts at
$395 per site (FAQ on billboards, n.d). Totaling up to a maximum amount of $4495.
Finally, we have built a promotional website using Wordpress that allows users to gain
more information about our product by accessing product description, projected revenue,
Q&A, and objective pages conveniently located throughout the website (Berghahn,
2016).
product into the market. The biggest weakness Mi-Case faces is the battery life duration.
The battery life of Mi-Case is six hours, but depending on the amount of work being done
within this six-hour time span may cause Mi-Cases battery life to deteriorate faster. With
this weakness, the threat of our competition being able to directly charge a wireless
portable travel router separately from your phone causes concern. Another weakness we
could potentially face is the fact Mi-Cases dimensions are thicker than your average
durable phone case. However, we believe this challenge will resolve itself over time
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Team Paper: Mi-Case
because as smartphones become more sleek and fragile, consumers want to protect their
devices with thicker, heavy duty, durable phone cases. The final threat Mi-Case might
face could be the potential for Australian phone companies to offer unlimited data plans,
targeting traveling business workers, that will not slow down after X amount of their
traveling business workers with their employers, employees and clientele by creating a
secure wireless network with our 2-in-1 phone case while keeping consumers connected
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Team Paper: Mi-Case
References
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Berghahn, D. (2016, December 5). Mi-Case. Retrieved December 08, 2016, from
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Business 250 Terms & Conditions. (n.d.). Retrieved December 08, 2016, from
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Team Paper: Mi-Case
Gartner lays out top tech trends for Australian business leaders in 2015. (n.d.). Retrieved
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Sentar R85 4g Lte Router Usb Wifi 3g 4g Wireless Router For Mobile Phones - Buy
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Team Paper: Mi-Case
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