A Project on the Product Life Cycle of

SAMSUNG INNOVATION &

TECHNOLOGY
in India

Submitted To: Submitted By:

Dr.Gagandeep Kaur Ankita [MBA-2nd]
H.O.D Uni. Roll-2113160
[Management Department]
A project on the PLC &
Marketing Mix of Samsung

Product Life Cycle & Marketing Mix of

Samsung in India
Abstract
This Mini Project is about a study on the product life cycle of Samsung Galaxy in India and the
marketing strategy it has used for its smart devices in the Smartphone market. The project
will look into products introduced within the last two years, its mission and goals and some
of the key challenges it faces today. Then it will continue in exploring the marketing mix of
Samsung Smartphone in their introduction stages, to have a deeper understanding on how
Samsung has differentiated itself using the four components of the marketing mix to gain an
advantage over its components. Further we will see how Samsung recognizes every need in
the market and how it offers products for different customer segment. Samsung’s successful
growth strategy in mobile phone business.

Introduction
When a new product is being introduced in to a market, it normally undergoes a series of step
in the market; these steps are introduction growth, maturity and lastly the decline stage.
These steps follow each other chronologically and thus referred to as the product life cycle
(PLC). The PLC sequence or series is closely linked with the dynamics in the market
environment and has subsequent effects on the product marketing mix and marketing
strategies. Marketing is about creating markets by satisfying target customers' needs and
wants better than competitors. Marketing is all about product, the product is a bundle of
satisfaction that a customer buys. The marketing definition of a product is more than just
what the manufacturer understands it to be. In this industry, of fierce competition, the
companies have been forced to come up with very creative technological innovation and
winning marketing strategies. When iPhone was launched by Apple Inc. in 2007, they created
the Smartphone market for the average consumers, before that the product was targeting
only business users.

Objectives of the Project

➢ To study the PLC
➢ To study the segmentation
➢ To know the top Brands
➢ To study the issues and marketing mix.
A project on the PLC &
Marketing Mix of Samsung

Mission & Vision

The company mission is “To enrich people’s lives and social responsibilities, to contribute to
sustainable future innovative technologies, product, and the aspiration for the design
inspiration for the future society.

“This mission is related to their vision that is “Inspired the World, Create the Future.” It is the
company’s belief that aligning their business with the company’s vision and mission can help
Samsung survive in the market, maintain the market share, and become a top five brands of
the world by 2020.

Review of Literature
About how Samsung manages innovation, several studies have been published. Song and et
al have explored the trajectory events in innovation of Galaxy of Samsung and iPhone of
Apple. They measured the degree of innovativeness of products and services, and figured out
trajectory of innovation of iPhone is steeper than that of Galaxy; the innovativeness of both
are the same; product innovation is as effective as service innovation. Also they discussed
that Apple has taken ‘technology innovation’ strategy while Samsung follows ‘marketing
innovation’ strategy meaning Apple has few model of iPhone and makes its own operating
systems as well as hardware when as Samsung offers a wide range of prices and specifications
in various smart phones. Cho and et al discuss that companies like Samsung must change their
innovation strategy to get ready for ‘smart era’ when high speed mobile telecommunication
is available. They focused on operating systems, device, and telecommunication services by
applying a dynamic network model. They revealed companies need to establish industrial
platforms to have high productive and healthy ecosystem.

Hong has introduced five modes for combinative innovation. The modes are dynamic
combination mode, open combination mode, vertical combination mode, functional
combination mode, and multiple combination mode. At the end, based on analyzing
Samsung’s case, he concluded dynamic and functional modes are more important for
architectural innovation. In another research, Xie and Liang have applied Enterprise
Innovation Index framework for four companies: Samsung, Apple, Xiaomi, and Nokia, and
generated a scorecard. They have shown that each company is leader in different segments
in terms of innovation. Samsung is leader in ‘mass market’, Apple in ‘high-end’, and Xiaomi in
‘middle-end’.

Emerald Publishing has published a view point article discussing how Samsung has been
ahead in innovation by 2006.
A project on the PLC &
Marketing Mix of Samsung

Research Methodology
This paper will feature a case study analysis on the Samsung company from a number of
perspectives. The report will provide particular emphasis on the company's social media
strategy, and then its IT project management consisting of its cyber security, data analytics,
revenue streams. Other relevant matters will also be discussed in this analysis. As mentioned
before, the main purpose of this research is realizing how Samsung can change its innovation
strategy from ‘fast follower’ to ‘leadership’ for the next era of communication systems, 5G
technology. To do so, ‘gap analysis’ is considered as the main method to analyze Samsung’s
current situation and Samsung’s ideal situation, be leader in 5G era. To organize the data and
analyses, a simple model [20] illustrated in Error! Reference source not found., is applied. The
model contains four components involved in innovation strategy:

- Strategy: it comprises current accepted strategy including ‘targets’, existing

innovation efforts,
end the environment where the strategy must be implemented.
- Resource: refers to all available preferential and secured assets of a firm to be
innovative.
- Capabilities: guide and enable the resources to be assessed, configured and
reconfigured.
- Processes: means all innovation processes used to have the outcomes.

Product
According to Peter Drucker, so long as a product is not brought and consumed,
it remains a raw material or at best an intermediate. The product is almost
always a combination of tangible and intangible benefits. For example, a
refrigerator is not just merely steel, plastic, Freon gas, brand name, number of
doors and so on, but also involves factors like after sales service, delivery and
installation, assistances in purchase of the product, dealer network, and
services. It also connotes status in developing countries. It is the same with
products like TV, music system, automobiles, personal product, and services like
banks, airlines, telephone, courier, and so on.
A project on the PLC &
Marketing Mix of Samsung

Product Life Cycle

As consumers, we buy millions of products every
year. And just like us, these products have a life
cycle. Older, long-established products eventually
become less popular, while in contrast, the demand
for new, more modern goods usually increases
quite rapidly after they are launched. Because most
companies understand the different product life
cycle stages, and that the products they sell all have
a limited lifespan, the majority of them will invest
heavily in new product development in order to
make sure that their businesses continue to grow.

Product Lifecycle Stages Explained

The product life cycle has 4 very clearly defined stages, each with its own characteristics that
mean different things for business that are trying to manage the life cycle of their particular
products.

1.Introduction Stage: This stage of the cycle could be the most expensive for a company
launching a new product. The size of the market for the product is small, which means sales
are low, although they will be increasing. On the other hand, the cost of things like research
and development, consumer testing, and the marketing needed to launch the product can be
very high, especially if it‘s a competitive sector.

2.Growth Stage: The growth stage is typically characterized by a strong growth in sales and
profits, and because the company can start to benefit from economies of scale in production,
the profit margins, as well as the overall amount of profit, will increase. This makes it possible
for businesses to invest more money in the promotional activity to maximize the potential of
this growth stage.

3.Maturity Stage: During the maturity stage, the product is established and the aim for
the manufacturer is now to maintain the market share they have built up. This is probably the
most competitive time for most products and businesses need to invest wisely in any
marketing they undertake. They also need to consider any product modifications or
improvements to the production process which might give them a competitive advantage.

4.Decline Stage: Eventually, the market for a product will start to shrink, and this is what‘s
known as the decline stage. This shrinkage could be due to the market becoming saturated
(i.e., all the customers who will buy the product have already purchased it), or because the
consumers are switching to a different type of product.
A project on the PLC &
Marketing Mix of Samsung

Marketing Mix Of Samsung

In order to find out which strategy Samsung used to achieve its leading position in the
smartphone market, I will take a look at its marketing mix. The marketing mix will point out
the strategic choices of the company. Marketing mix is referred to blend of product, pricing,
promotion distribution strategies made to produce a mutual satisfying exchange with the
target market (Hutchison, 2009). The marketing mix is a synonym of 4ps, which is made of the
four relevant components of all product strategy. These are Product, Promotion, Price and
Place. They hold the opportunity for the company to differentiate. (Borden, 1964). The four
―P‖s of product, price, promotion and place constitute the offer that an organization offers
to the business. If this offers suits well the consumers 'needs, it should lead to sales.

1.Product: These are the goods and services that a company offers to the target market.
the product in marketing refers to all activities relating to the product development, keeping
in mind that there is a market for the product, it has to be appealing; it differentiates from
other products existing in the market, and it can be produced at an affordable competitive
price. Samsung ‘s smartphones evolve beyond its limitation in slim phones to embody the
perfect combination of comfort, simplicity and sophistication. All their unique customized
smartphones come with outstanding features. Products vary greatly in Samsung ‘s phone
department. They have a number of Galaxy smartphones, Galaxy S4 being their fourth
generation. Samsung galaxy Series are Android based and many more.

2.Price: This is the amount for what the product is to be paid. (Borden, 1964). Hutchison
(2009) referred price as what customers will exchange for product. Among the four
components, price is determined as an important variable since it is one of the key
determinants of a product value. Price is thus one of the evaluative criteria used by
consumers, as are the cost incurred in buying and owning or using the product (McDonald,
2013). He also noted that the price is very difficult aspect of the marketing mix to manage.
McDonald (2013) urges that to maintain the integrity of prices; the company should
implement a sound pricing strategy; this will support the company's overall marketing
strategy and profitability. After manufacturing innovative and cost-effective phones
worldwide for a long time, Samsung has been able to learn what is required to stay on top of
its industry.
A project on the PLC &
Marketing Mix of Samsung

3.Place: Place is also known as distribution. This is to how the product finally reaches the
consumer (Borden, 1964). The distribution channels. Providing of products at a place where
is convenient for customers to access. This is how to deliver and distribute the product to the
customer (Hutchison, 2009) From a consumer point of view, the channel through which they
purchase products provide the most direct relationship with the supplier (McDonald, 2013).
So, the development of a strategy for the channel is important for the relationship an
organization has with its customer. Many distribution systems are made up of channel
intermediaries such as wholesalers and retailers (Hutchison, 2009) According to McDonald
(2013) a supplier must decide where to focus marketing efforts. That is, on a push approach,
whereby attention is concentrated on the intermediary, to sell in more products, or on a pull
approach where the supplier emphasizes the creation of demand so that intermediaries are
encouraged to deal in that product. (McDonald, 2013). A marketer can use; intensive
distribution, selective distribution, exclusive distribution and franchising to complement the
other aspects of the marketing mix. Samsung uses variety of distribution channels. They
distribute to various telecommunication companies like mobile phone retailers, Internet
partners such as Amazon and other carriers. They also have Popup Samsung retail stores.

4.Promotion: These are all types of communications a marketer may use to give
information to different people about the product (Borden 1964). All the promotion activities
are designed to communicate with the market and thus promotes the sale of the products.
Promotion provides information that will assist customers in making a decision to purchase a
product. This includes: advertising. Public relations, personal selling and sales promotion.
These are important tools that support positioning within the various market a company
wishes to address (McDonald, 2013). It is also seen as informing, motivating the customers
and reminding the consumers to purchase the product (Hutchison, 2009). Promotion is an
essential tool for solving organizational problems like enhancing market position or
persuading customers to behave in line with the economic interest of the business
(McDonald, 2013). Samsung uses different promotional tools across different media
platforms to promote its smartphones. They use the television, print advertising, internet
social media and outdoor media.
A project on the PLC &
Marketing Mix of Samsung

Strengths
One of the main strengths of Samsung's its very vast product portfolio. The company does
have a wide range of very innovative products to cater to various mobile technology needs of
its customers. This is perhaps due to its very sophisticated research and development
function.
The main foundation of Samsung is its very stringent focus on achieving innovation, especially
in its research and development. The company spends a lot of money on investing in research
and development and as a result, they have a wide range of products in their product
portfolio. These comprise of mobile phones, tablets, cameras, camcorders, memory cards,
PCs and various other consumer electronics such as televisions and audio and video devices.
Its research and development function strives to ensure that it is capable of bringing to the
market the most innovative products through the use of advanced technologies and state-of-
the-art design consumer electronic products.
Besides that, the company has also a very strong brand and it is widely recognized across the
world. In addition to that, Samsung also has the strength of being a very innovative company.
Samsung is also an award-winning brand and it is regarded as a pioneer for innovation. Its
brand is recognised as being very credible and has won many awards for its various products.
The company has also very ecologically friendly innovations and this has managed to enhance
its brand reputation. As such, it is known as in an environmentally friendly brand.
A project on the PLC &
Marketing Mix of Samsung

Weaknesses
One of the main weaknesses of Samsung is its declining sales of its smartphone. This is
perhaps due to the competition that is brought about by various other smartphone
manufacturers like Apple, Lenovo, Huawei and OPPO. Samsung has experienced a decline in
sales of smartphones since 2017 and the same is apparent in China because of the price
sensitivity of the Chinese market. Thus, they are forced to sell many of these products in the
Indian market at lower costs.
Another weakness of the company is that is heavily dependent on the US market. The
company sells most of its smartphones in the United States and although it has diversified its
operations in Asia, nevertheless, it is still dependent greatly on US markets. This can be bad
because the American economy is very unpredictable at the moment and a recession due to
the coronavirus can result in the revenues of this company being jeopardised.
Besides that, one of its main rivals, which is the Apple company, has a very effective branding
strategy which Samsung is unable to match and thus its branding is another one of its main
weaknesses. Samsung has not managed to enhance its brand recognition in the past two years
in a way that is capable of competing with the Apple brand.

Opportunities
Samsung has the opportunity to engage in product development at a greater pace. The
company is already making preparations to launch a new air conditioning product that
incorporates state-of-the-art technology and an impeccable design. Besides, Samsung has the
opportunity to create more sophisticated and efficient human resource management. This
will provide it with a competitive leverage over its competitors and they can utilise its brand
image to attract more qualified and skilled employees that can help it improve its
performance and productivity.
Also, the company can also engage in greater diversification and acquisitions. The company
must not limit itself to being in just one marketplace. This can result in economic risks and
also political polarisation. It has to take advantage of its opportunities and expand its
customer base to new markets through diversification and acquisition of other businesses.
The company has significant opportunities in targeting members of the middle-class market.
Besides that, it also has the opportunity of developing its markets by targeting new markets
which it presently does not have a presence. It is in these market that Samsung will be able
to try and market its products.
A project on the PLC &
Marketing Mix of Samsung

Threats

There is always a threat very stiff competition in the consumer electronics market, and this is
with particular emphasis on the smart phone segment of the industry. The competition is very
stiff and Samsung might find it difficult to fend of this competition in the event that it does
not innovate and grow its markets at a faster pace. A great amount of competition comes
from those companies that are competing within the consumer electronics, the smart phone
products and also the computing industries. These include companies like Huawei, Apple and
Xioami.

Many of these competitors are able to outmanoeuvre and outperform Samsung in certain
ways and strive to become the best consumer technology company. This would place a
significant amount of pressure on Samsung in terms creating higher competition and also
straining its financial capabilities.
Besides that, Samsung also comes in a variety of legal and regularly threats. The world is
essentially becoming more globalised and to a great extent, it is becoming digitally oriented.
Thus, many governments have started to put out guidelines that strive to increase legal and
Regulatory compliance among companies such as Samsung. These laws and regulations are
quite different from one market to another and it can result in the operations being hindered
to a certain extent. If they are unable to comply with these laws and regulations, it can result
in them being prevented from doing business a certain country. In addition to that, Covid 19
can also have a very detrimental impact on the business of the company in terms of its
production and marketing of its products. Such a factor can negatively affect Samsung to such
an extent that it can suffer significant losses.
A project on the PLC &
Marketing Mix of Samsung

Conclusion
Samsung has come a long way since its inception to become one of the world’s leading
consumer electronics companies that specialises in a variety of consumer electronic products.
The company has indeed become a household name and has a very strong brand recognition
across the world. Besides that, its research and development function are very sophisticated
and advanced and it has made the company become one of the most innovative businesses
in the world. The company has strived to diversified its product line over the years and has
come up with many winning products such as its smartphone and also smartwatches. The
company continuously innovates and comes up with new products to satisfy new consumer
trends and requirements.
Samsung is a company that is very technology oriented and it continuously improves its
technology infrastructure and acquisition. The company uses the most advanced technologies
available to come up with new and innovative offerings for customers to attract them away
from its competitors such as Apple and Lenovo. Nevertheless, Samsung continues to face a
number of challenges in light of its threats of competition, the threats of dwindling sale of its
smartphone within its main market which is the United States, and also the threat of the
coronavirus pandemic. Certain recommendations were given out in this analysis and the
embracing of such suggestions will likely to help the company improve its position in the
market and become more competitive and achieve sustainable profits.

References
1]BOOKS:
a) Kotler P., Keller K. L., Brandy M., Goodman M. & Hansen T., 2009, Marketing Management,
1st edition, Pearson Education.
b) Marketing Management- Rajan Saxena,2009, fourth Edition.

2]INTERNET:
a) Business Studies ―The product Life Cycle‖, on-line
b) Eadicicco L. 2013, Samsung Galaxy S4 review (TMobile) Review.
http://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/smartphones/samsung-galaxy-s4-t-mobile.aspx.
Consulted 10.12.2013
c) http://www.monroecollege.edu/AcademicResources/ebooks/9781111532406_lores_p01_c
h03.pdf
d) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung
e) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung_Galaxy
f) www.slideshare.net