1. Includes a link to the article.
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/sep2009/tc2009093_577532.htm
2. Includes a short summary of the article.
After Finnish’s recent unimpressive profits and its shares loss in the smart phone market, Nokia promotes their new Booklet 3G mini-laptop, which is also their first product in the laptops market. The product includes distinguishing features such as being energy efficient, no cooling fan (which makes it quieter), and it also allows people with no bank accounts to carry out transactions. However, its market share in the US remains low, and its services and products are not as easy to use as the ones made by its main competitor- Apple.
3. Identifies the topic(s) from our syllabus that the article covers.
1.5 External Environments, 4.1 The Role of Marketing, 4.2 Marketing Planning, 4.3 Product, 4.5 Promotion
4. Applies one business tool/theory/technique to the organization.
4.3 Product, 4.1 The Role of Marketing, 1.1 Nature of Business Activity
The article is primarily about Nokia developing a new product in order to earn more profit after their smart phone’s unimpressive profits. Therefore, they are introducing a new product line, which is laptop, into their product mix, with 3G mini-laptop (which is a tangible product) as their first product in the line. By introducing a new product line, Nokia may meet the needs and wants of more customers, acquiring a greater customer base and thus gaining a greater profit margin. Nokia also used product differentiation to make its product stand out from other rival firm's products, by adding some distinguishing features such as being energy efficient, no cooling fan and allowing people with no bank accounts to carry transactions to their 3G laptop. Its quality of the product and the customer relations management differentiates the product from other rival firm's products (such as those of Apple). There are several advantages to produc differentiation, such as price advantages (product differentiation allows the firm to sell its product at a premium price), and distribution advantages (since retail space is limited, businesses will only stock the best selling brand, so product differentiation improves its placement of the firm's product). Its biggest challenge is probably to gain market share from its competitors such as Apple or Dell, who has already established a firm customer base in the laptop market.
作者已經移除這則留言。
回覆刪除Hi Matthew,
回覆刪除First off, I'd like to thank you for posting an article early - it helped ME mark business homework off my list by commenting on all three. Secondly, can you please go to [DASHBOARD > English] and change your site back to English please? I think it'd help other people in our grade who werent aware that 意見 means comments.
I'd like to say that this is also an interesting article! For me especially, since I was considering buying a smartphone. Yes! Most DEFINITELY this article is an excellent example of what the product unit is about! Deciding which products to create and promote are extremely important, and without either of them, the marketing mix would cease to exist! It's true that Nokia is attempting to challenge Dell and Apple (alongside all the other established computer companies), but at the same time, I think that their computers are aimed at a different target audience. Primarily because as you mentioned, the 3G mini-laptop includes no fan - which for most laptop users of our time, can admit will be quite a problem considering that some of us do not even turn off our computers! Nokia's target audience would most likely be the GenX consumers because they have essentially adapted to using computers mainly for simple things - like doing transactions.
However, I'd also like to point out how this is an example of Nokia's inability to exercise a satisfactory R&D plan. Their initial steps towards each product and their life cycle are not yet exceptionally thought out. It almost goes to show how Nokia's so desperately trying to diversify (Unit 1.7) their market and expand into different markets - like the smart phones against BlackBerry and now the 3G laptops against more or less the EeePC computers, has caused their failure in research.
In saying so, I'd like to compliment your choice of article, and suggest that perhaps you include a bit of your opinion also?
I think that Nokia should, as the saying goes, save their breath for cooling their porridge, and stick to what they know - the mobile phone industry.
Sam.
Hi Matthew!
回覆刪除A good article you've chosen.The new product line Nokia introduced can definitely expand their product mix and also provide more choices for the customers to select from. However, more market research can be done before they actually launch the product. For instance, Apple and Blackberry have been increasingly popular with their newly launched product line as well, and especially when Apple have a very firm customer base, so introducing a new product line in a existing market with strong brands, Nokia might need more research and more unique selling point to their products in order to differentiate their products from the other competitor's. I agree with you that product differentiation can allow the company to sell the product at a premium price, but in some cases it might not generate as much profit as the company expected. When customer select products from different brands, they might chose the one that have a stronger reputation in that area of production, thus, selling introducing new product line of mini-laptops might not benefit companies like Nokia as much as companies like Apple.
Knowing that there might be risks of not generating enough profit as expected,since laptops are a HIP product (meaning customers will require high degree of thought before purchase)i suggest piloting or test marketing, where a small number of product are launched and tested within a selected group of people, and test their reaction to the new product in order to predict the success of this newly developed product.
While I also agree with you that the new product benefit from distribution advantages, Nokia can use its already established customer base to launch more products that are in their area of expertise,i.e.the mobile industry.
In the end, a nice job you've done, but maybe also include some of the ways Nokia should have done to save their sales?
Randy =)
Hi Matt! :)
回覆刪除Haha I must say, Nokia should just stick with the cell phone industry and actually specialize at it.
However, since they have already entered this unfamiliar market, they have got to do something to improve.
Okay, so they are new to this market, I believe they need to do more advertising for this product. Also, since they have such cool features as their selling point, they have to let the public know about it.
There is almost 0% chance for them to even be close to apple in this industry right now. But I do think that this is a good start. They just need to improve their packaging, select better venues to sell them and do more promotion (maybe change the price too). So basically the marketing mix hahaha
Hi Matthew. A great article and discussion on marketing. Applying Ansoff's matrix could reveal more insight into Nokia's move to mini-laptops.
回覆刪除Hi Matthew,
回覆刪除I agree with Emily's comment. They should just continue with producing cell phones and try to come up with more innovative ideas for them. They already have an established brand name for producing them and many customers already have had this phone. Cell phones have a very short product life so customers will just keeping buying a new one again and again. Until reading this article, I never heard about the laptop they came out with. It will be very difficult to compete with the other established companies you have mentioned that have already sold laptops like Dell and Apple. In order to do so though, they have to create something that is unique which they already ave. However, it did not seem to attract very many customers. Nokia should improve their marketing strategies to get the word out about this new product with its unique functions. Necessary research will have to be made to target the right audience that will want to buy this laptop because of its specific functions that make it stand out.
Hi Matthew,
回覆刪除Good article. I also believe a reason why Nokia strives to improve its function is to capture the largely unexplored American market. If one used the Ansoff's matrix, Nokia's current market is mainly Asia, while the market share of the Americas remain relatively low.
A 3G laptop might just be what it needs by accustoming more to American consumer's needs and wants. Geographically speaking, it is not exactly convenient for Americans to see each other when they live in the other side of the country, no?
Although Nokia improved its product to outdo competition from rivals such as Apple, they might like to (unethically, perhaps?) alter the product life to boost sales (especially in developed markets such as Asia)-- long enough for customers to believe in your product, short enough for them to buy new models with little alterations. (Think iPod from Apple. As the generation 2 pushes out, generation 1s are slowly de-functioning.)
Hi Matthew,
回覆刪除GREAT ARTICLE:)
Nokia’s expertise is definitely on its cell phone products. I understand that Nokia’s Netbook is sold at a premium price and uses an operating system which is different from what Nokia already has in their cell phones. Will Nokia succeed in selling a high priced model during a time of recession, not mentioning the very keen compietition in the computer market? With so many premium features like 3G, GPS and long hour battery life, the new product is more than a typical Netbook but a small laptop. It appears that the whole initiative is a mismatch. I am skeptical if Nokia is making a right product for the right market. I fully agree with Tiffany’s point that a thorough market research should be conducted to identify the niche of target customers and direction for product positioning. Nokia hopes to boost revenue by launching a new product line under the company’s well known brand name. The brand extension strategy will achieve synergies between its products and build customer loyalty. However, the use of the strategy is not risk free, If the new Netbook of Nokia does not live up to the expectations of the customers, it may have a negative impact on the company brand name.