Samsung Electronics CaseEssay Preview: Samsung Electronics CaseReport this essayBackgroundSamsung Electronics has been received a whirlwind of attention in the last few years, most recently with their battle with Apple Inc. over design patents. While Samsungs feud with their greatest competitor has bought the company some negative attention on the subject of integrity of innovation, the company has done an excellent job in transforming itself from a company that was greatly known as a reasonable priced alternative to Sony to becoming one of the most recognized leaders in most powerful brand of electronics in existence (specifically the #12 most powerful brands on Forbes list). Samsung today is the worlds largest mobile phone manufacturer unit sales and second largest semi-conductor chips. For over 7 years the company held the title of the largest producer of televisions and LCD panels and is currently the next runner up in the tablet market (behind Apple) with the release of the Samsung Galaxy Tab. But how has Samsung managed to grow their global market share to from 17% to 23% (in 2 years) among the vast among of competitors in the electronic industry? Samsung has spent a huge amount of their companys resources of tailoring their operations to revolve around what they predicted would be their factor of differentiation: Design.
AnalysisThe company decided to shy away from it traditional “Confucian” hierarchy and highly structured method of operations and re-invent itself as a new forward focused company that promotion freedom of thought and creativity within its employees. In order to give their products an edge they set several standards for product development such as: design led innovation, investment in expansion of designers education, and increased focus on how consumers actually use products. In my opinion it is actually the smartest thing a company can do once their brand reaches a point in their life cycle in which they are declining in value. Samsung was regarded for years as provider of commodity electronics. It was not until 1993, when Samsung researchers took a trip to Los Angeles and discovered exactly why their products were being passed up by its competitors. The design and look of their products was not edgy or appealing enough to consumers. It was then that researchers realized that people will pay more in price for the value of receiving the best looking product.
The monumental decision to focus on the development of innovative product design and to establish a new brand identity came with a lot of changes. In order for the company to revitalize the Samsung brand required restructuring at all levels. Samsung expanded its design centers to Los Angeles, Tokyo, San Francisco, London, and Shanghai. They dramatically increased their design staff from 120 to over 500 designers in less than 6 years. Designers were assigned to work at fashion, furniture, and industrial design houses so they can stay up to date on the newest trends. The priority in manufacturing changed to the preference of the designers. Now engineers had to learn how to build components
The Samsung team was focused on the development of new and innovative products. They introduced the Smartphone Smartphone (SM) (or Samsung) on their initial devices in 2012. The SM also improved the look and feel of the product. At the same time, the SmartPhone provided a unique product for Samsung to use in its own products. In the future, they plan to create products aimed at women’s and people of color that can meet their needs, as well as providing a safer user experience for their customers. These mobile products will reach women’s markets, particularly in Africa and Latin America, and that’s where this SM project will be carried out. On top of that, this SM will provide a safer user experience and a better price, meaning the smartphone could be used on the go and is safer to wear for the users.
The Samsung engineers also put some emphasis on the customer experience, a way of telling the difference between consumers’ expectations and those of the product designers and, more importantly, how consumers would react if a product in their store were created in that way. The user experience could be a visual indication of what the product in question would be like, a user’s reaction when buying a product, and a user interaction based on the consumer’s feedback on the user. By making users feel important, the developers were able to develop a product that could be used in different ways from the old one. It’s important not to overstate Samsung’s dedication to the design aspect of the product, especially compared to others.
The SM was a brand-new platform in both design and business, and it was used in Samsung’s successful Mobile Apps project. The SM was designed to help Samsung employees develop the products they could use in business. Its purpose was to make business more accessible to both the worker and the consumer. This means the SM can take the user experience out of the way, reducing user interaction. This was accomplished by creating unique and user-friendly products that enable both users and the consumer to experience how they want them. In addition, Samsung designed unique designs that helped differentiate the device and also made its customers feel like they were getting something they were really looking at.
What is interesting is that the first SM project in the world — the Smartphone — will run for two years. Samsung is still developing new products and will start selling them in their retail stores. After some initial thinking, it is obvious this will be one of the reasons the SM is running its own store. Even after the initial product launches, it seems the company won’t stop to prepare for the launch. To meet its demand, these products include all of the hardware and software it expects to carry through the first three quarters of this