Introduction
High-Tech Computer (HTC) is a company that specializes in the manufacture and sale of smart phones. HTC has its headquarters in Taiwan, China, and offers a wide range of smart phone devices. Over the recent past, HTC has been losing its market share and its revenues have been declining.
Some of the factors that are attributed to the declining sales include external and internal market forces. External market forces comprise of aspects that are beyond the control and power of HTC. The external forces are competition, technology, economy, demography, and marketing. On the other hand, internal forces involve factors of production that HTC employ in advancing the quality of its products.
These factors include land, capital, facilities, and human resources. Proper implementation and application of external and internal factors of marketing would help HTC to improve the quality of its products and meet consumer requirements, and thus retain and improve its market share. Thus, it is against this background that the essay analyzes HTC declining market share, especially in China, describes marketing strategies, and recommends effective marketing strategies.
Declining Market Share
External and internal market forces have had a major impact on the market niche held by HTC in China and worldwide. Competition has led to increase in the amount of substitutes and complements that consumers choose. Furthermore, most of the competitors offer their products at lower prices than HTC. Technological advancements have also led to increased awareness among consumers about the products, and so, many consumers go for quality, a factor, which compels HTC to upgrade its facilities to meet the required standards.
Since the world has been experiencing pronounced changes in the economy, many potential consumers have become cautious in their spending habits, as many of them prefer satisfying their essential needs rather than purchasing products from HTC. Shifting demographics and ineffective marketing have also contributed to reduced sales volumes in HTC.
Strategies that HTC Employ to Improve its Declining Sales
Marketing Mix
HTC has a number of strategies, which it applies in improving its performance in Chinese and global markets. Some of the strategies include marketing mix, mergers and affiliations, as well as marketing. Marketing mix comprises of the 4Ps or 8Ps used in the marketing system, which include product, place, promotion, price, people, and brand. HTC employs the marketing mix to increase the level of purchases from its target clients.
To meet the requirement of price, HTC has rolled out smart phones that meet the needs of middle class individuals who have since shifted their focus to vendors offering similar or substitute phones that are cheap in terms of price. Therefore, HTC uses the idea of price to outsmart its competitors in the smart phone market, both in China and across the world.
The placement of its products is very important as HTC strives to increase revenues and profits. HTC strategizes its marketing of products in a way that reaches a large number of consumers.
The company has segmented its market and diversified its products so that it can appeal to a wide spectrum of consumers, and increase its share of potential customers in the market. In the past few years, HTC has been working on products, which do not only meet customer expectations, but also meet quality standards that compete with products of competitors such Xiaomi Corp and Huawei Technologies.
Some of the recent products that HTC released include One Mini smart phone that is 4.3 inches, which the company introduced last month. However, HTC downplays manufacture of products like desktops and laptops because they do not have high returns in terms of profit and revenues. Furthermore, HTC has undertaken effective promotions targeted on the right category of consumers.
Mergers and Affiliations
To improve its sales and profits, HTC has merged with other firms that provide similar products in China and worldwide. The main aim of affiliations with other companies is to compete effectively with its competitors, including the United States Apple Corporation and South Korea Samsung Electronics Corporation, which are among the largest smart phone companies globally. Affiliations also enable HTC to compete with vendors by collaborating with companies such as Telecoms and enjoy a relatively large market share in China.
The importance of affiliations is that it increases the bargaining power of HTC and makes it appealing to potential consumers. Mergers with good and large-scale companies help an organization to amplify its consumer base and make the merged organizations increase their consumers together, and thus, enable them to improve their niche in the market.
Affiliation and mergers that HTC apply are undertaken creatively and strategically so that the company ends up with corporations that have good reputation and market share. Since HTC wants to improve its declining sales volumes and market share, it has to merge with companies that will enable it to progress and develop. For HTC, effective mergers and affiliations are good in promoting its quest to attain success in Chinese and global markets.
A good example is the case of vendors such as Xiaomi Corp and Huawei Technologies, which collaborated with Telecoms, and are currently enjoying a high market share because of the affiliation with successful organizations. It is, therefore, imperative for HTC affiliations and mergers to be with organizations that have good reputation and market share. Thus, collaborations are instrumental in improving the reputation of the organization and increasing the sale of HTC products.
Marketing
Marketing is very important in the progress of any business. Marketing entails a number of elements that are essential for an organization to progress. In its marketing strategies, HTC has employed the provisions of marketing and is planning to implement them to minimize losses and increase profit margins. Marketing is an activity, which involves creation of awareness and persuasion of potential customers to purchase available products that a certain organization offers.
Effective awareness through the right media of communication helps an organization to increase the level of awareness held by consumers concerning its products. Increased customer awareness enhances the willingness of potential customers to purchase and consume HTC products because they are knowledgeable on the products and their benefits. Additionally, good marketing motivates potential customers to develop an urge of buying the advertised products.
Pricing, promotions, advertisements, personal selling, and trade fairs are some of the strategies that HTC uses in its quest to improve market share. HTC has undertaken these strategies in a creative manner so that it can effectively market its products to the correct set of target consumers. HTC is setting prices of its products to be within the purchasing power of the target consumers and at the same time be within the expected budget.
In the promotions of the products, HTC employs the right media of communication, which reaches the target consumers. In addition, the objective of advertisements and personal selling is to inform consumers about the nature and quality of the product, while persuading them to purchase the products. This strategy is very instrumental since it enables HTC to reach its target consumers, and in some instances pull out ideas from consumers.
Recommended Strategies
The following recommendations are very essential for the progress and development of HTC, if the organization implements them accordingly.
External Market Forces
Competition
Competition is a common phenomenon in every marketing industry. Competitors always emerge when they realize that a given good or service is viable and can earn revenue in a given market. Since HTC is a firm, which deals with production and sale of smart phones and other technological products, it experiences competition. HTC cannot dictate the number of its competitors since it is beyond its power and control.
Over the recent past, many companies have come up and are currently producing quality products, which meet consumer requirements. These competitors do not only reduce the market share of the existing firms like HTC, but also reduce the amount of revenues that accrue from the sale of their products. Furthermore, competitors are important as they increase the spectrum of products that are available in the market for consumers to choose.
Substitutes and similar products delivered by competitors to consumers at relatively lower prices than the ones HTC offers greatly affect the consumer behavior and revenues earned by the firm. HTC should therefore adopt and apply strategies that help in promotion of products in competitive markets.
HTC should implement strategies that improve the quality of its products. Market segmentation, improvement of factors of production, and employee training are some of the strategies that HTC should use in developing its products.
Good market segmentation enables HTC to identify its prime consumers and deliver products that best meet the expectations of customers. In addition, the organization must improve facilities used in production so that it can enhance product quality, and thus, enable the firm match pre-consumption, consumption, and post-consumption experiences of potential consumers.
Employee training is fundamental as it empowers human resources with the relevant skills to deliver quality products that lead to consumer satisfaction and loyalty. Hence, strategies like market segmentation, facility improvement, and employee training to increase the bargaining power of HTC amongst its competitors in the smart phone industry, and hence, aid in curbing the problem of declining sales.
Technology
Technology is another factor that HTC should adopt in improving its market share because it determines the purchase of goods and service in every market. Technology affects consumer behavior and dynamics. Due to technological advancements, the world has become a global village.
Globalization of the world implies that consumers are in contact with other parts of the world, and therefore, gain more information and awareness concerning the nature and quality of products available in various markets. Since technological developments are unstoppable, continuous, and unpredictable, it places firms like HTC at challenging situations because noncompliance greatly affects their position in the market.
To improve the demand for its products, HTC should use facilities that meet the required standards. These facilities results in production of goods that comply with modern technological standards and meet the expectations of potential clients. Remarkably, HTC needs to understand that technology is an external force, and that the only option for them is to keep in tandem with the technological advancements.
HTC should ensure that its products are up to the expected standards as consumers are highly concerned with utility for their money, product-value, and quality of goods and services that a company delivers. It is only through the application of modern facilities and good human resources who have relevant skills that HTC will be in a position of releasing good quality products.
These products of international standards outsmart those of competitors and increase HTC market share in Chinese and global markets. Delivery of products of international standards such as smart phones does not only help HTC to attain consumer satisfaction, but also results in consumer loyalty. Consumer satisfaction and loyalty emanate from trust that consumers develop when they realize that the firm manufactures products of international standards.
Economy
The economy is an external factor that relates to the financial ability and strength of a state or country. Changes in the economy may be global, as it occurs during economic boom, inflation, or recessions. On the other hand, some changes may take place within the country, as it happens during micro inflation. HTC cannot manipulate the economy to favor its growth as it is beyond its power and control.
However, HTC cannot compromise the effects that economy occasions as they greatly determine the increase or decline of the company and its performance. Therefore, HTC has to adjust to changes in the economy so that it manufactures products relevant to the prevailing economic conditions in terms of price and quality. This implies that HTC should operate within its budget, and at the same time must not compromise the quality of products like smart phones.
Changes in the economy lead to adjustments if purchasing power and buying behaviors among customers. The changes transpire due to increase or decrease in the level of money that circulates within a given region due to variations in the economy. Thus, during economic boom, consumers may purchase more products at relatively higher prices than during economic recession.
Thus, HTC should tailor its products in a manner that best suits the prevailing economic conditions so that it increases the purchase of its products. Product tailoring should be strategic so that product quality remains unaffected by the adjustments on the production costs and expenses. Since the economy is constantly changing, HTC should be responsive, so that it can make adjustments that are in tandem with the economic conditions.
Demography
Demography refers to factors like gender, age, class, income level, education level, and personal values. These factors of demography affect the demand and purchase of products available in the markets. As a firm cannot control population, gender, and other factors associated with demography, HTC needs to adjust its products and match the needs of potential consumers, so that it increases its sales volumes. It is fundamental to understand that different consumers have diverse needs and preferences.
Thus, it is likely for people of the same gender to purchase similar products as opposed to individuals of the opposite gender. Additionally, individuals from a given age bracket consume certain products, which may not be similar to those demanded by another age group. Consequently, education affects the level of information that a person has about a product, as well as the willingness to purchase and consume the product.
Consumers are dynamic and diverse as they fall into various categories on the demographic scale. Therefore, consumer demands are diverse and in line with their positions on the scale. For instance, many consumers of HTC products are mostly the young, the educated, and individuals who are conversant with technology. The presence of divergent needs presented by variations in demography implies that HTC has to be creative and smart when designing and pricing its products, so that it matches the requirements of their target customers.
Furthermore, HTC should understand ages, education levels, and income levels of individuals in its target market for it to products in line with these demographic parameters. Failure to keep abreast with demographic conditions of a region is tantamount to a decline in the performance of a firm, and thus, HTC has to comply with the conditions.
Internal Market Forces
High Tech Computer Corporation has the power and control over internal market forces because they are internal factors that form part of the daily operations of the company. HTC has to manipulate its internal factors like the human resources in a direction that best suits its requirements.
Training, recruitment, and dismissal of employees are some of the activities that an organization should undertake in the process of improving the quality of its products. Training of employees makes them deliver products of the required quality, while recruitment and dismissals depend on the economic situations of a state.
During challenging economic times, HTC needs to reduce recruitments to minimize expenditure that it incurs in paying salaries and wages, but increase its sales volumes. Furthermore, HTC can increase or reduce the amount of space used in production depending on the revenues and costs associated with production. Thus, since HTC has control over these factors of production, it must use them to spearhead its development and increase its market share.
To comply with the advancements initiated by technology, HTC needs to upgrade the quality of its facilities and ensure that they are in line with the required international standards. Notably, HTC has the ultimate power of retaining or upgrading its facilities for the success of the organization, as it is vital that the organization improves the quality of its facilities.
It is crucial for HTC to understand that modern consumers are concerned with the product quality, which it can provide using facilities that meet the required standards. In addition, HTC has to control the amount of capital to match the prevailing economic conditions. For example, during economic crises, the organization can reduce the amount of capital as a strategy of offsetting its expenditure and maintaining its revenues.
Conclusion
HTC has experienced declining sales and market share over the recent past. Increased competition, advancements in technology, economic challenges, and changing demographics are some of the factors that have contributed to the decline in sales and market share.
Thus, external and internal market forces are some of the factors that HTC can employ to curb the problem, since they are the main factors linked to the decline of market share. HTC has set numerous strategies that it plans to use in promoting its sales volumes. Furthermore, the application and the use of external factors like competition, technology, economy, and demography, as well as internal factors like land, facilities, human resources, and capital can effectively increase market share and prevent its decline.