Samsung
Student Number: 25145657
Product
Samsung serves as one of the top manufactures of mobile phones with smartphones such
as Samsung Galaxy series, tablets, wearables, accessories and more forming a large
proportion of the brands portfolio (MBA Skool Team, 2021). Samsung puts a large amount of
spending towards research and development to make sure they produce top quality products
for their customers to enjoy. A part of their product strategy is offering a large variety of
products within different product lines displaying Samsung’s diversity. Reasons for
Samsung’s strong reputation is their high-quality SSD, Portable SSD, Memory cards, USB
Flash drives, etc (MBA Skool Team, 2021). which they offer. Samsung is therefore seen as a
leader and innovator when it comes to products.
Price
Samsung is a market leader when it comes to smartphones and a dominant player (MBA
Skool Team, 2021). One of the reasons they maintain this position is through their two
pricing strategies. Samsung uses a competition-based strategy and a price skimming
strategy. Samsung uses a competition strategy to fight off competition in the market. The
competition is relentless, so it is important for Samsung to keep their market position (MBA
Skool Team, 2021). When it comes to the price skimming strategy, Samsung uses this
method when they release a new smartphone with newer features and capabilities by making
the price a little bit higher than others (Shastri, 2023). They also will lower the price of their
smartphone whenever a competitor releases a smartphone with the same or even better
features to ensure they do not lose their share of the market (Shastri, 2023).
Place
Samsung sells their products directly to the retailers and service dealers, who are then fully
responsible for the corporate sales. Retailers who deal technology will often have to offer
(MBA Skool Team, 2021). Samsung products due the brands known popularity and
reputation. The distribution serves as a one of Samsung’s strong points. Samsung also
distributes its products using a single distribution company in a particular location that further
distributes the products to other locations (MBA Skool Team, 2021).
Promotion
In the eyes of Samsung, advertising as a way of promoting the brand, is the best way to
attract potential customers and put the brand in a strong position (MBA Skool Team, 2021).
For Samsung, promotion is a key component for the marketing mix. Samsung uses many
forms of media such as print media, digital media, and social media to market their products.
Samsung also found a way to take advantage of the large and growing following of
celebrities to promote their brand by offering the chance to be ambassadors of the Samsung
brand (Shastri, 2023). This method has proven to be quite prolific. Samsung will even
collaborate the launch of their new smartphones with celebrities in the form of exclusive
packaging, features, colours, or designs (Shastri, 2023). This helps raises sales significantly
and improves the brands image and popularity. Samsung also made improvements to their
websites making it more convenient for their consumer to use (Shastri, 2023). Samsung also
makes use of different forms of promotional including being a major sponsor for large events,
sporting teams and more. Samsung will also offer special discounts during national events
(MBA Skool Team, 2021).
Strengths and weaknesses
Strengths
One of Samsung’s many strengths is their distribution policy. They make use of one singular
distribution company who in a certain location who then distributes the products to other
locations where they are sold.
Samsung’s product differentiation at prices is also a strength for the brand. Samsung offers
many different models at every price range for example, the Samsung Galaxy series has a
phone in almost every price range (MBA Skool Team, 2021).
Samsung is also one of top manufacturers of mobile phones as they put heavy investment
into the research and development of their smartphones.
Samsung has strong brand awareness.
Samsung Galaxy smartphones are one of the most popular product lines. The brands
popularity provides Samsung its strong reputation.
Samsung place lots of attention towards advertising which has provided their brand with
brilliant advertising in many forms of media (MBA Skool Team, 2021).
Weaknesses
Samsung faces lots of competition which forces them to use very aggressive types of
investment even for marginal market share growth.
Samsung’s brand image has been harmfully affected by previous legal troubles, lawsuits,
and environmental agencies (MBA Skool Team, 2021).
Table 4: strengths and weaknesses of Samsung smartphones
STRENGTHS
WEAKNESSES
Strong distribution network
Aggressive investment for minimal growth
Amazing advertising
Strong competition
Product differentiation
Poor image due to previous legal troubles
Strong brand awareness
Leading manufacturer
Popular
Key success factors
Weight
Apple
Score
Total
Samsung
Score
Total
Nokia
Score
Affordability
Product quality
Skills and expertise of
staff
Financial strength
Brand image
Innovativeness
Marketing
Distribution network
Customer service
Production quality
Revenue
Competitive advantage
Availability
Location
Market share
TOTAL
0,06
0,12
2
4
0,12
0,48
3
4
0,18
0,48
0,08
0,09
0,05
0,06
0,08
0,07
0,06
0,06
0,07
0,07
0,05
0,04
0,04
1
4
5
5
4
4
4
4
4
4
5
3
4
4
0,32
0,45
0,25
0,24
0,32
0,28
0,24
0,24
0,28
0,35
0,15
0,16
0,16
4,04
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
0,32
0,36
0,2
0,24
0,32
0,28
0,24
0,24
0,28
0,28
0,2
0,16
0,16
3,94
After conducting a key success factor (KSF) analysis it was determined that Apple had the
highest KSF score and is therefore the market leader in the smartphone industry. This result
was unsurprising and expected as Apple smartphones are the clear favourite in this industry,
but Samsung was a close second. The brand with the lowest KSF score was Motorola.
REFERENCE LIST
MBA Skool Team, 2021. Samsung Marketing Strategy & Marketing Mix (4Ps).
[Online]
Available
at:
https://www.mbaskool.com/marketing-mix/products/16860-
samsung.html
[Accessed 29 April 2023].
Shastri, A., 2023. Extensive Marketing Mix of Samsung – 4Ps with Full Explanations.
[Online]
Available
at:
https://iide.co/case-studies/marketing-mix-of-
samsung/#4_Promotion_Strategy_of_Samsung
[Accessed 1 May 2023].