Sony - Current Market Conditions Competitive Analysis

Current Market Conditions Competitive Analysis

Sony is a company that began in 1946 in Japan; the company took on the name Sony in 1955 and made this their official logo. In 1955, Japan's company SONY made and marketed the first transistor radio to be sold to the public. Clearly this company has been a ground breaking company for over 60 plus years. As a member of the team assigned to marketing a new and innovative television the decision has been made to focus on a 3-D version of SONY's high resolution television. There are many ways to reach out to the consumer to help the consumer see the value in a television that will allow the consumer to be a part of the visual experience that they receive from watching television. Team B will focus on the different types of markets that SONY reaches and the best way to insure success in the marketing of the specialized television.

Factors

It is clear that a strong marketing plan will be needed to introduce a specialized item and Team B will demonstrate ways that the company can ensure access to the new product, and customer's satisfaction in the highly technical piece of equipment. The marketing of this product will have to be done in a matter that will illustrate to consumer that the new 3-D television will open up a new experience for their household. Clearly marketing an item that will be considered a luxury will not be easy; Team B will have to focus on the fact that this experience is something innovating to the viewer, no other television like it. As the marketing of this product becomes a reality the students need to ensure not to overprice our new 3-D T.V. There are a number of different markets that the students have to market to; it is imperative that our team understands the market place and understands the unique qualities of our consumers.

This paper will focus on the aspects of the demand and supply of our product. Team B will focus on equilibrium prices, the methods used to market the product, and the availability of the product. This research paper will analyze what the supply and demand of this product will be to assist in any preorders that we will be received. The new 3-D T.V. will be faced with obstacles, such as popular competitors who will be trying to introduce similar products at reduced price. Team B will have to focus on why their product is better, and why the consumer should buy from them and not their competitors.

Issues & Opportunities

Sony has managed to stay competitive and meet economic supply and demand. As the economy continues to be unsteady luxury purchases such as big screen HD TV's and home entertainment centers have had to weather the down turn by reducing the prices to stay in line with the markets equilibrium for such purchases. As the demand for such purchases were reduced companies had to slow down production and reduce the price in order to stay competitive in the market and increase demand. As the economy took a turn for the worst with incomes being reduced, jobs being lost, and credit qualifications were being declined, people were shopping less and less causing a shift in the demand curve. Another factor that affects the demands for televisions is the steep competitions with such a variety of quality televisions on the market. When an alternative product hits the market, the competition between the existing product and the new one can cause the demand to drop. Just as many people may be buying the product, a large portion of them may elect to buy the alternative brand. This leads to price wars that ultimately lower the price of the product and may require a cut in supply to fall in line with the decrease in demand (Morgan, L. 2012). As the demand shifts the need for supply changes management has to monitor industry trends in order to manage production. As the demand decreases companies aren't hiring new employees to meet high production needs, if the decrease in demand falls enough companies are forced to lay people off production workers because they don't have enough work to keep them busy. When there is an increase in demand the company is hiring new employees in order to increase production in order to meet the economic demands. One major factor that affects a company's ability to meet supply and demand is the economic equilibrium. Management has to stay aware of what the economic equilibrium is when producing their product to ensure the company can get the price needed in order to maintain profit needed to stay in operation. As the changes in the economy such as unemployment, shifts in population, and changes in income all effect how people shop and what they are willing to pay for certain items change causing a shift in pricing affecting a company's ability to meet the supply demand.

As Hollywood continues to release astonishing three-dimensional movies, the TV manufacturers have decided that you need that same immersive experience in your living room as they add this capability to their new lines of top-tier HDTVs (TechMediaNetwork.com, 2012). Sony is looking to capture the attention of 3D movie lovers by producing a television that makes them feel like they are in their own personal movie theater watching the movie. When deciding on what type of product Sony was going to develop next they did some research to find out what the latest technological advances were being developed in their industry. With the increasing development of 3D movies in the theater developers of home theater systems wanted to provide their customers with the same experience they received at the theater in their homes. The marketing department researched the industry. They want to insure there is expected increase in 3D movie production. They did an analysis on how many people like 3D movies and with the changes in technology would they be interested in watching such movies in the privacy of their own homes. The company looked into the cost of developing such a product and what it would take to get it to market. The company had to make sure they could produce the product at the profit margin needed. Once the company figured out what it would cost to produce the product they started to look at the consumers and who they would have to target. The company marketed the television to movie lovers and families. They promoted all of the qualifications a movie lover looks for when purchasing television. Sony also did an analysis of how their competitors were doing in the market. 3D televisions are being produced by companies that have a reputation for providing high quality product with Panasonic being ranked top in the industry followed by LG ranked as number two and Sony being ranked at number 3. Sony chose to market its televisions to middle class