3. Threat of Rivalry Personal Computers and the music/audio market are Apple’s two main areas of competition. Their leading competitors are Dell, HP, and Microsoft. Personal computers are quite popular today and with so many choices, the sales price of the computers need to be lowered to a competitive price which can, again, lead to a loss in profit. However Apple has, because of their easy to use and widely available, fair priced iPod(s), cornered the music market.
A bundle with a 320GB PS3 and Sony's motion-control add-on, “PlayStation Move”, will cost you $349. The $200 Xbox 360 is the least-expensive entry, but if you want your game console to double as an entertainment system, the $250 PlayStation 3 with more storage and a built-in Blu-ray player is a better bet for the money. Lets consider processing power, the Xbox 360 is a year older than the PlayStation 3, and arguably less powerful. However, years of cross-platform games delivered similar performance on each have proven that, where it counts, the two systems are equal. Some games will have slightly different graphics or longer load times on each, but both systems can play the same games well.
These lead firms to use whatever resource they have as weapon to gain competitive advantage. If you at the rivalry in the online DVD rental industry, you see that it is high. Rivals in this industry carry a feebly differentiated product, which intensifies threats from rivals. In this industry, the cost to switch or change suppliers is very low; making it easier for consumers to have less brand loyalty. They can switch wherever there is a lower cost being offered.
Redbox is in a highly competitive environment that is evolving quickly. Redbox differs in this competitive market because it offers consumers convenient, quick, and hassle free access to affordable movies. Compared to Netflix and Blockbuster, Redbox offers more physical locations as well as the lowest price available to rent a DVD or Blu-ray in the very competitive marketplace. Redbox, Netflix, and Blockbuster represent the major market share holders but the movie industry has a bigger connection with direct competitors as well as new entrants and suppliers and other substitutes. New entrants would consist of GameFly and Blockbuster Express.
To begin with, when choosing either Android or iPhone, an important aspect to look at is price. There are many different types of Androids out there with many different prices depending upon how capable and durable the potential buyer would like their phone to be. While with an iPhone there is one model, and one price, which is actually quite high at about $750, unless you choose to purchase an older model with less features. A comparable Android on the other hand costs about $650. The prices don’t stop there either for Androids, lower range models can cost as low as $300.
Instead, Sony has changed gears and will now begin to concentrate on the production of smartphones and tablets. Because the market is not yet saturated with these technologies, there is a greater market available. Another focus will be on the gaming side because it has seen remarkable growth. These changes will help us to continue selling high quality products at competitively low prices. References Sony Info.
Despite the loyalty, some people are still choosing to buy the Xbox 360 Kinect over the PlayStation 3. In an article on CNET.com the author stated this, “The Xbox 360 still remains the better selling of the two powerhouse consoles of this generation, but by a smaller margin worldwide. This is partly because the system went on sale an entire year before the PlayStation 3 and because the console had a much stronger lineup of exclusives early on in its life cycle. Also at launch, Xbox 360 was considerably more affordable than the expensive PlayStation 3 (Bakalar, 2011, p.4). Consumers have chosen to buy a game system that is opposite of the sedentary lifestyle that they were currently accustomed to in the past.
The fact that PCs have such a large customer base that ranges from government to business to personal use means that the bargaining power of individual customers is low. There are also high switching costs associated with switching from one brand to another, and there is also a lot of brand loyalty in the PC market. The main power that customers currently have is the ability to choose substitutes, since PC-like capabilities are now featured on many mobile devices. Ultimately, the bargaining power of customers is a moderate force that is growing stronger as non-PC technology advances. Since more and more consumer products such as smart phones and tablets are now able to perform functions that were previously PC-exclusive, increasing the number of substitutes, PCs have become less unique in some of their capabilities.
At the time when the Xbox 360 was first released Microsoft was charging $99 to customers who wanted wireless internet on their 360's. $199 if customers wanted to play HD DVD--which is now obsolete thanks to Blu-Ray. They also add the yearly fee of $50 for Xbox Live, which brought the total cost of an Xbox 360 to $647. At this time, PS3's were just $399. That was a $248 difference between the Xbox 360 and the PS3.
SWOT ANALYSIS Amazon.com, Inc is the world’s largest online retailer. It started as an online bookstore, but soon diversified, selling DVDs, video, MP3 downloads, electronics, furniture, food, toys and other commodities. On the September 2011, Amazon introduced the Kindle Fire tablet computer to compete Apple, Google, and Samsung in the consumer electronics field. In addition, Amazon is also major provider of cloud-computing service. -------Wikipedia Strength | Weakness | 1 Cheaper product price2 Easier for vertical comparison3 Considerate service on consumers | 1 Faulty shipping problem2 Lacking interaction with customers3 Limited information about products | Opportunity | Weakness | 1 Development of cloud computing 2 Exploit the potential of new markets 3 Long-term growth anticipation | 1Policy conflict with Global management2 Fierce competitive markets3 Declining consumer buying desire | Strengths Cheaper product price Compare with practical store, Amazon, which just provide a virtual business stage online, can save more costs, especially rentals and advertisement fees.