SWOT analysis of Samsung Group in the mobile industry

Business Research Methods

The company selected for this particular analysis is Samsung Group. This public company is one of the biggest companies in the mobile industry. The following table will outline the SWOT analysis of the company.

Strengths

Easy integration with different operating systems and software

Customer loyalty

High level of innovation and design

Low production costs

Strong brand marketing

Significant share market in many products

Weaknesses

Too reliant on other software companies

Place emphasis on too many products

Patent infringements

Minimal profit margin

Key rival companies are largest buyers

Opportunities

Increased growth in tablet market

Developing mobile advertising market

Great prospects for diversification

Growing Indian market

Threats

Rival companies place emphasis on one product

Price wars

Change in innovation and technology

Depletion of one product line impacts the others

Competition from Chinese commodities

Strengths

1. Easy integration with different operating systems and software: Samsung places great emphasis on creating products that are compatible with numerous software and OS. This gives the company an upper hand over Apple.

2. Customer loyalty: Samsung has a loyal customer base that sticks to its products and this is a competitive advantage over other companies.

3. High level of innovation and design: Samsung in recent years has been awarded and acknowledged for the innovative products that it has unveiled into the market.

4. Low production costs: The manufacturing firms for Samsung are located in low cost areas making the production costs to be minimal and at the same time generating high profit margins.

5. Strong brand marketing: Samsung has been able to market the brand in different approaches and this has created a greater growth in market share for the firm.

6. Significant share market in many products: Samsung is known for its diversity in different products that it offers. This in turn means the company enjoys market share in these different product lines.

Threats

1. Rival companies place emphasis on one product: Major competitors such as Nokia place focus on one single product, which implies more quality. This might impact the market presence of Samsung.

2. Price wars: Presently, Samsung attains minimal marginal profits due to price cuts. If rival companies decided to reduce prices, this would mean that the company would lose its profits altogether.

3. Change in innovation and technology: Due to the incessant change in technology, companies are forced to come up with new products as the prevailing ones become obsolete really fast.

4. Depletion of one product line impacts the others: Having a diverse range of products means that the decline of one product line would have an impact on the rest and thus dilutes the company's brand all the same.

5. Competition from Chinese commodities: Chinese companies are starting to offer lower cost products to clients, deterring them from products such as those for Samsung.

SWOT Analysis is a valuable and constructive method employed for apprehending the Strengths and Weaknesses of a company and for classifying and acknowledging both the Opportunities exposed to it and the Threats it is bound to experience (Bohm, 2009). The firm can make use of this method to ascertain whether something is an internal or external factor and the manner in which it impedes or benefits the company, not just in the contemporary state, but also in the forthcoming fiscal periods (Warner, 2010).

There are a number of recommendations made to the management team of the company. It is imperative for Samsung Group to modify its organizational culture to one that is dynamic in terms of innovation. For instance, the company should encourage its employees to come up with innovative and new products. This will increase their competitive advantage.

The company should also contemplate on changing its organizational structure from a vertical one to a horizontal one that is less focused on titles and ranks. This is important because being set in a technological industry, the firm needs to employ all the creative ideas and innovative products that are brought forth by all employees, even those on the lowest ranks.