Smart contact chip: Nanotechnology integration and wireless data transfer

Product Development Report

The single constant in the contemporaneous society is change as it affects all features of everyday life and all societies and individuals. The industry which is faced with change on daily basis is the Information Technology, where new features and products occur extremely frequent to modify and often ease our way of living life. A most relevant advancement in this sense is given by the incorporation of nanotechnologies into various products. Such a product is the Smart Contact Chip, item which addresses and satisfies the various needs of a vast customer palette.

Product Definition

Features

The Smart Contact Chip is a latest technological innovation that allows users to quickly connect to other similar devices and offer or retrieve desired information and data. The chip will be built with basis of nanotechnology and will be integrated in the user's watch, to then be able to connect with personal computers and other data gadgets at home, at the office or in various locations; it will run on the watch's battery.

A primary feature of the Smart Contact Chip is that it will incorporate ZigBee technology, which is based on small size and energy friendly consumption devices that make wireless connections between gadgets. The nanotechnology chip is a new tool useful to various individuals and usable in all features of life that include social interactions and the need to exchange information. Then, the usage of the nanotechnology has also made the product extremely user friendly and easy to ware (with a size of only 20-30nm), without posing and difficulties in size or weight. Foremost, despite its reduced size, the new chip is able to store more information than any other similar products on the market.

In the usage of the wireless technology, the manufacturer has managed to integrate an extremely modern and user-friendly technology; in transferring data from one watch to another, the communication channel will be given by human contact, otherwise said by the hand shake of the users.

Applications

The primary application of the Smart Contact Chip is given by its ability to transmit data to personal computers, most often from the watch of the user to his personal computer at home. Then, it also allows two watch carriers to exchange information on their chips. This process will have to be manually completed. In other words, the transmission of information from a chip incorporated in a watch to another chip also incorporated in a watch will only be able through human contact. As such, a handshake will often have to occur before the gadgets are able to connect and transmit information.

Uses

The uses of the Smart Contact Chip derive from its applications and can be as various as the needs of customers. In this particular instance, the chip can be set as to transmit the desired information to a desired location. Take the situation of a college student who will meet his professor to discuss a final project. The student will be able to send general information about himself, such as classes taken or the topic of his project, but he will also be able to send to the professor's computer the work he has completed so far in regard to the current task. Then, it has the particular usage of information sharing based on a simple handshake.

Effect on society

Since it will be useful for all individuals within a community, not just the entrepreneurs or the politicians, but also for the housewives, the Smart Contact Chip will have a major effect upon the society where it becomes present. In this particular light of events, the integration of the chip will increase and improve communications between the members of society, will help them get to know each other better and will aid them in working together as integrant parts of the community.

2. Market Analysis and Requirements

The product will be launched onto the market through campaigns based on the primary features and benefits it generates upon the end user, issues otherwise organized under the umbrella term of customer value proposition. The current competition for the product is rather limited, with few products satisfying the same needs and incorporating the same features.

The value proposition

The value proposition to the customers is based on the benefits he will retrieve after completing the purchase and once he becomes the owner of a Smart Contact Chip. These benefits include a large storage capacity and the possibility to always make new room, alongside with an easy usage and carrying of the gadget. Foremost, the customer will have easy access to the information on his personal computer and will be able to easily send it to other recipients.

Competition

The competition for this particular type of product is currently rather limited, but it is expected to exponentially grow in the near future. An item which could pose threat is the Body Sensor Network, a wireless chip primarily used by the medical industry, but which has the inconvenience of having to be placed in the arm of the user. Other products used to share information are the iPods and iPhones, alongside with a wide variety of hardware memory sticks and other data support systems, but which have limited benefits relative to the Smart Contact Chip.

Possible pricing

The pricing decisions will be related to various forces, such as the price of similar products onto the market, the manufacturing and operating costs implied within the production process or the company's estimations in regard to a future return on investment. For instance, if the company desires to make a profit within the first six months since launching the product, they will have to implement larger prices; if on the other hand they are willing to wait one or two years for the market to consolidate and form a loyal customer base, the price will be reduced. A possible retail price could be of $200 per item.

The users

The Smart Contact Chip addresses a wide array of individuals which conduct all sorts of operations, including social, economic, technological, medical or political. It can be useful to all investors and agents on the Wall Street, but also to medical doctors and patients, members of the scholarly domain and housewives. But even if this is generally true, a target market has to be established as a primary audience for which to promote the new item. This target market will be formed from the individuals who will retrieve the most benefits from using the Smart Contact Chip and will include members of the business community, where access to databases is crucial. These potential customers will include the sales, banking or medical staff.

To the business community, the product will be promoted as a viable and more reliable alternative to the exchange of information on paper, which requires more time, energy and even money. The applications will be similar to the sales community, which will be able to get contact information from the potential customers and partners they meet during professional trips. Finally, to the medical community, the Smart Contact Chip will be presented as a possibility to store vital information in regard to the future patient's medical history, blood type or donor options.

Influences on the purchase

The decision to finalize the purchase will be influenced by various factors, including, but not limited to, the following:

the product features the benefits it generates for the buyer the existence of substitute products onto the market, and the retail price to the end consumer (including the generic price or the promotional price)

Context

The Smart Contact Chip would be successful foremost because of the context against which it will be launched. From this particular standpoint, the nanochip will consist of the latest technological innovations that drive the contemporaneous society and it is yet another major step in becoming a society that no longer requires the usage of paper as a support for transferring information.

The value chain

The primary activity to be realized before actually launching the product is that of prospecting the market in order to identify customers' needs but also the products and strategies implemented by the competition. Then, the information collected will be sent to the R&D department and will be used in the process of product design. The Smart Contact Chip will then be manufactured and launched onto the market, from where the marketing team will once again collect data in regard to customers' and the competition's response to the product.

Getting to market last but extremely important feature that must be considered is given by the channels that would be used to transfer the item from production to the end consumer. In order to achieve this, the company would sell the chips directly to retail customers, but will also make wholesale to companies and other intermediaries.