MySpace to YourSpace

          Broadly loved social-network web site MySpace is moving forward. Online users for MySpace soon will be abled to move their profiles to other web portals such as portal site "Yahoo.com," blogging service "Twitter," or even "eBay." The major reason why MySpace is having a such service integration among many other major web service providers is to simply meet the market trend of eliminating invisible walls between different web sites.

          Unlike in the past, now many online service providers are letting users to move back and forth with their own information or profiles freely in order to allow a convinience to each customer on the internet and have a full advantage bring different services together. By doing so, instead of taking away each other's customers, this kind of integration actually has accelerated the web traffic on each web site meaning that more users are visiting or using their services.

          The growth rate of personal social-network service has been declining since many firms now offer similar services. In order to compete and differentiate their service, MySpace is having a service integration to move into the new markets.

          However, there is also a problem to be solved. Since users of social network services do not actively engage with the ads or so calld "banner-clicking," directing their attention to such service integration would be tough. When users are so concentrated just interacting with their friends through the service, they are not likely to be involved in clicking or paying attention to the ads.

          I think having a such integration is an innovative idea for MySpace to overcome its current situation. I had read some articles about MySpace that they are not doing so well lately. They even have opened up Korean version MySpace few weeks ago which most Koreans do not even aware of. Having a similar service among many other providers would be a major disadvantage for the firms to overcome. However, by emerging the service with other major web-based corporation such as Yahoo or eBay would definately help MySpace to reachieve its reputation in the personal social network industry.

Reference;
Holahan, Catherine. "MySpace: Going Places" BusinessWeek. May 9, 2008.
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/may2008/tc2008058_088592.htm?chan=rss_topStories_ssi_5

20601008 - 9th Entry

Nokia's innovative strategy

I read an article about Nokia's development strategy. When you entered Nokia's website, you can download some sports tracking programs. Of course, these softwares are completely free. Then why Nokia do things like that? Nokia knows that inventions usually came from customers' feedbacks. And they just applied the truth into their website. Through these open strategy, they can achieve more better products. Customers are very helpful assistants and they sometimes think great business ideas.
Professionals call the strategy as user-generated strategy. If you have to invent products, you will need some comments and also make some market surveys. Like this, Nokia is doing some market surveys through free distribution of their softwares. And also, the softwares will improve by customers' feedbacks. Accordingly, we can call these processes as user-generated strategy.
Then how can we achieve this strategy? The author say that it needs to tarket specific customers. Generally, the main tarket of marketing is urban populations. You know, the urban populations are almost 50 percents of world populations. And they have more wealth than any regions of the world. They even buy something for their beauty and convenience. Because of these facts, we need to focus on the urban populations. Nokia make good website for urban people, and they can achieve valuable feedbacks through well-tarketed strategies.
Among these urban populations, Nokia mostly tarketed for tech buyers. Tech buyers are people who need high technologies and want to achieve tasks through these technologies. Since they like these tech, they even buy expensive products. Nokia noticed these features and they tarketed their products for tech buyers. In fact, they did so well in the process of tarketing, and they can achieve great reputation through these processes. Now, Nokia is world's top moblie device company.
I think korean companies are so poor in the process like that. Because korean companies have some prouds of their technologies and ignore customers' feedbacks. They just excused themselves and couldn't make sustainable advantages in their market. If they developed customer-based website and tried to gather feedbacks from customers, they can be worldwide companies. But now, they are not world-class companies. I think the capitals or high achievements cannot tell the class of that company. Rather, the respects to customers and corporate cultures can make a company real meaning world class companies.

Author: Jack Ewing
Title: 'How Nokia Users Drive Innovation'
Date: April 30, 2008, 1:15PM EST
Page: 2

references: http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/apr2008/gb20080430_764271.htm
20700067 entry # 9

Success of Samsung

Samsung Electronics Co. rose to the top in the crucial North American LCD TV market in the first quarter of 2008, amid a cut-throat price competition among top-tier TV brands.
According to Display-Search, a U.S.-based market research firm, yesterday, the Korean TV maker accounted for 12.8 percent of the total LCD TVs sold in North America, edging slightly higher than its archrival Sony Corp. which ranked No. 2 with 12.6 percent.

LCD TV was a highly competitive category in the first quarter of 2008 with the top three brands-Samsung, Sony and Vizio-separated by less than half a point of unit share at 12.8 percent, 12.6 percent and 12.5 percent, respectively.

The firm is aiming to sell 180 units in its LCD TVs and 30 million units of PDP sets globally. Data compiled by another research firm NPD shows Samsung also ahead of its competitors with a market share of 19.4 percent. It puts Sony in second place with 18.3 percent, LG in the fourth place with 6.4 percent and Vizio in the sixth with 4.2 percent.

What makes Samsung Tops in TV? The elaborate system is the crucial weapon that has enabled Samsung to pull off a coup in the ruthlessly tough home electronics industry. Company executives believe the system, together with innovative design and parts standardization, has propelled Samsung ahead of Japanese electronics giants Sony, Matsushita Electric Industrial, which is adopting its popular brand name Panasonic as its corporate moniker, and Sharp in the television industry.
In an industry where prices fall at breakneck paces, maintaining a low inventory level is vital. Further pressuring the TV makers: Whenever retail prices fall, big electronics channels such as Best Buy and Circuit City require them to compensate for the gap between new and old prices for their inventory kept in the stores. So reducing inventory levels is crucial. Samsung's dropped to 15 days last year from 21 days in 2004. The company's Korean and Japanese rivals don't release their inventory levels, so it's hard to make comparisons.


Annotation
"SamsungWay", http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/03_24/b3837001_mz001.htm?chan=search June 16, 2003

20300780 Entry 9

Samsung phone sales soar in China

Samsung Electronics shared 16.3% in the Chinese mobile phone market. It means Samsung already over the Motorola’s market share(9.2%). Samsung now reached the third-largest player in China. Nokia is the most powerful corporation in China sharing 44% in the market. Furthermore, Samsung’s sales also is rising. Since 2007 60 percent is rising up from 1.53 million.
The reason of the rising is that expensive mobile phones are more being sold in China. In 2008, Samsung expected that totally 173 millions phones will be sold and 70 percent of these phones are made up of the more expensive models.

Especially, you have to focus on the Armani phone which is a new model Samsung launched. It is a luxury phone which is made by Samsung and Italian fashion brand. It costs $1,189. In addition, a smartphone F488e which is used most recent technology ‘touchpad’.

In conclusion, in the future, Samsung’s main targeting in Chinese will be people who are enjoyed luxurious life style. They will show premium product line further more.

I agree Samsung’s strategy. In china, there are so many people and it means there also lots of the rich in china. Samsung have to share this market first of all. And then Samsung can be more easily occupied the second level market because at that time they can get a powerful brand in China. Therefore, Samsung have to make a new style, design and high technology phone to attract the rich people in China.

http://www.koreaherald.com/
written by Choi He-suk in 2008.05.06

20600171 9th entry