Samsung's Positioning Map

Positioning maps are also called perceptual maps and are used by marketers to evaluate the market and how potential customers view particular companies in comparison to the competition. Samsung still embodies technology and style for young professionals due to their superior connectivity features and cutting-edge design. The positioning map indicates that is has asserted its dominance and differentiation over its rivals. Despite the many brands of smartphones, Samsung's unique exterior designs and its high-quality hardware and software make it an optimal purchase for many professionals. The company invests in both smartphone and mobile markets and has developed into the biggest seller of smartphones and mobile phones globally. Although Samsung is the market leader in the smartphone and mobile market, it still faces stiff competition from Apple Inc. Samsung developed new features and ideas that were creative and focuses on the needs of the market to build and establish a strong reputation and brand globally (Syong, 2018) . The company attempts to make handsets that have the most unique and amazing design that will address the modern day needs of customers. The paper will analyze Samsung’s positioning map. 

High Price 

Low Price 

Table 1 showing Samsung's Positioning Map. 

Samsung produces hundreds of business units but the paper will focus on the smartphone industry. Their dominance is attributed to the effective marketing strategies of the two companies. Furthermore, their products are perceived to have high quality. Moreover, the two companies focus on premium pricing to differentiate their products from their rivals. Although Blackberry is also perceived to have high quality and price, Samsung and Apple are perceived to have superior quality to Blackberry. On the other hand, Sony and HTC focus on the middle and low-end markets (Syong, 2018) . Therefore, they produce high-quality products that are relatively affordable. Motorola utilizes premium pricing but the market perceives that the product is expensive but has poor quality. Nokia is perceived to have poor quality and price in comparison to its competitors. However, the recent acquisition of Nokia by Microsoft Inc. offers a good opportunity for the company to improve its reputation and market share. 

Apple and Samsung are the biggest players in the smartphone industry. However, the past two years have shown that the two companies also face similar problems as other smartphone companies. Samsung is still suffering from the effects of the failure of the Galaxy 7 series. Its battery often overheated and had serious consequences on its users. On the other hand, Apple is depending on its next iPhone to become a major hit. When it comes to the smartphone market, most people, especially in the US, China, and Europe, believe that Apple's products have superior quality to Samsung's products. According to recent studies, Apple dominates the high-end smartphone market with a market share of about 58% while Samsung controls 23% of the market share (Syong, 2018) . High-end smartphones refer to smartphones that may be sold for $400 or higher. Although Samsung has improved in the high-end market segment, it still lags behind Apple. 

The current trends in the market are highly likely to continue in the future. Due to the strong financial base of Samsung and Apple, they are highly likely to continue their market dominance through premium technologies and pricing. Furthermore, customers are more likely to continue buying more from Samsung and apple than their rivals because of brand image. However, the dominance of Samsung in the mid and low-end market is being threatened by the emergence of Xiaomi in China. The Chinese phones are affordable and have mastered the art of quickly copying technologies from their rivals (Syong, 2018) . The affordable Chinese phones’ market share has been increasing rapidly over the past five years. 

Over the years, Samsung has depended on its hardware and marketing superiority to attract potential clients who may be seeking alternatives to the iPhone. Although Samsung has been accused of copying technology from its rivals and it currently faces many patent right infringement cases, the company produces high-quality products that can only be rivaled by Apple. Moreover, the company invests significant resources in its research and development department to design new features (Syong, 2018). Besides, Samsung manufactures smartphones that have a bright screen and fast processors in comparison to its competitors. Also, when launching new products, they always use different taglines. For instance, Samsung Galaxy S6's tagline was "Six Appeal" while Samsung Galaxy S9 is "Film Your Story as You Intended." 

The point of parity between Samsung and its competitors is the constant high-end technology and innovation for designs and features. The point of differentiation between Samsung and its rivals is that the company provides better and humanized personal experience, innovative technologies, and customer insight products. Due to its focus on innovation, Samsung is perceived as the third most innovative company globally. Furthermore, is perceived to be one of the best global brands. The overall performance of Samsung has been impressive but the company should continue focusing on horizontal and vertical differentiation. The electronics industry is quite dynamic because the customers’ needs and preferences change rapidly. Therefore, for companies to maintain and improve their market share, they have to continue changing and improving their products as fast as the changes in preferences (Syong, 2018). Samsung has managed to keep up with the current pace in consumer tastes and preferences. Furthermore, they have adapted to product supply and consumer demand. The company has managed to launch similar products in the industry that match the different preferences in the market. Moreover, the similar products often coexist in the same industry. 

In the smartphone industry, most consumers are willing to pay premium prices for high-quality products. Most customers require highly advanced and fast smartphones. In the smartphone industry, Apple satisfies only the high-end markets because the iPhone is high tech and expensive. On the other hand, Samsung reaches a bigger market share because of their differentiation strategy that ensures they address the needs of the high end, mid end, and low-end segments (Syong, 2018). They not only offer different types of smartphones, they also have plenty of product designs that address and satisfy various needs of the market. It offers products that are designed for young people who are focusing on social media and sophisticated products that are designed for professionals. Moreover, they also provide dual sim card services for clients who may have more than one contact number. On the other hand, they also produce high quality and sophisticated products that stand out in the global market such as the Galaxy line. 

Conclusion 

The paper analyzes Samsung’s positioning map. It is highly likely that Samsung will retain its position in the mobile and smartphone industry. However, the Galaxy S7 problem caused a major decline in their smartphone sales but the company rebounded through the Galaxy S8 and S9. The failure not only affected its reputation but also caused significant losses. Due to the saturation of the smartphone market in the US and parts of Europe, the company should focus on improving their market share in emerging economies in Asia, South America, and Africa (Syong, 2018). Smartphones are continuingly becoming a critical aspect of people’s lives and Samsung should continue improving the user experiences. 

References 

Syong, H. (2018). Analysis of the Global Smartphone Market and the Strategies for its Major Players.