Business Finance Homework Help

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post 1:

The product differentiation is a strategy that allows the firms to distinguish their product or service from the competitors. In fact, companies must clearly express what qualities and added values their products would offer to the customers, while the competitors do not meet these distinctions. The key elements to the differentiation mainly include the design, packaging, or pricing for example. This marketing strategy gives the companies a competitive advantage which allow them to gain more market shares and make more profits (Kopp, 2021).

The example I would like to discuss is Apple and Samsung smartphones. As a matter of fact, Apple is more focused on its products and try to develop programs that differentiate its products from competitors making hard for customers to switch

• Product image: Apple is linked to a high end, luxurious products. As a matter of fact, owning the latest iPhone represents that the owner belongs to a “wealthy” group. This is the image that was developed through the years for the iPhone users. Most iPhone users will not settle for a Galaxy, even if it offers good products at a lower price. The Apple product is also known for the data security that the IOS offers, while the Android is not at the same level of security and privacy.
• Price premium: Apple is charging a premium price thanks to its high-quality user experience. In fact, the competitive advantage that this firm developed explains why the customers accept to buy the iPhones for a high price. Also, Apple uses a minimum advertised price retail strategy which does not allow the resellers to sell the products for less than the minimum price. (Nielson, 2014).
• Technology: It is very known that Apple uses some of the best technology in the world to make the iPhones, an example would be the Retina screen, which differentiate the Apple’s screen from the Samsung ones.

post 2:Product differentiation in a broader sense could be considered as a marketing strategy employed by companies to differentiate their products or services from the competitors or rest of the market. This strategy relies on highlighting or enhancing the uniqueness, cost effectiveness, or improvement of one product from the competitors product by considering a strong customer preferences & perceptions (Kopp, 2021). The product for this discussion I would like to focus upon is the cell phone makers OnePlus and Huawei. Both companies were founded by person of Chinese Origin, and both were manufactured, marketed, and sold in mainland China prior to international sales. However, a recent survey of the news articles, trade news, and other government approach towards the companies reveals a stark contrast of customer perception about Huawei and OnePlus. Huawei although has expanded beyond the traditional phone maker and expanded into telecommunication network, hardware behemoth is marred by its closeness to the ruling government in China which is being accused of international trade theft, corrupt trade practices, intellectual property theft, and hegemonic behavior with its geographical neighbors. As a result, the company was blacklisted from Europe and US to install 5G telecommunication networks (Brown, 2021). On the other hand OnePlus had setup and incorporated itself in USA which results in positive image of the company as an independent organization. Apart from this the company is also viewed as a cheap alternative to iPhone which helps maintain its high sales numbers.