Samsung Bets on Smartphones, Tablet
Pressed by the competition's new generation of sophisticated gadgets, Samsung Electronics also has been seeing demand for some of its products soften amid the European debt crisis. In response, the South Korean electronics giant …
Context & Ripple Effects
Samsung had already signaled a mobile push through its first North American Google phone plans and the 2009 Galaxy Spica launch, while Samsung, Nokia, LG and Research In Motion were all responding to the iPhone’s influence. The company also introduced low-power mobile application processors in 2009, giving its device strategy a component-level foundation.
With demand weakening in some existing product lines amid Europe’s debt crisis, prioritizing smartphones and tablets concentrates Samsung’s product effort in the device categories where software, processors and handset design increasingly converge.
First-order effects
- Samsung shifts strategic attention toward smartphones and tablets as softer demand pressures parts of its broader electronics portfolio.
- Nokia, LG and Research In Motion face a more focused Samsung in the same iPhone-shaped smartphone competition.
Second-order effects
- Samsung’s earlier mobile-processor investments become more strategically important because handset and tablet volumes can support its device ambitions alongside its component business.
- Competition moves beyond handset hardware: Samsung and its named rivals must pair devices with credible mobile software and application ecosystems.
Third-order effects
- If major electronics groups continue reallocating investment from legacy products to smartphones and tablets, the industry’s competitive center shifts toward integrated mobile-device portfolios rather than standalone consumer-electronics categories.
The trend: Consumer-electronics makers are concentrating investment in smartphone and tablet platforms as mobile computing reshapes demand and competitive differentiation.