| Pub. Date | : June' 2020 |
|---|---|
| Product Name | : The IUP Journal of Business Strategy |
| Product Type | : Article |
| Product Code | : IJBS40620 |
| Author Name | : Manoj Kumar Sharma, Sonali Sharma |
| Availability | : YES |
| Subject/Domain | : Strategic Journals |
| Download Format | : PDF Format |
| No. of Pages | : 18 |
The Indian smartphone industry is the world's second largest market for smartphones after China. It is a perfect example of an industry subject to the conditions of hypercompetition. Companies, existing and new, need to formulate and implement unique and innovative strategies to survive under such turbulent conditions. This paper aims at suggesting suitable strategies that can be employed by companies in the Indian smartphone industry to cope with hypercompetition and create a sustainable competitive advantage for themselves. Using multiple case studies analysis of the top four brands, i.e., Xiaomi, Samsung, Vivo, and Oppo, it has been suggested that 'a set of strategies' should be carefully formulated and properly implemented by the companies to ensure their survival and growth in the market.
"We do well because we don't think of competition", answered Amazon's CEO Jeff Bezos when asked for his opinion regarding the intense competition faced by the e-retailer in the Indian market from giants like Flipkart, Snapdeal, etc. (Business Standard, 2014). Jeff referred to any talk about competition as a 'bunch of noise', claiming that Amazon has done well to date by focusing solely on serving its customers properly, and not thinking about the 'distractions'. One may support Jeff's statement about not panicking about the competitor moves and concentrating only on own business. However, there is no denying the fact that his company operates under a hypercompetitive environment, a war-like situation created by players while deliberately and continuously destroying the competitive advantages of one another. In simpler words, there is such intense rivalry among the firms in a market that no single advantage is sustainable for a longer period (D'Aveni, 1995). Firms, existing or new, are forced to come up with innovative strategies in order to survive, and then grow under such turbulent conditions. Amazon's 'customer orientation' is nothing but a similar strategy.