Blackberry Smartphones and Other Competitors Term Paper

Blackberry Smartphones and Other Competitors - Term Paper Example Consumers are attracted to the features that a smartphone brand exhibits such as touch screen capability, music, fast internet speeds, camera and expansive storage. The opinions that consumers of smartphones provide reveal that there are psychographics that determine the smartphone they prefer such as its popularity among peers. It is therefore reflective that competitive advantage and improved market performance is achieved by mobile phone companies by providing features that meet the needs and preferences of consumers as well as effective marketing strategies. Introduction Advancement in information and communication technology has had a significant impact in the mobile industry. Developments in the mobile industry emanate from creativity, innovativeness and customer needs motivated design of phones (Parsons 2012). More notable is the introduction of the smartphone technologies and mobile applications. This has resulted from the changes in the preferences and needs of consumers. In return mobile companies have demonstrated increased competition which is driving the various strategies in marketing which are employed to achieve a competitive advantage within the market (Strategic Direction 2009). This paper presents an analytical report on the Blackberry smartphone versus Samsung, iPhone and HTC which comprise of its main competitors. ... Blackberry Smartphone versus Competitors When Blackberry was introduced to the market by the Research In Motion Ltd, many competitors sprouted within the smartphone market with an aim of grabbing a significant share of the mobile phone market (Shields 2010). Early brands of the Blackberry such as the 7000, 7100 and 8000 series attracted many consumers with a resultant advantageous positioning of these brands in the market (Woyke 2011). This is attributed to the customer value that was achieved by the innovativeness of the company and the provision of attractive features such as Wi-F, options for memory expansion and in-built cameras (Shepherd 2010). These brand elements as presented by the design of the blackberry is attributed to the strategic and better positioning of Blackberry within the market. More innovation was included within the Blackberry mobile as demonstrated by the mobile applications that are provided within its smartphone brands (Mobile Phones Industry Profile: Europe 2011). The mobile phone industry is characterized by rapid changes in the preferences and needs of consumers. This is attributed to the business competition that Blackberry received from other smartphone brands such as Samsung, iPhone and HTC Mobile (Boost Mobile 2012). The competitor companies provided more innovative features such as fast processing speeds, high megapixel cameras, full touch screen capabilities, android and thousands of mobile software applications for the diverse needs of the consumers (Segan and Jenn 2007). In this sense, the ability of Blackberry to maintain its position in the market would only be achieved through Customer Based Equity (CBE), brand advertising and marketing communication that was