IBM 414 | Current Events Assignment #5
Kien Lai | IBM 414 | 5/6/02 | California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
- Publication Source: BusinessWeek (online) Date: 5/6/02 Page(s): n/a
- Title of Article: Sharp©s Skinny TVs Make for Fat Profits
- The firm in this article is Sharp and the marketing strategy presented is entering into a niche market that many have pulled out of due to manufacturing costs with the hopes of becoming the company of choice for customers looking to purchase a LCD TV.
- Yes
- The reasoning behind why I think this strategy will work is because Sharp©s product line is diversified enough that it doesn©t have to rely on any single division as a sole source of revenue. Sharp also holds several patents that gives them an edge over their competitors in how the product is manufactured. Moreover, Sharp is investing heavily in research and development, which is exactly what the company should be doing despite the current gloomy economic conditions. This will enable them to offer better products to their customers once the economy picks back up, while at the same time giving them a competitive advantage because other companies will be trying to catch up.
- The concepts in class that relate to this article are patents that can be found in chapter 5 on page 180 because Sharp owns patents to specific sections of LCD TVs that make manufacturing them more cost effective, thus giving them a competitive advantage.
