Question

Sometimes we study the innovation strategy of a regular firm (e.g. Dominos in an assignment), but sometimes it is good to understand the strategy of a product that creates its own industry. The product market for tablets is now a reality. To that end, I would like you to do a comprehensive five forces analysis of the tablet industry. Tablets are weird hybrid devices, neither laptops (which are very versatile and mature) nor smartphones (which are very ubiquitous and innovative). By rights, they should have withered away. But they continue to survive and thrive. Please identify any two of the five forces in a single post, you can post as many times as you wish). My desire to have this discussion was spurred when I read this.

Answer 1

answer-

Five force analysis of the Tablet industry-

Bargaining power of Buyer-

This force is very strong in tablet industry. When customers have so many options and substitute the they can affect business's pricing strategy and demand. There are so many brands of Tablet like Samsung, Apple, Lenovo, Huawei etc so if a buyer does not like tablet price and feature of one brand then they can switch to another because they have so many options to choose from. also They have substitutes in the form of laptops and smartphones.

Bargaining power of supplier-

This force is weak because In tablet industry, there are so many suppliers for displays, processors, storage and cameras who are ready to sell their supplies to tablet manufacturing company. This means tablet manufacturing company can decide or negotiate prices with suppliers which cost them low. for example- If Xiaomi does not like price of snapdragon processor then it can purchase mediattek processors.

Threat of substitute-

This threat is strong because Customers have other substitutes if they do not like to buy tablet. Laptops, Ultrabooks, smartphones with big displays etc can affect demand of tablet in the market.

Threat of new entrants-

This threat is strong because we can see that every year there is new tech company rising. There may be hundreds of small companies operating at small level. We can take example of Xioami who started so small and now it is one of the biggest tech company in electronics. This is because of market opportunity and increase demand of customers.

Intensity of rivalry-

This force is strong because there are big players mean big brands who are focusing on snatching market share from each other. Apple, samsung, lenovo,Amazon's kindle etc like brands have huge brand reputation, strong customer base and financial resources which cause tough and cut throat competition in this industry.

So overall the force in tablet industry is so strong that already established players or brands can survive. They can only survive because they need to keep innovating like apple did with ipad 11 pro by offering attachments to hinge ipad in air and make it look like personal laptop.