Product Assessment

Product Assessment

Introduction

Digital Cameras and Video Cameras in the United States are slowly declining in sales as the target consumers are appealed more by the Smartphones (Mintel.com, 2012). Surveys indicated that Digital Cameras and Video Cameras were essential tools during summer holidays for each and every family, there are high indications that the gadgets are facing stiff competitions from the Smartphones that are armed with appealing applications more that the Digital Cameras and Video Cameras (Mintel.com, 2012). There are a number of Digital Cameras and Video Cameras brands in the United States identifying with Nikon, Sony, Canon and Kodak among others. A Smartphone is more of a small computer.

Main body

Digital Cameras and Video Cameras

Digital Cameras and Video Cameras dates back to 1975 after Steven Sasson working in Eastman Kodak pioneered the first invention. The earlier products targeted the scientific research and military purposes. Later applications in medicine and in media industry adapted the Digital Cameras and Video Cameras. In 1990s, Digital Cameras and Video Cameras were adapted as a consumer product which replaced the usage of the traditional film cameras (Johnson, 2008). In 2010s, Smartphones are slowly taking over the market hence replacing Digital Cameras and Video Cameras.

Surveys done in 2011 indicated that sales of the Digital Cameras and Video Cameras have experienced drastic fallen sales since the advent of affordable Smartphones in the United States market. Sales of the Digital Cameras and Video Cameras since 2006 dropped by roughly 29% in the United States among other developed nations. The trend is similar in the global market. The surveys argued that most consumers preferred using Smartphones more than the Digital Cameras and Video Cameras (Mintel.com, 2012). If a breakdown of the Digital Cameras and Video Cameras could occur, most consumers argued that they could not repair the gadget, but could use Smartphones in replacement. If a Smartphone got spoilt, all consumers anonymously indicated that they could purchase another Smartphone or repair the spoilt Smartphone.

Basing on the above survey done in developed nations, there is a clear trend indicating that Digital Cameras and Video Cameras are losing to appeal the target market, and that the product is slowly becoming obsolete (Mintel.com, 2012). The forecast of the Digital Cameras and Video Cameras is dim, with the figures expected to decline as the application of the Smartphone records one time high in sales.

It has been noted that Smartphones are ever investing in research and design, and slowly catching up with the quality of photos and videos produced by the Digital Cameras and Video Cameras. Smartphones are using high defined technology in taking up the market previously dominated by the Digital Cameras and Video Cameras (Mintel.com, 2012). Smartphones have integrated digital services and at the same time connected to the social media and features involved in image editing, a move that is enticing and appealing to the target consumers.

Consumers using Digital Cameras and Video Cameras argue that investing in Smartphones is better than investing in Digital Cameras and Video Cameras. The quality of the photos and videos taken via Digital Cameras and Video Cameras is far much better than that of the Smartphones, majority of the consumers are after convenience. Smartphones are convenient as compared to the Digital Cameras and Video Cameras (Mintel.com, 2012).

Digital Cameras and Video Cameras in the recent past has experienced drastic changes, technological advancements have been the main cause of changes in the industry, with United States political and legal factors encouraging heavy investments in research and design. The target consumer behaviors are also evolving with socialization and globalization. Marketers of the Digital Cameras and Video Cameras in the United States must be aware of the changes in the market place in order to remain relevant amidst stiff competition from the Smartphone industry, which is getting bigger and readily accepted in the market (Johnson, 2008).

Smartphones

Smartphones are challenging the sustainability of Digital Cameras and Video Cameras in the United States market. A Smartphone is a device working on a mobile operating system. Smartphones are mobile phones with a higher edge in the technological advancements, which has been embraced by majority of the ethnic markets across the globe. It has been noted that companies involved in the production of Smartphones have heavily invested in research and design, hence producing Smartphones with advanced computing connectivity and capability (Frederick & Lal, 2010).

Initial Smartphones were characterized with a combination of a mobile phone and a personal digital assistant (PDA). The technology has since advanced with the incorporation of pocket video cameras, portable media players, compact digital cameras and GPS navigation all in one unit among other applications.

Competitive factors have led to the innovation of operating systems in Smartphones. The mobile OS (operating system) that is applied in the modern Smartphones identify with Apple’s iOS, Google’s Android, RIM’s BlackBerry OS, Nokia’s Symbian, Microsoft’s Windows phone, embedded Linux, Samsung’s Bada and Hewlett-Packard’s WebOS among others (Frederick & Lal, 2010). Modern Smartphone can work from different operating systems. There a number of inventions in the operating systems, the current technological advancements being Tizen, Mozilla’s Firefox and Canonicals’ Ubuntu Phone among others. Surveys done in 2013 indicated that sales of Smartphones have been on the increase with Android Smartphones and iPhones taking the lead.

Surveys done in 2012 indicated that more than half of the United States consumers owned Smartphones due to enhanced economic and technological factors. Sales of the Smartphones in the United States amounted to more that 70% of sales attributed to Smartphones, with Smartphone ownership in the United States being pegged at 62%, and the figure is ever rising. Adoption of Smartphones in the United States is ever rising hence risking the sales of Digital Cameras and Video Cameras, since Smartphones have the same applications offered by Digital Cameras and Video Cameras (Mintel.com, 2012).

Surveys taken on the photographs considering the demographics of people using cameras in the United States, it was noted that 27% of the photos were taken using Smartphones, which was an increase from 2010 that recorded 17% (Mintel.com, 2012). For many consumers of Digital Cameras and Video Cameras, Smartphones are taking over the market basing on its diverse applications. The most adored Smartphones are made by iPhone, Google’s Android, Samsung’s Bada, RIM’s BlackBerry and Symbian S60 followed by others (Frederick & Lal, 2010).

Social factors influenced the usage and application of Smartphones as compared to Digital Cameras and Video Cameras, in that people using Smartphone seem appealing to other people as compared to the traditional Digital Cameras and Video Cameras (Mintel.com, 2012). Smartphones have attracted majority of consumers as compared to the Digital Cameras and Video Cameras basing on the connected mobile apps on the Smartphones.

Recommendations

Digital Cameras and Video Cameras have a declining market, an indication that companies involved in the production of Digital Cameras and Video Cameras must change the marketing models and produce products that are oriented to specific needs of the target market. Producers of Digital Cameras and Video Cameras must embrace aggressive marketing in competing with Smartphones. Aggressiveness strategies will be tied to risk propensity, marketing assertiveness, product innovation, financial leverage and improvements on the speed of decision making (Johnson, 2008).  The five recommendations will enable Digital Cameras and Video Cameras in competing effectively in the ever changing world.  The five attributes will be connected to defender factors, prospector factors, reactor factors and the analyzer factors.

The best foreign country to market Digital Cameras and Video Cameras would be in South Africa and Kenya. In that the market is not exploited and Smartphones are very expensive in the developing nations. South Africa and Kenya are the gateways to the African market, an indication that if Digital Cameras and Video Cameras make a hit in the two nations, then the companies involved in the production of Digital Cameras and Video Cameras will have an edge in the new market according to information gathered from the World Factbook (Cia.gov, 2013).

Product positioning and segmentation in South Africa and Kenya are similar; the best type of positioning and segmentation approach in Africa for Digital Cameras and Video Cameras will be by exhaustive consideration of geographic factors, demographic factors, volume factors, brand factors and through lifestyle/personality/benefit and value segmentation and self concept factors in convincing organizational and commercial buyers (Mintel.com, 2012). African market has a different culture as compared to the United States.

Conclusion

Modern Smartphones has an edge in the market, as compared to the Digital Cameras and Video Cameras. Consumers born from 1980s onwards prefer Smartphones as compared to the Digital Cameras and Video Cameras, hence proving the changes in target market (Frederick & Lal, 2010). Modern Smartphones have web browsers, high resolution touchscreens, mobile optimized sites, mobile app, high speed data access and an edge in the mobile commerce. A Smartphone has many applications as compared to Digital Cameras and Video Cameras.

References

Cia.gov. (2013). The World Factbook. Retrieved July 29, 2013, from Cia.gov: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/wfbExt/region_afr.html

Frederick, G. & Lal, R. (2010). Beginning Smartphone Web Development: Building JavaScript, CSS, HTML and Ajax-based Applications for iPhone, Android, Palm Pre, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile and Nokia S60. New York: Apress.

Johnson, D. (2008). How to Do Everything: Digital Camera. New York: McGraw-Hill Osborne.

Mintel.com. (2012, June 29). Sales of digital cameras decline as consumers snap up Smartphones. Retrieved July 29, 2013, from Mintel.com: http://www.mintel.com/press-centre/technology-press-centre/sales-of-digital-cameras-decline-as-consumers-snap-up-Smartphones

 

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