Samsung has adopted
successfully Blue Ocean Strategy and company has profited through this strategy
in the past few years. Samsung has invested heavily in Research &
Development that helps the company to innovate and create new products that
helped the company to grow into a Global powerhouse. Samsung’s team of
researchers and engineers include over 50,000 employees across 42 global
research facilities—each one collaborating on strategic technologies to forge
new market trends and set new standards of excellence. Blue Ocean Strategy
visions the creation of uncontested markets with no competition through new
product innovation leading to creation of new demand. Samsung Galaxy Note
Series of phablets highlights the Blue Ocean Strategy of Samsung that created
an uncontested phablet market and dominates it with its Galaxy Note II and
Galaxy Note III with Galaxy Gear smart watch. Market Research Firm IHS reported that 25.6
million phablet devices were sold in 2012 and estimated that these figures
would grow to 60.4 million in 2013, and 146 million by 2016. Wikipedia
definition of Phablet, is a smartphone form factor describing tablets
with a screen over 6.5 inches in size and has normal phone calling functions
,designed to combine or straddle the functionalities of a smartphone and
tablet, eliminating the need for two devices. As of October 2013, Samsung has
sold over 40 million Galaxy Note devices over the past two years. 30 million
were of the Note II, while the Note (Original) sold around 10 million.
Value innovation is at the heart of blue ocean strategy.
Value Innovation is defined as creating value for both the buyer and the
company and the innovation (in product, service, or delivery) should be
such that it raises and create value for the market and company and at the same
time reduces or eliminates features or services that are less valued by the
current or future customers. Samsung Galaxy Note phablet is a classic example
of value innovation where it eliminates the need for two devices smartphones
and tablets, raises the product utility through big screen that enhances the
browsing and multimedia experience and Stylus that facilitates sketching, note-taking
and annotation. In its latest Galaxy Note 3 Samsung added a smart watch Galaxy
Gear that adds even more functionality. Stylus reduces the need for carrying
the notebooks or papers for note taking during meetings and conferences. Galaxy
Note phablets with accessories like stylus and Gear smart watch created a need
for new applications which also allowed developers of apps to create innovative
new apps that best suited for phablets. Samsung Galaxy Note phablet series
created the phablet market that also encouraged its competitors like Sony,
Lenovo, Nokia, Asus, Acer, etc. also enter the market with their own version of
phablets. Competition has picked up in the phablet market but Samsung still
dominates the market. Samsung Galaxy Note phablet series is focused on giving
Apple Inc. a tough competition, as Apple dominates the smartphone market with
iPhones and Tablet market with iPads. Samsung has been hugely successful with
this strategy and is giving a tough competition for Apple and also launching
timely upgraded versions of the phablet series and phablets are critical part
of Samsung global mobile strategy. Phablet sales are slowly crossing the
tablets and laptops sales in some markets like Asia as reported by IDC
highlights that Samsung Blue Ocean Strategy is highly successful.
