Case Name :      Smartphone Industry in 2013: Samsung’s Dilemma

Authors :           W. Glenn Rowe, Mehdi Hossein Nejad

Source :             Ivey Publishing

Case ID :            W14224

Discipline :        General Management

Case Length :    15 pages

Solution Sample availability : YES

Plagiarism : NO (100% Original work)

In 2013, after years of success, Samsung, a manufacturing conglomerate based in Korea but with offices, research and development divisions and factories worldwide, is established as a global powerhouse in the smartphone industry. But success has revealed opportunities and challenges that need to be addressed as the company navigates the competitive landscape. Samsung has sold more phones than rivals such as Nokia and Apple and is also a major player in the increasingly popular tablet computer market. Given the volatility of the industry and the market, in addition to the dynamic relationships between suppliers, manufacturers, technology providers, application developers and operating systems, Samsung needs to think carefully about its next competitive steps. Specifically, it has to think about one very important issue: should it continue to rely on Google’s Android operating system, or should it seriously consider an in-house software ecosystem?