A strategic analysis of the mobile telephone industry in Mainland China

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to propose some competitive strategies as a reference for domestic mobile phone corporations (DMCs) so that dominant mobile phone corporations can develop advantageous business strategies to effectively compete with international corporations within the China market.Design/methodology/approachThe study utilizes case studies and the analysis hierarchical process to analyze the competitiveness of the domestic mobile phone industry (DMI) within the China market from a value chain perspective.FindingsThe study finds that the competitive strengths of the domestic mobile phone players lie in manufacturing and customer service, while the weaknesses are in research and development (R&D), distribution (DIST) and marketing and sales (MS) in terms of competing with international brands already within the Chinese market.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper samples experts familiar with the mobile phone market in the Shanghai area, and therefore may not be applicable to the entire Chinese market. A wider study is suggested, with samples sourced from the entire market, to fill in the remaining gaps.Practical implicationsThe surveyed experts emphasize that R&D, DIST and MS capabilities need to be addressed immediately. In turn, some competitive strategies are proposed for the DMI to employ, taking into account their individual features and strengths.Originality/valueThe study assists the dominant corporations in the DMI to better understand their competitive weaknesses through the comments provided by the surveyed experts. Some competitive strategies are proposed as a reference for DMCs.