1 Main Body of Project

A

ContentsNoChapterPage no.

1Overview of the Consumer Durable Market03

2Company Profile : Sony04

3Company Profile : Samsung06

4Comparative Analysis13

5Consumer Perception16

6Sony Vs Samsung 17

7Objective of the Study23

8

Research Methodology Source of Data2426

9Data Analysis27

10Findings36

11Recommendations 37

12Limitations 38

13Bibliography 39

14Annexure : Questionnaire 40

15Acknowledgement 41

Overview of the Consumer Durable Market

The consumer durable market in India has seen a proliferation of brands and product categories in recent years. Most major international brands from Japan, Korea, US, Europe and China have been launched in India with varying degrees of success. One of the largest barriers to entry for any brand in India is the distribution network. The cost of servicing the network is huge for any brand. The consumer is aware of the cost-benefit, or value for Money aspect. Financing options are crucial in case of high-priced products. They increase the affordability for a Wider segment of population. Like in any country, the consumer durable industry in India is largely dominated by colour televisions (CTV), which account for 56% of the consumer durables industry.

Industry ClassificationThe consumer durables industry can be broadly classified as consumer electronics and consumer appliances. The consumer appliances category can be further segmented as white goods and brown goods.

With a presence spanning 36 countries, Sony has not only touched the lives of millions but also has made a difference in their lifestyles. Visit Sony across the world and discover how a name, synonymous with technology, has given a totally new dimension to entertainment.

Throughout the world today, Sony stands for innovation, state of the art technology and superior quality. Leading into its next fifty years, Sonys vision is to offer people exciting new products and new lifestyles and remains committed to the challenge of creating and realizing these dreams.

COMPANY PROFILE

In a burnt-out department store in Tokyo in 1946, just after World War II, Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita, running a company then known as Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo (Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering), attempted to produce a simple electric rice cooker. It did not work too well, but it kicked-off their desire to produce products for everyday life.

In 1958, the company name was changed to Sony Corporation and since then, Sony has become one of the most recognised brand names in the history of the modern world. From the outset, Ibuka and Morita strove to develop exciting products to fulfill people dreams. From its first transistor radio in 1955, to the Trinitron, Walkman, Betacam, Handycam, the Compact Disc and the floppy disc .Sony has continually made things better, smaller and more innovative than ever thought possible.

Sony Corporation now spans a range of industries including audio visual electronics, information technology, broadcast, telecommunications, entertainment, satellite broadcasting and even insurance and finance.

Throughout the world today, Sony stands for innovation, state of the art technology and superior quality. Leading into its next fifty years, Sonys vision is to offer people exciting new products and new lifestyles and remains committed to the challenge of creating and realizing these dreams.

Sony in IndiaSony is not new to India. Whether it was the television, or the walkman, a Sony always remained a must in the wish list of any Indian, returning home from abroad This love for the brand culminated in a new relationship when inspired by a reform friendly Indian business environment, Sony Corporation decided to set up a 100% subsidiary called Sony India on 16th January 1995. Company Mission Sony India focused towards making a difference in the lifestyles in the Indian market and open up new vistas of entertainment in the country. Sony India remains committed towards offering new age technology and digital concepts while working hand in hand with the Indian industry to produce and sell excellence. Their consistent commitment towards service has brought the company quite closer to the Indian customer.Product ProfileBasic Consumer Durables:

Flaunt your Cyber-shot Make heads turn with the smart Sony Cyber-shot. With chic colours to choose from, this trendy camera lets you capture your special moments in style.

Experience the Real Entertainment Feel true picture, pure sound & smooth action with Sony BRAVIA LCD TV.Dress up with VAIO CS VAIO CS is an extraordinary blend of elegance, fun and high performance with its irrestible colour range and mystic features.Competitors Profile

Founded in 1938, Samsung Corporation is one of Koreas most enduring and respected corporations, having stood behind the advancement of the national economy for more than three quarters of a century. At the origin of Samsung Group, Samsung Corporation was the trading arm of the group, epitomizing its vibrancy and dynamism in the area of global trade. Its designation in 1975 as Koreas first-ever General Trading Company marked a new chapter for its overseas operation, which since then grew into a scope truly worthy of a global trader. Samsung Corporations entrepreneurship and achievement on the world scene have been a major inspiration for Koreas trading community.

In a continuing bid to expand its business area beyond the confines of international trade, in 1996, Samsung Corporation merged with Samsung Construction, and in 1997, launched into the retail business. Currently, Samsung Corporation is engaged in two major business areas: trading, construction. The organization consists of two business groups, with the retail business headquarter under the trading group, and with the housing development headquarter under the construction group. The Trading Group, currently operating from its 71 overseas offices, exports semiconductors, machinery, plants, iron & steel, chemical products and textile; and imports energy, chemical products and machinery & equipment. In addition to trading, the Group carries out a variety of other projects including overseas investment, project organizing services and energy & natural resource development projects.

The Construction Group, a provider of construction and engineering services, is also a plant builder and housing developer. To date, the group has to its credit Malaysias Petronas building, the worlds highest edifice, 452m high, boasting 92 stories aboveground; New Busan Port; Incheon Intl Airport; Ulchin Nuclear Power Plant; and Raemian and Trapalace, the apartment complexes. From energy resources to housing, each of these projects is a powerful testimony to the groups technological excellence. Last year, the group entered into a contract to build the worlds highest building, Burj Dubai.

Notably, Raemian, one of Samsungs signature apartment complexes is a remarkable triumph, hailed as new standard-setting luxury housing. The success of Raemian, topping the National Customer Satisfaction Index (NCSI) in the apartment category for eight consecutive years, has driven up our overall market share in housing development to the top of the scale as well.

The Retail Business is buoyant and thriving with Samsung Plaza Bundang , a multi-feature shopping center, and Samsung Internet Shopping Mall, familiarly referred to as Samsung Mall as its two main platforms. Laying the foundation to become a World Class Company Year 2006

Jan

Developed the first-ever speech recognition phone

Developed innovative 8-chip stacking MCP technology

Posted more than $10 billion in net profit

Became the worlds top three companies with the most patents, launched patent-based management

Feb

Released digital slim TV with the narrowest body depth

Released the first notebook PC with embedded terrestrial DMB receiver

Samsung Blueblack phone, SGH-D500, was selected as "The Best Handset" at GSM global conference in cannes, France First commercialization of terrestrial DMB phone in Korea Developed DDR3 DRAM Developed the first wrinkle-free steam washer

Mar

Developed the first HSDPA terminal for commercialization and ultra-high speed HSDPA system

Cash payment to more than 15,000 SMEs

Developed 82" TFT-LCD

Developed 7 megapixel camera phone

Apr

Became the official sponsor of Chelsea, the renowned English soccer club

May

Developed the worlds first OLED for 40" TV

Completed and announced standard dimension for 8 th and 9th generation LCD Panels

Released the first HD class PDP TV with 10000:1 contrast ratio

Began mass production of 70 nano processed 4 GB NAND flash memory

June

Accumulated production volume of large LCDs surpassed 100 million units

Began upgrading digital audio business to the worlds top level

Launched a new brand campaign with the theme of "Imagine"

Released the first 5 megapixel, 3x optical zoom camera phone

Began mass production of 90 nano processed 1 GB DDR2 DRAM

July

Released the world's first 7 mega pixel camera phone

Aug

Released the world's biggest DLP TV

Sep

Developed the world's first 50nm 16Gb NAND Flash

Released the world's first Blue-Ray Home AV Center

Oct Blue-black phone(SGH-600) selected as the "Mobile Choice's Phone of the Year"

Developed the world's first 70nm DRAM

Developed the world's fastest speed graphic DRAM(GDDR4)

Nov

Developed the largest Flexible LCD Panel

Dec Received "25 iF Design (Germany) awards"

Handset shipments reached over 100 million

The Korean company Samsung has grown to become one the worlds leading electronic companies, specializing in digital appliances and media, semiconductors, memory and system integration. Today Samsungs innovative & top quality products & processes are world recognized.The digital age has brought revolutionary change and opportunity to global business, and Samsung has responded with advanced technology, competitive products, and constant innovation.

Samsung, see every challenge as an opportunity and believe that it is perfectly positioned as one of the world's recognized leaders in the digital technology industry. Its commitment to being the world's best has won the No.1 global market share for 13 products, including semiconductors, TFT-LCDs, monitors and CDMA mobile phones. Looking forward, and making historic advances in research and development of its overall semiconductor line, including flash memory and non-memory, custom semiconductors, DRAM and SRAM, as well as producing best-in-class LCDs, mobile phones, digital appliances, and more.

Product Profile Strength : Sony has build up a good brand image & customer loyalty by his service & quality.

Same price in all over in India is also a great attraction for customer.

Service wise Sony is the best among all his competitors, shops ambience, environment and location is very convenient.

To provide better service Sony conducts the Service camp & Training and keep its employee update.

Weakness: As Sony is a costly brand and this high price factor is not affordable to Indian customer.

Opportunity: Sony is leading brand in consumer durable market because of its better service and quality.

It has a professionalism, good service attitude and knowledgeable staff and employee.

Because of keen foresightedness of future demand and customer perception, Sony can beat all the competitors.

Threats:

There are some major brands like Samsung, LG which are providing the good quality products at affordable price keeping in view the Indian consumer and this factor is raising the competitors. Comparative AnalysisA comparative Analysis of Samsung Mobiles and Sony Mobiles

What is comparative Analysis? In comparative Analysis we take our competitors products and make comparison through consumer with our own products. Why Comparative Analysis? Comparative Analysis comprises one of the most important tasks of marketing. It provides information for marketing decisions. Problems are identified and investigated further by using problem solving techniques with the objective of arriving at solution. The most important innovation in the new approach is to study simultaneously different organizational forms of business interest representation. The aim of the study is to point out the best among the Variables that are being studied.

The study will also include the survey which will be targeting about 100 dealers in the area of Chandigarh. The main emphasis in the survey will be given on the sales of Samsung in comparison to its competitors in CTV & AC segment, the consumer perception about the brand will also be taken into consideration while conducting this survey.

The analysis of the buying behavior in respect to AC& CTV will be another important component of my study. Buying behavior of the consumer is a study of how individuals make decisions to spend their available resources (time, money & effort) on consumption related items (what they buy, why they buy, where they buy, how often they buy and use a product or service). The heterogeneity among people across the world makes understanding consumer buying behavior an intricate and challenging task. The consumers identity, his beliefs, specific needs, attitudes and the kind of product and brand available in that product category influence his buying behavior. The marketing efforts of a firm have a profound impact on the buying decisions of customers. Therefore the attempt of my survey will be to obtain an in- depth knowledge of the customers buying behavior.

The effect of external variables on purchasing pattern of customer will also be considered here the external variables refer to all those factors which will be affecting the consumer purchasing decisions, these can be price of the goods and on its attitude to respond to functional needs. The critical variable under this approach is the availability of adequate information about purchase alternatives (price, product functionalities) to support the decisional process.

The external conditioning approach, according to which the purchase decision is a response to external stimuli. The critical variable under this approach is which kind of external stimuli can influence purchase decision.

The experience and the social interaction - based approach, according to which the present consumer decision aims at the construction of personal identity.

Another component of my study will be the analysis of the brand (Samsung) on four Ps i.e.

Product

Pricing

Promotion

Placement.

These are the four factors which help an organization to understand the market and help in taking future decisions relating to the launch & the strengthening of the market for the brand.

Benefit to company:

1. Display Share Tracking: Display share tracking will help us to find out these information

It will be used to revealed potential demand of each product.

With the help of display tracking we will find out the highest selling product and lowest selling product in the market.

It will help in taking decision during the line expansion and line pruning.

2. Consumer perception: This is done with the aim of capturing the true words and emotions of consumer, and in turn using this information to improve or developed products or to determine people attitude toward the products.

It will help company to get feedback from consumer.

It will prevent the undervaluation of competitor and we can find the strength and Weakness of our product.

This will help us to stay ahead in competition

It will encourage value creating investment.

It will help in maximizing the consistency of value creation

Measuring performance

It will help us for market share analysis.

So I can say this study is more suitable for Samsung to compete and survive in Global market.

Consumer perception

As it is well known proverb of marketing that Consumer is the king it is mandatory for any researcher to know the opinion of the consumer regarding the products on which he is going to conduct the study. This research work will include a consumer questionnaire on the consumer goods which has been taken as the part of the study the questionnaire mainly aims at .

Awareness of the consumer about the brand

His decisions whether dependent or independent

Purchase pattern

Brand loyalty level

Current consumer durables in home

This questionnaire will mainly help out in reaching at the actual consumer perception of the consumers about the brand. This is done with the aim of capturing the true words and emotions of consumer, and in turn using this information to improve or developed products or to determine people attitude toward the products.

It will help company to get feedback from consumer.

It will prevent the undervaluation of competitor and we can find the strength and

Weakness of our products This will help us to stay ahead in competition.

It will encourage value creating investment.

It will help in maximizing the consistency of value creation.

Measuring performance

It will help us for market share analysis.

So I can interpret, this study is more suitable for Samsung to compete and survive in global market. Sony Vs Samsung (as per Blog in internet)

Sony is a company of extremes a pioneer in bringing exceptional products across categories, yet faltering sometimes on the very basics of a good product. It is a company of remarkable engineering achievements, many class defining products, intriguing innovations, yet not very profitable of late in many key product categories. Anyone who follows this company is always in a state of puzzle, of both excitement and shock. In the field of mobile technology, the company has made noteworthy contributions, but yet its not the name many people remember or quote while speaking about innovation or out of the box thinking.

The period 2007-2013 sealed the destiny of many mobile companies for the foreseeable future. War between smartphone companies turned into a fight between ecosystems, and emphasis abruptly shifted from hardware to software. This period resulted in turbulence for many companies turbulence associated with either handling exponential growth, or of rapidly dwindling sales and market share. Unfortunately, Sony found itself with the latter. By spearheading the change, Apple gained quick market share, and so did Samsung by aggressively adopting and pushing Android ecosystem. For Sony (then Sony Ericsson), all these developments translated into quick loss of market share and revenue. Thankfully, things started to look a lot better since Sony Ericsson became Sony with the acquisition of Ericssons stake in the joint venture. By gaining more control and launching impressive products in 2013, Sony has shown great signs of comeback. But, is that enough? Can Sony really challenge Samsungs smartphone dominance in 2014? Lets analyse the chances.

Analysing to what extent Sony can succeed in 2014 depends on how well it will overcome the shortcomings that resulted in its downfall. The characteristic of every Sony or Sony Ericsson smartphone post the advent of Android era till 2013 can be described as a product lagging behind in hardware specifications and Android software versions. While the competition was entering the dual core arena, Sony launched its flagship smartphones with single core processors, and when the competition was the adopting quad core phenomenon, Sony launched flagship phones boasting dual cores processors. The story is similar with the onboard Android software as well, with Sony flagship phones consistently running older versions of Android OS compared to the competition. Adding to the woes, the delay in OS updates made its flagship phones even less attractive for the customers and tech press alike. For all those in the Android camp, who always crave for the latest and greatest in the smartphone software and hardware, these shortcomings turned out to be potential deal breakers. Unfortunately, even Sonys marketing was lacklustre and couldnt negate the negative reviews surrounding its products. Its strange how Sony, which a few years ago brought many mobile technologies first to the market, was lagging behind the competition in the Android-IOS era.

Sony started showing signs of revival with the launch of Xperia Z in early 2013. With Xperia Z, Sony put its flagship on par, if not above, with the competition in terms of equipping flagship smartphones with next generation hardware. The unibody premium design of Xperia Z easily translated into one of the very best looking devices available at the launch. The IP55 and IP57 certification, which makes the Xperia Z water and dust resistant, made Xperia Z one of the most compelling smartphones available at the time of its launch. In spite of a middling camera and display, the phone accounted for brisk sales, with some analysts quoting in excess of 4.6 million units in the first 40 days. Continuing the momentum, over the course of the year, Sony delivered formidable competition to Samsung by launching many attractive and well built products across market segments. Appreciatively, Sony ensured even its mid to low range phones were both well built and designed, something which is not very common at these price points.The most defining moment for Sony smartphones in 2013 should be the launch of Xperia Z1 in September. It is fair to say, with the launch of Xperia Z1, Sony leaped ahead of the competition in terms of delivering cutting edge next generation hardware, particularly in the camera and phone build quality departments. The launch of Xperia Z1 can be viewed as the symbolic end of Sonys shortcoming of playing catch-up in the hardware department, and catapulting itself to a pole position, forcing the competitors to play catch-up. By accomplishing this feat in 2013, Sony has eliminated the prime reasons for customers to ignore Sony smartphones, particularly the flagship models. With these advancements in 2013, it is a safe bet to assume that the next Sony flagship phone will definitely be a compelling consideration for people planning to buy a top-end smartphone in 2014, and will definitely pose a tough challenge for the unrivalled dominance of the Samsungs flagship smartphones in the Android ecosystem.

However, on the software side of things, Sony is unquestionably behind Samsung in terms of both launching phones with the latest version of Android, and updating them to the next version as and when its launched. This is an area where Samsung has certainly fared better than most of the competitors an accomplishment which is even more commendable when one factors the never ending, broad Samsung smartphone line-up. Interestingly, Sonys software has its own upside when compared to the often criticised, overwhelming Touchwiz deployed by Samsung. Not counting the Google owned Motorola, Sonys lightweight skin on stock Android is one of the most acceptable among all the mainstream manufacturers, and thats a strength Sony should continue to build on. If Sony can address the complaints on software updates and increase the life span of its products, then Sony smartphones across market segments and price points can better compete with Samsungs army of Galaxies in 2014.

The positives for Sony smartphones in 2013 dont end with substantial improvements in hardware, or the incremental updates in software. The finesse with which it developed water and dust resistant designs for all the Xperia flagship smartphones remains truly unique and breathtaking. Sony should definitely extend this expertise to as many products as possible in 2014. Sony has also been relatively successful in fixing the broken naming scheme from confusing sequence of alphabets as suffixes (a.k.a. Xperia T, Xperia V etc) to Xperia Z series with incremental suffixes (a.k.a. Xperia Z, Z1 etc) for the flagship models. Although a minor change, a straight forward naming scheme with incremental numerical suffixes to the names will definitely assist Sony in positioning its products better. Similar to the latest generation iPhones and flagship Galaxy S series benefiting from the success of the previous generation models, a clear naming scheme implying successors will certainly help Sony bank on the success of the previous generation phones. Not just leaning towards a simple naming scheme, Sony has also improved the quality and quantity of its marketing in 2013 something which is quintessential for any company willing to survive the blitzkrieg of Samsung marketing.

Although important, interestingly, none of these positives may turn out to be key the factors driving growth for Sony in 2014 due to the different set of opportunities and market conditions. 2014 is expected to be a year characterized by rapid growth in emerging markets; demand in the mid to low range market segments; commercialization of wearables; and beginning of smarter homes with connected gadgets and appliances. Fortunately for Samsung, it is uniquely positioned in the market to gain maximum advantage out of these trends. Deep vertical integration, robust sales and after sales network, gigantic marketing spend, smartphones targeting every segment and price point etc, make Samsung an ideal fit to capitalize the opportunities in the emerging markets like India, China etc. Of course, Sony does have presence in these markets, but its just not on a scale comparable to Samsung smartphones. Sonys strategy to use MediaTek processors for the mid to low range smartphones will definitely provide some extra ammunition for Sony to compete in these Samsung dominant markets, but to what extent it can negate the benefits of vertical integration enjoyed by Samsung in terms of scale, cost, and control on components remains to be seen.

Sony made a head start in the wearables space by launching its first generation smart watch couple of years ago. This head start certainly gave Sony enough time to iron out the shortcomings of the first generation products before the expected large scale commercialization of smart watches in 2014. No wonder, Sonys Smart Watch 2 is the most refined among the list of all smart watches currently available. However, Samsungs advantage in wearables market cannot be undermined by the head start made by Sony. Samsungs investment in flexible displays is alone enough to negate the benefits of any first mover advantage enjoyed by Sony, as the success of wearables market squarely depends upon the developments in flexible displays.

Samsungs edge, unsurprisingly, seems to extend into the smart and connected homes space as well due to the broad Samsung product portfolio and the obvious opportunities they offer to build an ecosystem around them. In fact, Samsung has already shown glimpses of its advantage in this space in the recently concluded CES 2014, where it exhibited a model smart home built around Samsung products. This advantage can undeniably add great value proposition to the entire range of Samsung products including smartphones something which other smartphone manufacturers with narrow product portfolio should be worried about. Sony is non-existent in the kitchen appliances category, but has huge presence in the consumer electronics space, and this certainly translates into an opportunity for building Sony ecosystem, even if the advantage is minor compared to Samsung.

The dream of One Sony envisioned and emphasized by Kazuo Hirai, CEO of Sony Corporation, seems to be materializing in the form of leveraging Sony expertise across product categories to make the best Sony phone ever. This is definitely a trend Samsung should be wary of, given the expertise Sony has in categories most relevant to smartphones. Of course, none of this analysis is meant to say Sony will overtake Samsung in smartphones, but to point to the competitive threat for Samsung in 2014. In fact, Sony is not aiming to overtake Samsung, but to clearly position itself as the third large player in the smartphone market. However, considering the market segments and ecosystems both the companies operate in, growth for Sony smartphones may very well mean loss of some market share for Samsung.

Overall, its safe to say, Sony is back with full force to the market, and seems to be well on way to become the third largest smartphone maker as per its goals. In fact, it started 2014 on a great note by launching Xperia Z Compact, a flagship smartphone in compact size a category ignored for long in the Android ecosystem. With Xperia Z1, Sony has set great anticipation for the successor in 2014. However, to Sonys discredit, its smartphones in 2013 have been criticized for mediocre displays and inconsistent camera performance, and fixing these issues should be of paramount importance for Sony in 2014. If the Sony smartphones in 2014 can address these issues, then the reasoning to buy a Samsung smartphone over Sony offerings becomes even more weak and negligible for the customers. Sony delivering formidable competition to Samsung is good in many ways for the Android ecosystem, which at present is mainly dominated by Samsung. The more intense the competition is, the better it gets for the customer. So, lets hope for some exciting times ahead with the industry heavy weights fighting it out for the stamp of approval from the customers through their wallets.

ObjectiveThe major objective of the study is to analyze the position of Samsung Vis--Vis its competitors and to identify weak areas and provide recommendations for the sales. The consumer durable market has grown considerably in last few years in India. With the growth, the level of competition has grown as well. Literally every day companies come up with new attractive offers to grab the better share of the market. The challenge is not only to get the new customer but also to continue with the existing customers.

The objective of doing the project is to:

-Identify the Dealer and Consumer perception about the Samsung products with respect to its competitors in CTV & AC segment. To suggest some differentiating strategies to stay ahead in competition in CTV& AC segment. To identify the factor affecting the four Ps i.e.

Product

Pricing

Promotion

Placement.

Scope Of Study:

1. Impact of consumer durables (being taken in to the study) on the consumers.2. Comparison of Samsung with other competitors.

Methods Of Collecting Data And Their Sources:

Secondary Data:

The secondary data for the project is collected from websites.

References are also taken from search engines.

Research Methodology

Research is the systematic design, collection, analysis and reporting of data and findings relevant to a specific situation or problem. The objective of this section is to describe the research procedure and methods that have been adopted for the achievement of the project objectives.

a. Research Design: Exploratory research studyA research design is the arrangement of conditions for collection and analysis of data in a manner that aims to combine relevance to the research purpose with economy in procedure. My research is comparative in nature.

b. Method of Data collection: In order to do the comparative study of Samsung Products with respect to other companies secondary data will be collected.

The secondary data as it has always been important for the completion of any report provides a reliable, suitable, equate and specific knowledge. The data will collect from various magazines, fact sheets newspapers and websites published by the company.

c. Sampling Technique: The study proposed to use convenience sampling.

Sources of Data

The nature of the data that has been used in the project under study secondary in nature.

Secondary data

Offer documents, fact sheets, news papers, magazines published from time to time and Internet, Company sources.

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