Question

Product Design

Assignment:

this week we examine product and service strategies. One issue with products/services is they many fail to update to current technology or consumer needs. This week we are going to examine how an outdated/bad product was initially developed and what need it served. Then define how the current needs/technologies have changed with respect to the product/service. Finally, redesign the product/service to the current needs/technology.

The steps for the assignment are:

1. Recreate the requirements gathering process that could have led to the outdated/bad design of the product.

2. Define how modern day requirements would change the product.

3. Redesign the product. Based on your redesign, how long do you estimate the product life cycle to be before another redesign/update is needed?

Answer 1

In this case, I would take an example of Nokia.

Nokia is the first name we knew about early cell phones that were in the market. Nokia stayed on the market for a decade, and every now and then launched new handset versions. It catered for all sectors of society by providing varying price points for the handset. Millennials could relate best with me. Despite the company's glorifying past, it becomes difficult to know that Nokia is no longer important in the cell phone industry. Yet why did Nokia fail?

It is a topic that requires investigation, and in this essay, we will discuss the reasons that are responsible for this dramatic shift in the cell phone industry. One thing to remember here is that it's not all that Nokia did wrong; there have been many things that certain companies in the industry, particularly Samsung, have done right. Perhaps Nokia's downfall is a combination of Nokia's failures and the positive approaches that the industry's other companies have used.

SUCCESS OF NOKIA:

Before we start the conversation about the factors which resulted in Nokia's failure. Discussing Nokia as a success story is important. Now, let's take a brief look at the company's history, and what makes Nokia successful.

In the early days of its popularity, Nokia appeared as one of the popular mobile phone manufacturers. Nokia became the best-selling cell phone company in the world in October 1998. It had 50 percent of the cell phone market share by 2007. The company's young and charismatic leadership was the reason for its large consumer-market recognition. Any of the reasons for progress is initially the emerging technologies, the desire to digitalize, and creativity.

Over time, however, the disproportionate pace of growth, loss of mobility, and lack of creative management resulted in Nokia's strategic-level failure as the company.

FAILURE OF NOKIA:

The same Nokia Group that enjoyed a 50 percent market share dropped to less than 5 percent of the overall market share in 2013. That was the moment when the company's board, creditors, and customers feared bankruptcy for Nokia. The bankruptcy was almost inevitable, but Microsoft's corporate activity helped the company get back to a stronger position. This was provided by Microsoft to save the smartphone's Windows platform but in fact, it gave the company a new start.

In addition to revamping the company's smartphones, it also began business diversification. Now Nokia is delivering network connectivity as an integral part of the overall market. In Nokia's case study, the variables that resulted in the company's plight have been widely studied to highlight. Company graduates and even realistic trainees include examples of the things the company has done poorly to show the students and trainees how to do the right stuff.

WHY DID NOKIA FAIL?

Let's have a more in-depth analysis of the causes involved in the failure of one of the 1990s' leading mobile entrepreneurs.
NOKIA Could NOT Respond TO CHANGE: the cell phone industry's technological progress has been strong. Traditional phones have shifted to smartphones, but Nokia has not changed as well. While the early smartphone was the initiator. Symbian phones were launched in 2002, but the organization was unable to handle the speed of technology that was evolving. Therefore Nokia has crashed.

It continued to manufacture the old version of the handset, as the rivals began to pump in the very latest smartphones. These devices were inexpensive to the consumers, and eventually, they were transferred to the entire population of society. Nokia did not know what was going on back then and did not change the tactics. Thus, over time, it took place with the transfer of all its target customers to a newer and improved version of the handset, putting Nokia well behind the emerging industry entrants.

Improper Dependence on Being the first Responder Throughout the Market: Symbian was introduced in 2002 and was a great move. Nokia has been the industry's first mover. The launch of the iPhone in 2007, however, completely ruined the technological edge Nokia enjoyed. The iPhone's efficient speed demonstrates how the smartphone market will work, and industry standards have shifted from becoming a slow provider to being an efficient provider.

Strong Rivalry Throughout the Sector: The mobile phone sector slowly got crowded with many players targeting the same target audience. Apple, Samsung, Blackberry, and Nokia were all the leading names on goal market seeking. Nokia could not strengthen its offering in this battle of rivalry and fail to some other players on the market.

In addition to this high-end rivalry, the low-end rivalry has also arisen in the industry in the shape of Huawei, HTC, and ZTE. Progressively, these businesses acquired considerable share, especially as this company's market share was added up; as a competition for Nokia, it was a huge amount. Yet Nokia wasn't looking at it timely and still had to drop the lower end market, demonstrating that Nokia struggled in the market.

PERCEPTION Among THE CONSUMERS: When it comes to cell phones the name Nokia had strong popularity for the brand. As discussed at the outset, most of us knew Nokia is one of the largest smartphone manufacturing firms. We still accept Nokia, but we can not alter our opinion of it and the goods it makes. We've always established Nokia as a wonderful company that was accessible at a given time or era. Users would recall the iconic game of snake, they'd wonder if they could actually work with it, but they're not going to spend any money on the phone, particularly for that game. They will get sick of it in no time, even though they do have exposure to Snake. This is due to the technology transition and the brand's view of the entire industry. Nokia could not take the factor into consideration and had to face defeat.

LACK OF REPOSITION: Provided Nokia's previous picture, a timely decision on repositioning was necessary. To those of you who don't know about repositioning, we are explaining it for you here. Repositioning is a marketing process in which the original logo of the brand or a product is converted into the current image by showcasing the new products or innovation the product presents to the consumers. Nokia hasn't concentrated much on its mobile market. Symbian will also be oblivious to certain men. Likewise, Apple will be the first smartphone maker to reach more markets. Nokia went wrong here, which reveals that Nokia crashed.

LACK OF A STRATEGIC PLAN: Apple and Samsung all grabbed care of the brilliant game strategy, which Nokia couldn't get. Apple and Samsung brought together a signature phone. Every year, these businesses bring out a new edition of these items with added features. Those brands' buyers and prospective consumers have an eye on the latest product until it's even on the market. This excitement about the introduction of the latest product with new features will boost customer interest in the company, and that is what is happening. Just as the mobile market has already been crowded, a new edition of the phone's introduction is still receiving public interest. But in Nokia's case, such a scenario was not established, and that in turn led Nokia to fail.

Nokia is already redesigning its product. It accepted the fact that Symbian can not compete with Android and iOS and Nokia is already building android phones. It also divested its business into equipment manufacture for other telecom companies like providing networking equipment, and many other things. Based on the redesigned product, I believe, the corporate customers of Nokia are going to give them much better returns and well are going to associate with them for a much longer period then norman B2C customers. Thus the PLC can be expected to be longer in the case of B2B customers that Nokia is currently focussing on.