This is for my strategic management class. The industry i’ve chosen is Cell Phone industry, so
you can talk about cell phones. I need 1 page answering these 2 questions.
Introduction (� page)
Briefly state the industry you will analyze (you can include the SIC code as well). Provide
general information (briefly) about the nature of this industry (history, major changes across
time, size, and geographic clusters, if any).
- External Analysis
a. General Assessment of Environment (1 – 1� page)
Assess the general environment, focusing on ONLY the most relevant three of the following
segments for your chosen industry: demographic, sociocultural, political/legal, technological,
economic, and global. Explain in detail how certain changes or trends in the segments you
analyze had (or may have) impact on your industry.
Strategic Management
Introduction
STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
The U.S. cell phone industry, which I am going to analyze in this paper, is the most
competitive among all other sectors and requires a player to implement innovative and creative
strategies to succeed. The relevant SIC code is 334220 (Radio and Television Broadcasting and
Wireless Communications Equipment Manufacturing). The onset of the cell phone industry was
experienced in the 1940s after the Mobile Telephone Service was introduced in the North
America (Bhargava, Evans, & Mani, 2016). However, in 1965, the Improved Mobile Telephone
Service was introduced. The new service featured user dialing and eliminated the need for
operator forwarding.
Additionally, the new service used additional radio channels leading to increased
subscriber population and subsequently calls. In 1983, the very first handheld mobile phone
named Motorola DynaTAC 8000x was introduced to the market. Immediately, the device,
despite its crude nature, became a market favorite. Nonetheless, this innovation marked a new
wave of cell phones, given that the Nokia Mobira Talkman among other cell phones by other
companies was introduced shortly after (Bhargava, Evans, & Mani, 2016). Over the following 20
years, the cell phone industry kept on evolving with new mobile phones with integrative
capacities was introduced. The turning point for the industry came in 2007 after the introduction
of innovative Android and Apple mobile phones. Today, the size of the sector has increased
tremendously, given the number of customers, manufacturers, and retailers among other
stakeholders.
External Analysis
The mobile industry is attractive to all people across different stages of life beginning
from the adolescence phase. According to Bhargava, Evans, and Mani (2016), almost every
person in American owns at least one cell phone and has subscribed to one or more service
STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
providers. In regard to the social-cultural aspect of the external environment, it is apparent that
people in America use mobile phones for a diverse range of purposes. The most common use is
communication, which is either through making a call or sending a text. However, some people
feel that owning a cell phone is a sign of prestige (Bhargava, Evans, & Mani, 2016). Other
people use cell phones primarily to seek information usually through the mobile-based internet.
Several political/legal aspects are associated with the industry. As such, the government has
introduced several laws that are aimed at limiting the conduct of the mobile service providers
especially regarding confidentiality of the customer data.
The technological advent in the mobile industry is at breakneck speed. Each dawn of the
day sees a new cell phone technology being introduced. While the industry has continued
progressing, the aftermath of the Great Financial Crisis of 2008 is still influential (Bhargava,
Evans, & Mani, 2016). All these changes have had a major impact on the industry. Despite the
dragging effect that the post-global financial crisis issues have had, the rapid technology, the
continued affinity for mobile phones, and the expanding manufacturing sphere have made the
cell phone industry become a leading contributor to the country’s GDP.
Reference
Bhargava, H. K., Evans, D. S., & Mani, D. (2016). The Move to Smart Mobile and its
Implications for Antitrust Analysis of Online Markets. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning.
