Name: Amit Yadav (2007 – 2009)

Title: Impact of Marketing Mix on Consumer Behavior towards Mobile

Industry to Understand the Marketing Mix of Sony Ericsson

Summary
Mobile phones first arrived in India in 1995, and since then their adoption has grown
exponentially, with average annual growth of 80 percent. Mobile phones have thus become a
significant presence in the social, cultural and economic lives of Indians at all levels of society.
While young people have embraced mobile phones enthusiastically, corresponding changes in
social norms have caused anxieties among some parts of the population. In this post I will
explore these issues in-depth, beginning with an overview of phone use, followed by an
examination of resulting changes in social dynamics and a brief look at the use of mobile
phones for development purposes.

As of October 31, 2008, there were a little over 320 million mobile phone subscribers in the
country, which is about 26% of the total population. The great majority, about 24 million use
GSM systems. The most important cell phone carriers are Airtel with 25.04 percent of the
market, followed by Reliance (CDMA and GSM) with 17.93 percent and Vodafone/Essar with
17.70 percent. There are a wide variety of handsets available, provided by both foreign and
Indian companies and catering to every niche of the Indian market.

The most expensive GSM handset cost about US $12,000; it is marketed under the Nokia
super premium luxury brand Vertu, and shows that mobile phones are status items for Indians
of all income classes. Airtel and Vodaphones sell Apple’s 3G iPhones for about US $700,
depending on capacity. On the other end of the spectrum, aiming at the so-called bottom-of-
the-pyramid (bop) market, the Nokia 1200 costs 1200 rupees, which is about $24. The CDMA
handset market is firmly dominated by Reliance, which sells Blackberry smart phones for about
$620, while on the low end; Tata Indicom sells a Samsung Model for $20, which is just fewer
than 1000 rupees. 60.90 % of the population is covered by mobile signal.

A significant part of the research into mobile phone use in India focuses on their deployment
for development purposes. Specifically, in the economic domain access to mobile phones
helps small entrepreneurs overcome information asymmetries in the market place that have
traditionally led to their exploitation through middle men.

Objectives:
 1. To understand the market mix of Sony Ericsson- Product, Price, Place and Promotion.

2. To understand consumer attitude and preference towards mobile.

3. To understand usage patterns.

4. To study the impact of changes in Product, Price, Place and Promotion on consumers.

The research programs is designed for understanding the market mix of Sony Ericsson –
Product, Price, Promotion and Place and also understand the consumer attitude and
preference towards mobile.

Also understand the different usage patterns used by the Sony Ericsson and the main
objective is to understand the impact of changes in Product, Price, Place and Promotion.

Conclusion:

Science and technology have come a long way and have shown its success through the
invention of mobile phones. Mobile phones are now used all over the world not only for making
and receiving calls but also for other various purposes including playing games, listening and
uploading music, browsing the internet while working etc. Sony Ericsson, the world’s fourth
manufacturer is mostly known for its Walkman and Cyber shot branded mobile phones.
According to analysts, in order to become the third mobile phone manufacturer worldwide,
Sony Ericsson will also have to focus on releasing low-cost phones that target lower income
customers in the fast growing emerging markets.
With around 105 million GSM subscribers, India is one of the fastest growing mobile markets in
the world. One of the main reasons why Nokia is holding on to the number one spot is its
success in emerging markets.
Sony Ericsson has already started to produce more affordable low-end mobile phones, having
recently released the W200, a Walkman phone that should start shipping at a significantly
lower price than other Walkman handsets.
Recommendations:

1:- Sony Ericsson should concentrate on the quality of the product/brand.

2:- Easy availability of the brand/product must be done by Sony Ericsson.
3:- Supply chain management of Sony Ericsson should be improved.
4:- More emphasized is done on advertisement.
5:- Different promotional activities by Sony Ericsson must be launch for boosting the sale.
6:- For better CRM, after sales service must be improve up-to the optimum.
7:- Sony Ericsson has to improve its Image in the mind of consumers if they want to survive
today’s competition as well as products.
8:- Sony Ericsson should continue to add additional function in the popular and highly-rated
mobiles.
9:- Sony Ericsson should improved Bluetooth reception and network reception.
10:- Many Sony Ericsson Mobile have smaller keypad which create a problem for heavy
texters, so Sony Ericsson should improve their keypad structure.
11:- Some Sony Ericsson mobile has very weak battery life, so Sony Ericsson tries to improve
the battery life time.
12:- Sony Ericsson should improve the pictures quality of his camera phones.
13:- Should focus more on the youth customers.
Finding and Analysis of the Survey:

As we know in India the no. Of mobile handset users are growing day by day and that’s a
reason most of the mobile manufacturers are eyeing India as their potential future market for
telecommunication after neighboring country China. During research work, I had asked 100
respondents that is my sample size of my research work which constitute of teenagers as well
as person who are of age above than 40 years. When I asked to my respondents that what is
the first thing that hits their mind. Majority of the respondents had told and given the answer
that mobile they means something that connects then with near and dear ones, that mean for
them mobile means to them the mobility besides that some respondents had told that mobile
means a instrument to them which they purchase to have a fun to hear music and camera also
for clicking down the snaps. And some also told when hear the word mobile they refer to it as
instrument which invade their privacy and as well as create problems. In other words they are
not willingly use the mobile they are using it just because it is become a necessity. The idea
behind inserting this question in my questionnaire is to know brand association of the mobile
handset with the word MOBILE.

The above article was extracted from dissertations by the students of

Skyline College. Skyline College is amongst the top MBA and BBA
institutes in Delhi, Gurgaon (NCR)