Taiwanese manufacture HTC Corp

MirazizBazarov 2011 Миразиз Базаров
1. Introduction
Pending the period of past several years, starting from 2006, Taiwanese manufacture HTC
Corp, showed an enormous growth in the international smartphone market. One of the main
reasons for rapid expansion was the adoption of global strategy of gradual switching from
selling ODM (original design manufacturer) to independently branded production. Staring
from the release of HTC Dream and other HTC-branded smartphones, as well as the
adoption of HTC Sense graphical user interface running ob both Android Windows Mobile
operating systems, HTC became providing valued and highly competitive products (Yoffie
and Kim, 2009). This is reflected in the HTC's mission “to become the leading innovative
supplier of mobile information and communication devices by providing value-added
design, world-class manufacturing and logistics and service capabilities” (HTC, 2012). This
successful strategy resulted in the growth of the sales by hundred percents and as for 3-4Q of
2011 HTC is number 4 smartphone producer with the share of 12.8%, after Samsung, Apple
and Nokia, as Whitney (2011) suggest. However, with the dramatic decrease in sales in 4Q
of 2011, HTC is now facing the increasing competition from Apple and Samsung, while
Nokia is also planning to re-establish a new, more effective strategy of operating at the
global market of smartphones (Livven, 2012; Chapman, 2012).

Therefore, currently, HTC requires reshaping its strategy and tactics used in the market of
smartphone. This can be done as result of analysing the business environment and resources
and competencies of HTC Corp, as well as the formulation HTC Corp’s competitive
position in this context, in order to make suggestion of how HTC could uses its internal
resources and competencies to develop a competitive advantage in this new, rapidly
changing environment.
2. Analysis of external environment, business competitors, PEST analysis
Analysis of external environment is a starting point of the analysis of what are the possible
was and options in the adoption of the future strategy of a company. Thus, the study of the
external factors should be meticulously researched and analysed. According to Grant (2002),
PEST(LE) analysis, thus, the analysis of Political, Economic, Social, and Technological as
well as Legal and Environmental factors is one of the widely used tools for the study of
external business environment. Therefore, the analysis of external factors should start from
this tool. However, according to HTC (2010), the external environment varies from region to
region, thus PEST(LE) analysis should be done according to the regional division. In this
analysis the environmental factor can be neglected because ecological and environmental
aspects such as weather, climate, and climate change do not really affect the industry of
smartphone producers. To add, each of the three main regions, according to HTC, has their
own structure and features, so, this will be also analysed further.
On the other hand, Hill and Jones (2001), suggest that Michael Porter’s five forces, which
include the study of the treats of new competition and substitute products or services,

bargaining power of customers and suppliers as well as intensity of competitive rivalry
should be done on the global basis, taking into account the level of globalisation of
smartphone industry. The analysis of the global market of smartphones should be also made
from the point of industry life cycle and strategy groups (Grant, 2002). To sum up, the
analysis of external factors is probably the most important point in this research, so it should
be done comprehensively and using different tools.
a. North America
Main Economies GDP, million USD, PPP
United States 14,657,800
Mexico 1,629,917
Canada 1,330,272
North America is the main market for HTC Corp - about half of the revenues come from this
region. North America comprises more than 550 million people living in 23 countries and
producing GDP of 17 trillion US Dollars (Economy Watch, 2012). The main emphasis in
the analysis of the business environment should be done on Canada, and, especially on the
United States, which is currently considered to be the main and most prolific market for
HTC. Taking into account the importance of this region for HTC, importance of US
economical and political wellbeing in the economic growth of the whole world, in addition
to the importance of the legal decision taken by US courts, business environment analysis of

North American and especially US market should be comprehensive and detailed in order to
better understand global environment and HTC's competitive position and competitive
advantages.
According to Yoffie and Kim (2009), US market has one particular feature, which is the fact
that sales of mobile phones are dominated by the mobile operators. According to comScore
(2012), there are main 4 operators in the US, which are namely Verizon (31%), AT&T
(25%), Sprint (12%) and T-Mobile (12%). As Yoffie and Kim (2009), all the prodicers offer
HTC smartphones with considerable discounts, for example AT&T (2012) and Verizon
(2012) offer the majority of HTC devices for free (but with forced contracts), while Sprint
(2012) and T-Mobile (2012) offer them with considerable discount. Well developed
relationships with the main carriers is one of the main factors in the success of HTC on the
American market, with more than 24 percent of the US market, ahead of Samsung’s 21
percent, while Apple fell to third at 20 percent while RIM, maker of the BlackBerry, had 9
percent thus becoming number one smartphone producers in the third quarter of 2011 in US
(Culpan and Miller, 2011).
North America PEST(L) analysis
POLITICAL FACTORS
1. Political stability is regarded as very high, the political institutes and infrastructure in North America is one the best in the
world (comparing with other global regions), various political and democracy indexes put North America (US + Canada) on
the top.Local and international systemof agreements is considered as judicious and wise; the agreements are fulfilled in a
proper manner. Various political challenges are facing government, though they are accepted and different measures are
taken
2. NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), an agreement signed by the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the
United States,creates a solid trade bloc in North America and create a framework for stability business operation in the whole
region especially considering different political and legal issues,including political relations between the countries,especially
trade restrictions and political stability. The synergy effect of developing political, transport,health and education
infrastructure is very solid. A range of Latin American-US free trade agreements (FTAs) from the 1990s to the present,and
lead to fiscal, political and business gains as the result of those treaties
3. The Political and Legal initiative of Federal Communications Commission about National Broadband Plan can be a good
opportunity for stimulation of the “economic growth, spur job creation, and boost our capabilities in education,healthcare,
homeland security and more”. However, there are concerns that providing 100 million American households with access to
100 Mbit/s will lead to decline of using smartphones, while also leading to the rise of PC Tables (i.e. Apple's iPad)
4. The United States presidential election of 2012 will have a profound impact on economy, foreign politics and legislative
systemin the US and in the whole world.
ECONOMIC FACTORS
1. Economic Growth is going to be positive, but close to zero, according to the majority of the perditions.
2. Exchange rate of US Dollar and Canadian Dollar will be dependant mainly on the USD/EUR exchange rates,which will be
heavily influenced by the further development of the European Debt Crisis. Growing budget deficit in US will remain a
serious concern for economists.In general, the US dollar is not going to depreciate, but strengthening US currency in the mo st
possible scenarios
3. Despite of the declaration of US Government and Federal Reserve System, the inflation in US will probably rise, according
to many scenarios,the interest rate changes are less important for economic forecasts because of liquidity trap and
professional response from FRS in this sphere.

4. To sum up, in spite of the moderate economic growth and threat of inflation, economic conditions are forecasted to be
somewhat positive, or, at least neutral for smartphones market and HTC in particular, The reason here in indentifying use of
electronic devices, preserving high level of purchasing power and appreciating US Dollar in 2012 and further years.
SOCIAL FACTORS
1. Because of very dense penetration of smartphones in the middle-aged and young demographic segments (comparing to
Asia, but not Europe), the increasing amount of aged users of smartphone users in US is a good opportunity for further
expansion. However, the availability of interesting apps and functions,as well as the design of the devices should be taken
into account.
2. The Network effect, high urbanization and internet usage is considered are considered to be favourable social factors for
US and Canada markets
3. With the increasing growth of smartphone ownership in the U. and the presence of more affordable dev ices, the market is
opening up to a greater range of social classes.Smartphone usage patterns are continuing diverting from solely business use to
both personal and business usage.Smarphones are still mainly used by young and middle males with high income; however,
new segments of the market are growing very well.
TECHNOLOGICAL FACTORS
1. Research and Development activity in smartphone market is very high and dense,both in US and the whole world; the
global market for these handsets is slated to grow nearly 50 percent this year. R&D activity, its effectiveness and efficiency is
still the major contributor to the success ofsmartphone producers.
2. US is the main player on the market of R&D, it funds more than one-third of global research and development activities. In
the view of this light, it is very recommended for Asian companies, such as HTC, to outsource some of the R&D activities to
US, because of the cluster effect and high professionalismof US engineers
3. The high rate and level of technology adoption in the cell phone market of US and Canada is a favourable factor for
smartphone producers,however this also means an high level of competition
4. Intellectual property protective laws are very restrictive in the US. Taking into account the increasing costs ofR&D
activities in this market, the barriers to entry are permanently increasing
LEGAL FACTORS
1. Intellectual Property Protection and Enforcement is very well established and play a significant role in the market of
smartphones.United States International Trade Commission has a very considerable power in providing trade expertise and
revealing unfair trade practices, including subsidies,dumping, patent,trademark, and copyright infringement for both local
producers,but, more important, importers of different production.
2. In the smartphone market, suing each otherover the patent infringement is now a common practice between the main
players, such as Samsung, Google, Apple, Motorola, HTC, LG, Huawei, Nokia, Sony Ericson and many others.This became
a large threat for smartphone market and a brake on technological progress in the whole market.
3. The consumer protection laws are well-designed and followed; the laws set the highest standard for customers’ protection
supervised by Bureau of Consumer Protection and other governmental organizations. This is also true for employment laws (a
considerable amount of employees are working in US and Canada, mainly working in the area of marketing and sales and
transportation).The environmental laws are rather restrictive especially those which are aimed at the safety of the production),
though it is less restrictive than in EU. Regarding all these three areas HTC complies with all the laws and regulations and no
big threat is coming from these areas.
Sources:
Political Factors
1. Cooper M, 2011; Gallagher K, 2011; The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited, 2012a, 2012b; Industry Canada,
2012; Freedom House, 2012.
2. Steinberg, 1997; Burfisher and Robinson, 2001; Villarreal, 2010; Gallagher K, 2011; Office of the United States
Trade Representative, 2012
3. Eggerton J., 2010; Federal Communications Commission, 2012.
4. Boose, 2011; Johns,2011; Jerome and Jerome-Speziary, 2011; TheHuffingtonPost.com, 2012. NYTimes, 2012.
Economic Factors
1. E-forecasting.com, 2011.; Financial Forecast Center, 2012a
2. Congress of the United States,2011; E-forecasting.com, 2011; Regan and Nazareth, 2012.;
3. Tilton , 2011; Pradhan M, 2011; Regan M. and Nazareth R., 2012.
4. Pradhan , 2011; Tilton A., 2011; Shell, 2012.
Social Factors
1. Cohen, 2011; The Nielsen Company, 2011, Blankenhorn, 2012.
2. Kelly, 2010; Lee and Lee, 2011. Boris, 2012.
3. Clip, 2009; Kelly, 2010; The Nielsen Company, 2011; McNaughton , 2011;
Technological Factors
1. Information Tech, 2010; Dediu, 2011; Reuters, 2012
2. Sher and Young 2004; Lin et al., 2006; Battele, 2010

3. Kalba, 2008; Smith, 2011.
4. Friedman and Taylor, 1997; Krummenacker, 2000. Reichman and Uhlir, 2003; iT.Grunts, 2012
Legal Factors
1. Hansen, 1990; Wald, 2011; Read, 2011.
2. Lee, 2011; Hardy, 2012; Ricknäs, 2012.
3. McNamara, 2010; Picks, 2011; EPA, 2012; Vladeck, 2012.
Opportunities
 High political stability and development
 National Broadband Plan and other high-tech developing programs
 High purchasing power of American customers
 High interest in innovative and high-quality hi-tech products
 Opportunities to go further to younger and older demographic segments
 Cluster effect of R&D activity in the US
Threats
 Very intense competition, first of all from Apple and Samsung
 Increasing barriers to foreign importers
 The huge threat coming from restrictire patent protection legislative
 Litigations with Apple may harm brand equity
 Increase use of Tablets instead of smartphones (but there is response - HTC Fly)
b. Europe
Europe 19,920,000

European Union 16,282,000
Germany 3,315,000
France 2,582,000
United Kingdom 2,247,000
Italy 2,055,000
Spain 1,409,000
Russia 2,222,957
Europe is the second important market for HTC Corp – about third of the revenues come
from European market. Europe comprises more than 740 million people living in 48
different states and producing GDP of about 20 trillion US Dollars. The main emphasis in
the analysis of the business environment should be done on European Union, and Germany,
France and UK in particular, taking into account the size of these markets and their
importance for HTC Corp and other smartphone producers. The analysis political and social
environment in European Union is important for the comprehension of HTC possible
strength and competencies, it is also important for the study of opportunities and strength in
this region. To add, analysis of the legal environment in the EU is an important issue in this
region, taking into account well-developed but restrictive copyright, environmental and
labour regulations of EU authorities.
European market of smartphones has significantly different structure and features. For
example in majority of the cases EU customers first buy handsets for themselves and then
choose the mobile operators (Yoffie and Kim, 2009). This reflects in the performance of
HTC on the European market, where HTC is behind of Apple, RIM and Nokia, which still
holds its positions because of the loyalty of local customers. According to the latest trends,
HTC is ahead of RIM but behind of Samsung on the European market (Garner, 2012).

Europe PEST(L) analysis
POLITICAL FACTORS
1. Political stability of European countries is considered to be very high, as the majority of the indexes and think tanks and
agencies suggests. But, currently, because of the worsening situation in economical and social spheres,many researchers
question the future stability of the Europe. However, high level of democratic institutions means that political stability of
European countries will not be harmed by the changes resulted from presidential and parliament elections.
2. The major part of political power in Europe is represented by the political institutions of the European Union, which are
namely European Parliament, the European Council, the Council of the European Union, the European Commission, the
Court of Justice of the European Union, the European Central Bank and the Court of Auditors.While providing opportunities
for further economic and political development of all the member of EU, they are currently considered as too bureaucratic and
increasing the government intervenes in the economies and politics of its members.
3. EU trade policy (no trade restriction and tariffs between the countries) fosters the economic activity and relations between
the members. The synergy effect of developing political, transport,health and education infrastructure in addition to the
methods of the adoption of labor and environmental laws as a model for the majority of economical and political blocs.
4. The populist actions of some of the members of EU and Russia, such as increasing the spending on health education and
subsidies,grants and awards at the expense of increasing the national debts can become a serious concern for political and
economical stability of some of the members
ECONOMIC FACTORS
1. Majority of the forecasts suggest the growth of eurozone from 0.1 to 0.5 percent, however, the growth will vary from
country to country,PIGS courtiers are under the threat of a great recession.This means that economic conditions in Europe
are much worse while comparing with North America and Asia
2. Euro will probably depreciate in 2012 to USD and othermain currencies because of lowering growth and debt distress in
Europe, sovereign credit rating downgrade and a strong preference for liquidity-rich currencies. This means that exported
products,including HTC and Apple, will be of higher costs comparing to locally produced smartphones,such as Nokia.
3. According to the consensus forecast,the inflation will rise no more than 3% while the interest rate will be stable or reflect
the changes on the market
4. To sum up, the examined economic factors and worsening economic conditions in Europe and eurozone suggest that this is
going to be the least promising market for HTC in 2012, while comparing with the North America, Asia and rest of the world.
SOCIAL FACTORS
1. The large proportion of young and middle-aged customers already uses smartphones in Europe. Just like in the US, the
increasing amount of aged users of smartphones users can be an opportunity for further expansion. But, again, the availabilit y
of interesting apps and functions, as well as the design of the devices should be taken into account.
2. There are some differing social trends in major European countries.For example, in France there is comparatively low
proportion of smartphone-internet users, while in UK many prefer chatting and emailing (via RIM devices). So, different
social attitudes towards using smartphone devices should be taken into account by HTC.
3. One social aspect that differs US and other users in developed countries from European users is the large proportion of the
travellers using smartphones during the travel to search various information (38% in France, 37% in Germany and 47% in the
UK), This social aspect should be also reflected by HTC strategy in Europe to attract this considerable proportion of possible
users.
4. High health and environmental consciousnessofEuropean users should be also taken into account while developing
corporate strategy in Europe.
1. As well as in US, Research and Development activity in smartphone market is very high and dense,the global market for
these handsets is slated to grow nearly 50 percent this year. R&D activity, its effectiveness and efficiency is still the major
contributor to the success ofsmartphone producers. In Europe, there are major R&D mobile devices centres of Nokia
(Cambridge, UK, Helsinki and Tampere) which play significant role in technological development of the whole industry.
Nokia, with the R&D spending,can be a threat to competitors, one example is the creation of the stretchable device following
on from Nanotechnology research
2. There are different signs that the gap in research and development between the US and Europe is not narrowing, but
widening, because of Europe's relatively low level of R&D spending compared to the US and Japan. However, considerable
R&D staff reduction in Nokia can be a good opportunity for HTC to hire some of the specialists.
3. Like in US and Canada, the high rate and level of technology adoption in the mobile phone market is a favourable factor for
smartphone producers,however this also means an high level of competition
4. Taking into account the increasing pace of technological development and higher costs for innovations,the barriers to
entering the European market are also increasing, but many newcomers use alliance and partnership schemes.
LEGAL FACTORS
1. European Intellectual Property Protection systemis well-developed while also playing a considerable role in both local and

global market of smartphones. European Commission and other authorities of the Europe play the role of arbiter and also
enforcing the intellectual property laws. The basis of these regulations is European Patent Convention.In some of the cases
European patent law is considered as more restrictive and less effective than in US
2. Like in the whole worlds, suing each other over the patent infringement is now a common practice between the main
players, such as Samsung, Google, Apple, Motorola, HTC, LG, Huawei, Nokia, Sony Ericson and many others.This became
a large threat for smartphone market and a brake on technological progress in the whole market. However, there are some
regional aspects - many cases spread only on the territory of EU, Huawei vs ZTE, Nokia vs Apple are examples.
3. Consumer protection, employment and environmental laws are rather restrictive, but HTC complies with all the laws and
regulations and no big threat is coming from these areas.
Sources:
Political Factors
1. Ersson and Lane, 1983; Mearsheimer, 1990. Falksohn, 2006; The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited, 2007;
Euromoney Insitutional Investor,2011
2. Weiler L. and Kocjan M., 2005; European Paliament, 2006; Council of European Union, 2008; EUROPA, 2011
3. OECD, 2000; Hong Kong Trade Development Council, 2008; European Communities, 2009.
4. Dülffer, 2007. Ertel and Muller, 2011; Martin, 2011; Murphy,2011.
Economical Factors
1. Parussini, 2011; Ernst & Young, 2011; Lagarde, 2012.
2. SignalTrend, 2012; Global Economic Research, 2012; Euro Rate Forecast, 2012.
3. Ernst & Young, 2011; Euroeconomics, 2011; Oxlade, 2012; Licari and Appeddu,2012.
Social Factors
1. Online Marketing Trends,2010; Arthur, 2011; Block, 2011.
2. Online Marketing Trends,2010; Arthur, 2011
3. Mucci, 2011. European Travel Commision, 2012.
4. European Schoolnet, 2005; Nokia, 2006; Disanto, 2011; Huss,2011
Technological Factors
1. Information Tech, 2010; Srivastava and ben-Aaron,2011; Cha, 2011; Ricker, 2011; Dediu, 2011; Reuters, 2012;
Nokia, 2012a,b
2. Wilen, 2008; EurActiv, 2009; Srivastava M. and ben-Aaron D., 2011; Publicservice, 2011
3. ITU, 2011; Eurostat, 2012.
Legal Factors
1. van Pottelsberghe L., 2009; EC, 2011; Europe-Patents.com, 2011; EPO, 2012a,b
2. O'Brien, 2010; Rasmussen, 2011; Hardy, 2012; Ricknäs, 2012.
3. EPA, 2012; Vladeck, 2012.
Opportunities
 High political stability and development
 Higher level of the development of connection networks
 Opportunities to go further to younger and older demographic segments
 Aged users of smartphones users as an opportunity for further expansion
 Travellers using smartphones as an opportunity for further expansion
 Possible R&D staff reduction in Nokia can be a good opportunity for HTC to hire
some of the specialists
 Market feature - unlocked operators can be good starting point for increasing share
without relationships with local carriers
Threats
 Bureaucratic and increasing the government intervenes in the economies and politics
of its members
 Low economic growth, threat of economic recession and depreciation of Euro
 Threat from Nokia's R&D activity
 Huawei vs ZTE, Nokia vs Apple are precedent for further using for patent
infringement
 Unlocked operators mean the higher threat from newcomers
 Increase use of Tablets instead of smartphones (but there is response - HTC Fly)

c. Asia and Rest of the World
Asia 24,077,000
China 11,711,708
India 4,679,392
Japan 4,319,432
Russia 2,222,957
South Korea 1,459,246
South America 3,990,000
Australia 1,570,000
Despite of the fact that Asia and Rest of the World (and emerging markets in general)
produces less than fifth of the whole revenues of HTC Corp, it is very promising for further
expansion of the company. The reason here is that Asia comprises more than 4 billion
people and producing about 25 trillion US dollars (CIA, 2012). It is also considered as the
fastest growing region and many corporate executives turn their eyes towards this promising
region, as well as on other developing countries. An analysis of the business environment in
Asia is also important because the production is processed in this region.

Situation with carriers varies, but in general tend to be similar to Europe, the major part of
smartphones are still bought as unlocked, there is also a high level of unofficially distributed
smartphones, HTC is not an exception to this rule (HTC, 2011; Lewis, 2011)
DailyTech (2011) suggest that China became the world's Largest Smartphone Market in 3Q
of 2011; it also offers the analysis of the share of market. HTC still holds weak position in
China, behind Nokia and Samsung, in comparison, the main players in US are HTC and
Apple.
Another large market, India, has its own feature, with Nokia total (but declining) domination
and considerable share of Canadian RIM and local producer - MicroMax, while HTC's
share is very low (Pluggdin, 2010; Pluggdin, 2012)
Japanese market has also their own features, most Japanese Smart phones are pretty
sophisticated, and (unlike in the US), Japanese carriers have well developed applications
running on their platforms and thus local customers tend to buy sophisticated phones and
use them to a full degree (Slivka, 2010). On Japanese market, HTC is behind Apple,
Samsung, Nokia and RIM, but still have relatively high share - more than 13%

Asia and ROW PEST(L) analysis
POLITICAL FACTORS
In general, the degree a government intervenes in the economy is usually higher in Asia, with government authorities tend
to be more autocratic and less democratic and less stable, as many researchers and indexes suggest.On the other hand,the
labour and environmental laws in majority of the developing countries, and, which is more important, in China, while the
main production facilities of HTC Corp are situated, are less restrictive than in Europe, US or other developing countries.
While acknowledging that the governments have great influence on the health, education, and infrastructure of a nation, is
it regarded by many researchers that movements should play, and always play a significant role in the development of
telecommunication infrastructure, thus paving the road to smartphone producing companies such as HTC.
ECONOMIC FACTORS
In the majority of the developing countries, the economic growth rate is currently higher than in developing, suggesting
that emerging markets are becoming more important for producers of electronic devices. On the other hand, the inflation
rate is tend to be much higher and exchange rates less stable while comparing with the developed countries,which can
become a problem for HTC Corp while operating there. One of the most important economic facts for HTC is the
exchange rate of Chinese currency, which is most probably going to appreciate, meaning the increase in the costs of the
goods produced.
While the quality of the creativity workers in Asia are permanently increasing and company seeks to decrease the costs,
HTC may choose to switch some of the R&D activities into developing Asian markets because of the future business
environment in this region.
LEGAL FACTORS
Low development of intellectual property defence infrastructure. The labour and environmental regulation is less strict
than in other countries
4. Porter's five forces analysis
Hill and Jones (2001) suggest that Porter's five forces can be a good opportunity for the
industry analysis and further development of business strategy. This analysis makes an
emphasis on main five forces which influence the degree of competitiveness and thus the

attractiveness of a market. There are three forces of horizontal competition forces, which are
threat of substitute products, the threat of established rivals, and the threat of new entrants
and two vertical competition forces, which are the bargaining power of suppliers in addition
to the bargaining power of customers (Haberberg and Rieple, 2001)
The following five forces analysis is based on the business and academic sources used in
PEST(L) analysis as well as one the information provided by HTC (annual and quarterly
reports, information for investors, shown in the references) and Harvard Business review
cases (Yoffie and Kim, 2009)
1. Threat of new entrants
Evidently, highly profitable markets with high returns and margins attract new competitors,
which can fatherly lead to even more competition and decreasing profits.
 The greater the differentiation of the smartphones and smartphones of HTC in
particular, the more likely it's access to a higher economic efficiency. The
differentiation of products is considered as high while comparing with Apple, Samsung
or RIM. However, this differentiation is often considered as redundant,
 There are huge barriers to entry related to the patents and rights, with the global markets
are shaken by the litigation between the main players. Entering this market requires the
precise of wide portfolio of patents (which should be bought), while seeking partnership
is an alternative. In this ways, Google Android OS is decreasing barriers, although,
hardware patents are still required
 Brand equity is still necessary for entering the market with high share. Apple, Nokia,
Samsung and HTC are all in top 100 brands
 The capital requirements, or, in other words, the amount of money a business needs for
its normal operations is permanently increasing, thus increasing the barriers for new
players
 Switching costs or sunk costs and access to distribution are increasing in a very big pace
 Customer loyalty to established brands is rather high in high-end segments, although
considered as more vulnerable comparing with other industries

 Industry profitability is still high, which means that market is still attractive and new
entrants will try to succeed using collaboration in order to share intellectual property
and other recourses and capabilities, also enjoin higher economies of scale
2. Threat of substitute products or services
The presence of the alternatives to the smartphones can become a considerable factor for
switching from smartphones. The main alternative here are Tablet Computers (iPad and
HTC Fly are examples). Although, as it was mentioned above, HTC is already in the market
of tablet computers
 Taking into account that smartphones market is still growing, the buyer propensity to
substitute (if the alternatives are reliable, suitable and convenient) is rather high
 The price performance of substitute and buyer switching costs are varying depending on
the customer profile
 There is an permanently increasing number and variation of Tablets available for the
customers, although the market is less mature than smartphone market
 For the considerable amount of current smartphone users Tables is not an alternative to
smartphone, but supplementary product, but there is a large amount of possible
customers who will be ready to use Tables as a substitution for smartphone for all the
purposes expect for texting and voice calls
3. Bargaining power of customers
The bargaining power of customers means that customers are able to put HTC under the
great pressure, and they are also price sensible
 There are three main customers, which are buying HTC's ODM (original design
manufacturer) production, which still has large share in company's total revenues
 The information about the products, including and the features and drawbacks, is
available online and every customer can make a preliminary research on what product
to buy
 Concerning the ODM production, buyer switching costs relative to firm switching costs
are high, but individual customers can switch products without any additional costs
 All the facts suggest that buyer's price sensitivity is high, but HTC can remain high-end
products by differentiating by quality, value proposes, in addition to high brand value
4. Bargaining power of suppliers
 The analysis of bargaining power of supplier’s should include the analysis of suppliers
of raw materials, but also means the power of suppliers of R&D activities and software
 HTC uses own strength to produce raw materials and hardware for smartphones
 There is a range of competition firms that will be able to replace the suppliers of raw
material to HTC
 Employee solidarity in traditional sense is low (no labour unions and liberal labour
regulation in China and Taiwan)
 However, unlike Apple, HTC is not full vertically integrated producer of smartphones,
since the OS is provided by outsiders, which are namely Google and Windows. But,
Google Android is still free software; thought the situation may change next 2-3 years.
5. Intensity of competitive rivalry
This factor is probably is the major determinant of the competitiveness of the industry.

 But, taking into account the increasing intensiveness of competition, the profit margin
are still high
 Innovation is still one of the main methods for creating competitive advantages
 The level of expenses on advertising are also increasing, meaning that the industry is
becoming closer to maturity stage
 Samsung and Apple increased the power of their different competitive strategy, which
was one of the main cause of HTC's sales failure in Q4, 2011
The Industry Life Cycle Analysis
The majority of the facts presented in the examination of the markets in different regions, as
well as PEST(L) and five forces analyses suggest that the industry is still in the growth
stage, however, some of the facts suggest that the industry has reached the mature stage or at
least close to this. This means that the entry barriers are increasing, while the products

require better value proposition and differentiation, they also require solid advertising and
marketing efforts.
5. Analysis of the company’s resources and competencies
While the external analysis studies the opportunities and threats that exist in the
environment, the analysis of the company’s resources and competencies help to understand
how the company can react to these opportunities and threats, as Grant (2002), as well as
M3Planning (2010) notes. Grant provides the framework for the analysis of both resources
and competencies, which are also visualised by M3Planning.
So, the analysis of resources is divided on the analysis on tangible and intangible and
demonstrated further. One point should be mentioned is that the main sources of information
for this analysis factual account were taken from the annual and quarter reports of HTC and
other information provided to possible investors, in addition to the analysis of some of the
facts presented in the analysis of external environment.
Physical Resources
HTC is truly a global company with the R&D and other centres situated in different parts of
Europe, US and Asia. While the company is headquartered in Taiwan, and some of the

production facilities are situated there, the main production facilities are in mainland China.
Such an approach to outsourcing (both R&D and production) allows keep costs low and
effectives high. To add, HTC also regularly upgrade its materials requirement planning
(mrp) system to "improve our ability to manage material inventories and anticipate future
demand in order to lower inventory costs and reduce inventory devaluation risks" HTC uses
its considerable cash stock to but the range of the software and hardware firms to increase
the strengths of their production line and research facilities, thus boosting the increase of the
value of physical resources (Writer, 2011)
Financial resources
As the result of 2011 and 2010 financial year, HTC held a considerable amount of cash and
cash flow (more than 3-5 billion US dollars) in order to fund the new R&D and marketing
efforts, as well as to spend on acquisitions of other firms to increase the overall
competencies and resources. HTC also has high ability to borrow funds or issue equity,
since company is enlisted in Taiwan Stock Exchange and has the one of the highest rank of
stability in the country. There are also the assists that can be sold, taking into account the
recent acquisitions (S3 Graphics, KKBox, Enquisitive Minds Inc and others), however, this
can be considered as the possible emergency measure. Concerning the working capital
management, HTC's asset allocation decisions prioritize security and fluidity, with the
majority of the funds allocated in time deposit accounts. For example during 2010, HTC
interest income in 310 million of Taiwan dollars. To add, HTC does not participate in any
high-risk ventures and highly leveraged investments. Loaning of funds is done only between
the subsidiaries of HTC and head office, where HTC acts as guarantor.
Intangible Resources
Capabilities & intellectual resources.
Since the beginning, HTC played the most of its attention to investing in-house R&D
capabilities. As the result, R&D employees account for almost 30% of HTC's headcount,
while the annual R&D investments regularly represent 4 to 6 percent of total revenues. HTC
became a truly innovators, with many devices were considered as "the first". The well-
established partnership with Microsoft and Google result in higher intellectual and
technological resources available for HTC, thus relational resources also influxes the
intellectual ones. But, the company wants to promote the intellectual resources even more,
with many companies are acquired to increase the patent and technological bases, as well as

to acquire the staff of the companies. Patent portfolio becomes the very important factors
because of the increasing tense of litigating regarding the patent infringement between the
main players on the market.
Human resources
According to the report of the company HTC regard HR as the most valuable assets taking
into account the high intellectual value of the market. HTC was able to promote a "unique
corporate culture that is designed to instil passion for innovation and commitment to the
highest standards", while “lack of barriers between departments promotes synergy and
dynamism even further”. This all suggest that HTC posses the large and effective Human
resources. The company has in recent years actively recruited the specialists in the sphere of
product design, user interface, brand promotion, and sales and marketing, many of them
came from Europe and North America, while the major part of them are working in their
country of origin in the R&D centres. HTC currently employing more than 13,000 staff
worldwide, the significant proportion of managerial and engineer position are held by non-
Taiwanese specialists.
Reputational assets and reputations established in other businesses. Relational assets
Well-developed and long-term cooperative relationships with Telecom Providers help using
long-term relationships with the world's largest mobile service provides that such as the four
big mobile operators in the United states, in addition five major operators in Europe and
some carriers in Asia are one of the factors of the growth of the sales, while the relationships
with American providers resulted in the fantastic growth and first place in the American
smartphone market. Partnership with Microsoft, Qualcomm and Google help to decrease the
costs while continuing to drive industry innovation in the sphere of hardware design.
Established brands
Despite of the fact that HTC's brand is less voluble than Apple, Nokia or Samsung, there are
some efforts to strengthen HTC brand, with "Quietly Brilliant" strategy spreads every aspect
of the HTC’s business. The main emphasis in the development of brand is done on
providing highly innovative products of highest value HTC's devices very often recognized
as the best or one of the best, while HTC was also recognized as tech Brand of the year.
However, more and more resources are spent on traditional advertising, although the focus
on PR and social network marketing remain stable.

Analysis of HTC’s competencies and capabilities is done according to the
recommendations of Grant (2002) and M3Planning (2010), so the following table and chart
were developed to visualise the findings.
Functional areas Competencies and capabilities
Code Importance
Relative
Strength
Corporate
Financial Management COR1 6 8
Overall company management COR2 7 6
R&D
Fast-cycle new product
development R1 7 9
Experience in developing
innovative products R2 8 8
Product Design
Design capability R3 9 8
Design of user-friendly interface
and software D1 8 7
Attractive design of hardware and
software D2 8 8
Manufacturing
Flexible production line, capacity MAN1 7 7
High quality of production (TQM) MAN2 8 9
Marketing
Market demands responding pace MAR1 7 8
Enhancing reputation of quality
and innovation MAR2 8 8
Level of customization MAR3 7 9
Brand equity management MAR3 9 6
Sales and
fulfilment
Supply chain and post-purchase
service S1 8 6
6, 8
7, 6
7, 9
8, 8 9, 8
8, 7
8, 8
7, 7
8, 9
7, 8 8, 8
7, 9
9, 68, 6
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Importance
Strength
Analysis of Capabilities of HTC
COR1
COR2
R1
R2
R3
D1
D2
MAN1
MAN2
MAR1
MAR2
MAR3
MAR3
S1

6. Analyses HTC Corp’s competitive position in the context to the environmental
analysis
One of the most prominent ways of assessing competitive position in the context to the
environmental analysis is Porter’s generic strategies methods, as Grant (2002) suggest.
According to this approach, there are mainly two dimensions in competitive advantage,
which are namely strategic scope and strategic strength, which create main three types of
strategies, which are namely cost leadership, differentiation and focus strategies. While
agreeing with the definition of Grant, Mind Tools (2012) add that, despite of common
misunderstanding, cost focus means “emphasizing cost-minimization within a focused
market”, and differentiation focus means “pursuing strategic differentiation within a focused
market”.
So, after the analysis of Grant's and Haberberg and Rieple's description of the types of
strategies, it can be concluded that HTC Corp attain its competitive position in the current
environmental analysis by implementing the Differentiation Strategy in the business
operation. This means that HTC offers products that are different from and more attractive
of the competitors. This is proved by the previously mentioned research, according to which
the smartphones of HTC are the second valued smartphones in the US market, falling just
several points behind the Apple's iPhone. So, this strategy requires that functionality,
features, as well as support and durability would be of higher value than offered by
competitors. Mind Tools (2012) notes that the adoption of this strategy required high class
R&D and innovation experiences, recourses and competencies, as well as the possession of
the qualities required to create and deliver high-quality products or services. The analysis of
HTC's resources and competencies demonstrated that HTC fully addresses these challenges.
However, the sales and marketing part of value chain is slightly less developed, meaning
that customers often do not understands to the full extend the benefits offered by the

differentiated offerings (and this can be compared by brilliant marketing value provided by
Apple).
(MarketingandSales activities of HTC are less effectivethanthe same activities doneby Apple)
Another way to analyze a company's competitive position in comparison to the offerings of
competitors and external environment is the Bowman's 'Strategy Clock' that considers the
competitive advantage of a company in relation to cost advantage or differentiation
advantage (Bowman and Faulkner, 1997; Marketing Teacher, 2012)
This leads to the creation of six core strategic options, which are Hybrid, Cost leader,
Segment specific, Differentiation and Focused Differentiation (high price high value),
Increased price & low value, Raise prices, Increased price & low value (only feasible in
monopoly) (Bowman and Faulkner, 1997). So, taking into account this, the offerings of
competitors can be analysed after all the facts of external and competition environment as

well as the HTC’s resources and competencies. Despite of the wide range of the products
that are offered by Samsung, they tend to be made according to the differentiation strategy
(cutting the share of the competitors by offering the high value for medium process), while
the strategy of Nokia is multidirectional and confusing because of the very wide range of the
products intended for different segments (this, by the way is one of the reasons of failing
sales during the last years – no clearly defined strategy), while Apple and HTC are mainly
considered as the implementers of Focused differentiation (while HTC also tend to provide
products for lower prices, especially on the market of unlocked phones).
So, both of the methods suggest that HTC uses the strategy of differentiation by very high
quality and innovative design and features, mainly providing high-end devices.
7. How HTC could uses its internal resources and competencies to develop a
competitive advantage in the new environment
As it was demonstrated previously, the market of smartphones was still on the stage of
growth (although, there are some sign that it is nearing the mature stage). This means that
there is a multi-option future in terms of the strategies adopted, meaning that the researchers
may draw some conclusion based on the past experience, but the results of adopting
particular alternatives is not clear (Grant, 2002). This ambiguity can be, however, hedged by
following various paths.
This features of current state of the smartphone market is fully utilized by Samsung, which
provides the largest amount of smartphones targeted to different audience, many of them are
considered as "Experimental moves" and "Minimum investments". They also use the
strategy of matching the competitors’ products/methods and using their advantages in the
economies of scale (the same parts are used in different models of smartphones). The

following illustration demonstrates the large amount of different smartphones provided by
Samsung:

One of the reason that why HTC had experienced such a decline in the sales during the Q4
of 2011 was losing the competitive advantage to Samsung because of improper selection of
the strategy, as the group believes. Introduction of the new models by both Samsung and
HTC created a situation when HTC started to shift from Focused differentiation to
Differentiation strategy, while Samsung could strengthen their position in each of the
targeted market. To add, while Samsung has clearly defined audience for each of the
smartphone model (even if it is not often true, the large number of the models in the general
suggests this conclusion), HTC has no clearly defined Flagship Model (while Samsung has –
this is Galaxy S II created as an alternative to iPhone and HTC high-end smartphones), all
eight offered products has almost the same features despite of the efforts of HTC marketing
division to created a differentiated brand for each model. So, the further focusing on
differentiation (thus, implementing truly focused differentiation) is suggested therefore.
HTC Sensation™ XLwith
BeatsAudio™NEW
Feel everysingle beat
HTC ExplorerNEW
The simplysmarter
phone
HTC RhymeNEW
Simplycomplementyour
life
HTC TITANNEW
Unlike anythingyou’ve
everheldbefore
HTC RadarNEW
Real-time close
HTC Sensation
A multimedia
superphone
HTC EVO 3D
Capture and view life in
3D - noglassesrequired
HTC Sensation™ XEwith
BeatsAudio™NEW
A mega-powerful,
multimediasuperphone
However, some experimental moves are also recommended. One example is the
development of cheap smartphone intended to emerging markets is a good opportunity to
increase the revenues of the corporation. Also, further acquisitions in the sphere of R&D are
recommended to strengthen the position of HTC during the process of permanent litigation

with the main competitors. The group believes that all the recommended strategic
alternatives are considered to be valuable and follow the RACES criteria (enough resources,
acceptable by stakeholders, coherent with rest of strategy, while being effective and
suitable).
8. Conclusion
In conclusion, the research and report preparations have clearly showed the importance of
the Corporate Strategy in the success of the company. It was also a good opportunity to
implement the received knowledge about the using tools and techniques that were previously
taught, especially concerning the external and internal environment, in addition to the ways
of determining how company positions itself in comparison to the competitors.

Group Contract
Group Membership
Family Name First Name ID Signature
1. Abdullayev Mukhammadsaid 00001181 _________
2. Pay Elena 00001175 _________
3. Kadirova Gavkhar 00001211 _________
4. Shamukhamedov Sanjar 00001229 _________
5. Mahmudov Asad 00001154 _________
Team Ground Rules and Guidelines
What are the general expectations for all members of the team?
We agree to:
1. Come to class.
2. Make sure that when we miss class that we contact the others in our group.
3. That we will work on group assignments collaboratively.
4. Switch roles per assignment.
5. Show up at meetings.
6. Complete assignments before group meetings.
7. Assist others having trouble with the assignments.
This group contract is binding upon all who sign it and is subject to change with prior
approval of all members of the group.
Expectations for Time Management and Involvement
(Participation, communication with the team,accessibility, etc.)
We agree to:
1. Share the contact information and keep in touch with each other
2. Review the job done during the meetings
3. Come to the meetings, only mitigating circumstances are accepted as the reason for not
comings
4. End the research stage of the group work at least one week before the deadline
Ensuring Fair and Even Contribution and Collaboration
(What strategy will you use to ensure that all team members are contributing and collaborating
appropriately? Describe the communication strategy you will use if a team member is not
contributing and collaborating effectively. How will the team manage conflicts between team
members?)
1. All the members should come to the meetings, log of meetings should be managed as well
2. All the members are encouraged to share their opinions and views on the main issues regarding
the coursework
3. The conflict resolution should be done as the result of face-to-face meetings with the help of other
members
4. The fair separation of the duties is expected,while the proper time management should ensure
providing all the necessary information in time
5. If any member of the group was free riding, or did not managed to do his or her part of duties, this
will be reflected in the log of group activities
By signing this contract we agree to be helpful for each other while trying to maintain the equal
contribution of each group member, be fair and honest in our group work

Log of group activity
Group Members
1 _00001181 2_00001175 3 00001211_ 4 00001229 5. 00001154
Meeting Date/Time: November 28
Attendees (or apologies for absence): All members
Next meeting Date/Time: December 7
Summary of conclusions reached and action for next meeting :
All the members share the contact information and started to prepare the presentation, 00001229 and
00001211 are responsible for presenting information, while 00001181 and 00001175 were doing
the visual parts. 00001154 agreed to keep the log of group activity
Group Members
1 _00001181 2_00001175 3 00001211_ 4 00001229 5. 00001154
Meeting Date/Time: December 7
Next meeting Date/Time: December 21
The research on external environment was decided to do first. 00001229 and 00001211 are
responsible for NA region, 00001175 and 00001181 for Europe, while 00001154 is responsible to do
the research on Asia and Rest of the world. 00001211 and 00001175 are responsible to compound
the findings in one text
Group Members
1 _00001181 2_00001175 3 00001211_ 4 00001229 5. 00001154
Meeting Date/Time: December 21
Next meeting Date/Time: January 10
The next step is Porter's five forces analysis, the following division of the duties was done:
1. Threat of new entrants - 00001175
2. Threat of substitute products or services - 00001211
3. Bargaining power of customers - 00001229
4. Bargaining power of suppliers - 00001154
5. Intensity of competitive rivalry – 00001181
00001154 and 00001229 are responsible for The Industry Life Cycle Analysis. 00001175 and
00001211 are responsible for composing all the gathered information in one text

Group Members
1 _00001181 2_00001175 3 00001211_ 4 00001229 5. 00001154
Meeting Date/Time: January 10
The next step was analysis of company’s resources and competencies. 00001181 were doing analysis
of physical resources and 00001175 have done the analysis of intangible Resources. 00001211 and
00001229 were doing the analysis of HTC’s competencies and capabilities, while 00001154 was
responsible to compound the text of the whole part
Group Members
1 _00001181 2_00001175 3 00001211_ 4 00001229 5. 00001154
In order to make an analysis of HTC Corp’s competitive position in the context to the environmental
analysis, 00001181 and 00001229 were done porter's analysis, while 00001154 was done Bowman's
approach. Every part (including the previous one) was combined by 00001175 and 00001211.
Group Members
1 _00001181 2_00001175 3 00001211_ 4 00001229 5. 00001154
All the member gathered to make an analysis of how HTC could uses its internal resources and
competencies to develop a competitive advantage in the new environment. 00001175 and 00001211
has rewritten all the text in accordance with one style, 00001229 has done visualization, 00001181
has re-written the bibliography part.

Individual reflections
Taking into account that group contract and log of group activities fully describes the
separation of the duties, it was decided that 00001229 will make a short interview with each
member of the group and identify the strengths and weaknesses that group possesses from the
member's point of view, and also suggest the improvements.
00001181
 PESTLE analysis was very strong
 Timetable is OK
 No clear group leader was confusing
Suggests better coordination of the group work
00001175
 The separation of the duties was rather fair
 Good time management
 Very strong references part
 Suggestions to HTC are weaker than description part
Suggest next time to make the better emphasis on the recommendation part
00001211
 Everyone done everything on time
 Very solid amount of sources of information
 No group leader, there were some cases when two members were done the same job
Suggests making clear that who is the leader and keep in touch with each member of the
group
00001229
 Early start of the work
 Very good PESTLE and Porte analysis
 Asia and ROW part should be more comprehensive (since these markets are
promising)
 Suggestion to HTC are linked with the analysis of environment
 Suggestion however could be more comprehensive
 Separation of the duties in general is fine, but there were cases of overlapping tasks
 Suggests making the recommendatory part separately and then combining, since this
approach proved to be effective
00001154
 High class time management
 Good use of academic and business sources of information
 Lack of the visual effects
 The report could be briefer
Suggest heavy implementation of visualization to make the report shorter and briefer

References:
Arthur C., 2011. Smartphones head to 'tipping point', available at:
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/jul/11/ios-android-blackberry-smartphone-
data>, viewed at January 26
AT&T, 2012. Telephone selection, available at: < http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-phone-
service/cell-phone-
details/?device=HTC+FUZE(TM)%20&q_sku=sku3090226#fbid=3tj715S02_H>, viewed at
January 26
Battele, 2010. Global R&D Forecast, available at: <
http://www.battelle.org/aboutus/rd/2011.pdf>, viewed at January 28
Block B., 2011. In Europe, Apple iOS Ecosystem Twice the Size of Android When
Accounting for Mobile Phones, Tablets and Other Connected Media Devices, available at:
<http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2011/4/In_Europe_Apple_iOS_E
cosystem_Twice_the_Size_of_Android_When_Accounting_for_Mobile_Phones_Tablets_a
nd_Other_Connected_Media_Devices>, viewed at January 26
Blankenhorn D., The Smartphone Market Could Be Topping Out. 2012, available at: <
http://seekingalpha.com/article/305358-the-smartphone-market-could-be-topping-out>,
viewed at January 28
Boris S., 2012. Internet Usage on Smartphones Continues to Climb, available at: <
http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2012/01/internet-usage-on-smartphones-continues-to-
climb.html>, viewed at January 28
Boose R., 2011. Want to ace the markets in 2012? Know your politics!, available at:
<http://www.firstpost.com/world/want-to-ace-the-markets-in-2012-know-your-politics-
133700.html>, viewed at January 28
Burfisher M. and Robinson S., 2001. The Impact of NAFTA on the United States, The
Journal of Economic Perspectives, 15(1): pp. 125-144
Cha B., 2011. Nokia R&D dreams up mind-bending tech, available at:
<http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57334194-1/nokia-r-d-dreams-up-mind-bending-
tech/>, viewed at January 26
Cooper M, 2011. Pitch for Rebuilding Infrastructure Carries Political Challenges, available
at: <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/25/us/politics/25build.html>, viewed at January 28
Chapman G., 2012. Nokia declares war in US smartphone market, available at: <
http://news.yahoo.com/nokia-declares-war-us-smartphone-market-
032620430.htmlcomScore, 2012. >, viewed at January 26
Culpan T. and Miller H., 2011. HTC Takes Lead in U.S. Smartphone Market as Apple, RIM
Decline, available at: < http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-01/htc-smartphone-sales-
top-u-s-market-as-rim-sinks-canalys-says.html>, viewed at January 26

comScore Reports March 2010 U.S. Mobile Subscriber Market Share, available at:
<http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2010/5/comScore_Reports_Marc
h_2010_U.S._Mobile_Subscriber_Market_Share>, viewed at January 26
Clip D., 2009. Smartphone and iPhone Demographics from Nielsen, available at: <
http://bitbriefs.amplify.com/2009/09/20/smartphone-and-iphone-demographics-from-
nielsen/>, viewed at January 28
Cohen H., 2011. 9 Experts Choose 2011’s Top Marketing Events & Campaigns, available
at: <http://heidicohen.com/9-experts-choose-2011-top-marketing-events-campaigns/>,
Council of European Union, 2008. Consolidated versions of Treaty on European Union and
of Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, available at:
<http://register.consilium.europa.eu/pdf/en/08/st06/st06655.en08.pdf>, viewed at January 26
DailyTech, 2011. China is Now the World's Largest Smartphone Market, available at: <
http://www.dailytech.com/China+is+Now+the+Worlds+Largest+Smartphone+Market/articl
e23354.htm>, viewed at January 26
Dediu H., 2011. Nokia employs as many people to develop its smartphone software as
Apple does to develop all its products, available at: <
http://www.asymco.com/2011/02/04/nokia-employs-as-many-engineers-for-symbian-and-
meego-as-apple-does-for-all-its-product-lines/>, viewed at January 28
Disanto L., 2011. Sensor-based mobile apps show how mHealth business models could
work, available at: <http://www.research2guidance.com/mhealth-market-sensor-based-
mobile-apps-show-how-mhealth-business-models-could-work/>, viewed at January 26
Congress of the United States, 2011. The Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2011
to 2021, available at: < http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/120xx/doc12039/01-
26_fy2011outlook.pdf>, viewed at January 28
Dülffer M., 2007. Populism in Europe, available at:
<http://www.eurotopics.net/en/home/presseschau/archiv/magazin/politik-
erteilerseite/populismus_2007_10/debatte_populismus_2007_10/>, viewed at January 26
Hansen W., 1990. The International Trade Commission and the Politics of Protectionism,
The American Political Science Review, 84(1):pp. 21-46
Fredoom House, 2012. United States - free country, available at:
<http://www.freedomhouse.org/country/united-states>, viewed at January 28
Falksohn S., 2006. A Tired Continent of Crises, available at:
<http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,415188,00.html>, viewed at January 26
Gallagher K, 2011. Trading Away Stability and Growth: United States Trade Agreements in
Latin America, available at:
<http://www.peri.umass.edu/fileadmin/pdf/working_papers/working_papers_251-
300/WP266.pdf>, viewed at January 28

Eggerton J., 2010. FCC Broadband Plan: Commission Sets 2015 Spectrum Deadline,
available at: <http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/450261-
FCC_Broadband_Plan_Commission_Sets_2015_Spectrum_Deadline.php>, viewed at
January 28
Economy Watch, 2012. North America Economy, available at: <
http://www.economywatch.com/world_economy/north-american/>, viewed at January 28
Ersson S. and Lane J.-E., 1983. Political Stability in European Democracies. European
Journal of Political Research, 11:pp.245–264.
Euromoney Institutional Investor, 2011. Euromoney Country Risk: The latest word in
country risk, available at: <http://www.euromoney.com/Article/2773904/Euromoney-
Country-Risk-The-latest-word-in-country-risk.html>, viewed at January 26
EUROPA, 2011. Treaties and Law, available at:
<http://europa.eu/abc/treaties/index_en.htm>, viewed at January 26
European Paliament, 2006. EU Battlegroup Concep, available at:
<http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2004_2009/documents/dv/091006eubattlegroups
_/091006eubattlegroups_en.pdf>, viewed at January 26
Ertel M. and Muller P., 2011. Rise of Populist Parties Pushes Europe to the Right, available
at: <http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,758883,00.html>, viewed at January
26
Ernst & Young, 2011. Ernst & Young Eurozone Forecast - Winter 2011, available at:
<http://www.ey.com/GL/en/Issues/Business-environment/EUROZONE-COUNTRY>,
Euro Rate Forecast, 2012. Euro Rate Forecast. available at:
<http://www.eurorateforecast.com/>, viewed at January 26
Euroeconomics, 2011. INFLATION, available at:
<http://www.euroeconomics.eu.com/inflation_variables.htm>, viewed at January 26
European Travel Commision, 2012. Europe, Mobile Devices, Mobile / Smartphones,
available at: <http://www.newmediatrendwatch.com/regional-overview/103-
europe?start=4>, viewed at January 26
European Schoolnet, 2005. Safety issues - Mobile phones, available at:
<http://old.saferinternet.org/ww/en/pub/insafe/safety_issues/faqs/mobile_phones.htm>,
E-forecasting.com, 2011. US Economic Forecasts by e-forecasting, available at:
<http://www.e-forecasting.com/US_Economic_Forecasts.htm>, viewed at January 28
Eurostat, 2012. Telecommunication statistics, available at:
<http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/Telecommunication_statisti
cs>, viewed at January 26

EC, 2011. Intellectual property, available at:
<http://ec.europa.eu/youreurope/business/competing-through-innovation/protecting-
intellectual-property/index_en.htm>, viewed at January 26
Europe-Patents.com, 2011. Frequently Asked Questions, available at: <http://www.europe-
patents.com/europe_patent_trademark_questions.html>, viewed at January 26
EurActiv, 2009. R&D expenditures in Europe and the US, available at:
<http://www.euractiv.com/science/rd-expenditures-europe-us/article-180737>, viewed at
January 26
EPA, 2012. Laws and Executive Orders, available at: <
http://www.epa.gov/lawsregs/laws/index.html>, viewed at January 28
EPO, 2012a. The European Patent Convention, available at: <http://www.epo.org/law-
practice/legal-texts/html/epc/2010/e/ar2.html>, viewed at January 26
EPO, 2012 b. The European Patent Convention, available at: <http://www.epo.org/law-
practice/legal-texts/html/epc/2010/e/ar14.html>, viewed at January 26
Hong Kong Trade Development Council, 2008. Guide to Doing Business with EU -
Germany, UK, France & Italy, Overview of EU Trade PolicyEuropean Communities, 2009.
Federal Communications Commission, 2012. National Broadband Plan, Executive
Summary, available at: < http://www.broadband.gov/plan/executive-summary/>, viewed at
January 28
Financial Forecast Center, 2012a. U.S. Real GDP Growth Forecast, available at:
<http://www.forecasts.org/gdprealgrowth.htm>, viewed at January 28
Financial Forecast Center, 2012b. U.S. Inflation Rate Forecast, available at:
<http://www.forecasts.org/economic-indicator/inflation.htm>, viewed at January 28
Friedman S. and Taylor L., 1997. Basics of Itellectual Property Law in U.S., available at: <
http://www.shk-dplc.com/cfo/articles/copyrite.htm>, viewed at January 28
Jerome B and Jerome-Speziary L., 2011. Forecasting The 2012 US Presidantial Election.
What Can We Learn From a State Level Political Economy Model, available at:
<http://pubchoicesoc.org/papers_2011/Jerome_Jerome-Speziari.pdf>, viewed at January 28
Johns A., 2011. Foreign Policy and the 2012 Presidential Election, available at:
<http://www.shafr.org/2011/06/06/3235/>, viewed at January 28
Huss J., 2011. The potential dangers of electromagnetic fields and their effect on the
environment, available at:
<http://assembly.coe.int/main.asp?link=/documents/workingdocs/doc11/edoc12608.htm>,
Global Economic Research, 2012. Foreign Exchange Outlook, available at:
<http://www.gbm.scotiabank.com/English/bns_econ/fxout.pdf>, viewed at January 26

HTC, 2012. Company background. available at: <
http://www.htc.com/www/about/#mission>, viewed at January 26
Hardy, I., 2012. Infographic: Current smartphone patent infringement cases, available at: <
http://mobilesyrup.com/2012/01/24/infographic-current-smartphone-patent-infringement-
cases/>, viewed at January 28
Ghittis F., 2010. World Citizen: The Threat to Political Stability in U.S., Europe, available
at: <http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/6937/world-citizen-the-threat-to-political-
stability-in-u-s-europe>, viewed at January 26
Information Tech, 2010. IDC sees 2011 smartphone market growing 50 pct, available at: <
http://www.rdmag.com/News/FeedsAP/2011/03/information-tech-idc-sees-2011-
smartphone-market-growing-50-pct/>, viewed at January 28
iT.Grunts, 2012. Intel to enter Smartphone Market with its Processor, available at: <
http://www.itgrunts.com/2012/01/11/intel-to-enter-smartphone-market-with-its-processor/>,
Industry Canada, 2012. National Political Infrastructure and Foreign Direct Investment,
available at: <http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/eas-aes.nsf/eng/ra01909.html>, viewed at January
28
ITU, 2011. Global ICT Developments, available at: <http://www.itu.int/ITU-
D/ict/statistics/ict/index.html>, viewed at January 26
Kalba K., 2008. The Global Adoption and Diffusion of Mobile Phones, available at: <
http://pirp.harvard.edu/pubs_pdf/kalba/kalba-p08-1.pdf>, viewed at January 28
Lee S. and Lee S., 2011. Diffusion of Smartphone in Global Telecommunication Markets,
available at:
<http://www.ptc.org/ptc12/images/papers/upload/PTC12_Tues_T6_Sangwon%20Lee.pdf>,
Livven A., 2012. A Lack Of Vision: HTC’s Two-Year Growth Stops, available at: <
http://www.xda-developers.com/feature/a-lack-of-vision-htcs-two-year-growth-stops/>,
Lewis, 2011. ZTE sees China, U.S. key smartphone markets, available at: <
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/17/us-zte-idUSTRE80G0I620120117>, viewed at
January 26
Lagarde C., 2012. IMF cites eurozone debt in lowering 2012 growth forecast, available at:
<http://www.france24.com/en/20120124-imf-cites-eurozone-debt-budget-cuts-lowering-
2012-growth-forecast-international-monetary-fund>, viewed at January 26
Lee T., 2011. Apple sues Samsung over tablet and smartphone casings, claims patent
infringement (Updated), available at: < http://www.ubergizmo.com/2011/12/apple-sues-
samsung-over-smart-cover-patent-infringements/>, viewed at January 28

Lin C., Tung, C., and Huang C., 2006. Elucidating the industrial cluster effect from a system
dynamics perspective, Technovation, 26(4): pp: 473-482,
Licari A. and Appeddu A., 2012. Economic Scenario Generator: A Case Study on
Conditional Simulations for Future Eurozone Inflation, available at:
<http://www.economy.com/home/products/samples/Economic_Scenario_Generator_Final_F
ormatted.pdf>, viewed at January 26
Kelly M., 2010. Smartphones: the new frontier for physicians, available at: <
http://www.pharmaphorum.com/2010/10/12/smartphones-the-new-frontier-for-physicians/>,
Krummenacker M., 2000. Are "Intellectual Property Rights" Justified?, available at: <
http://www.n-a-n-o.com/ipr/extro2/extro2mk.html>, viewed at January 28
Martin G., 2011. RISING SUCCESS OF POPULIST PARTIES ROILS POLITICS
ACROSS EUROPE, available at: <http://www.europeaninstitute.org/EA-July-2011/rising-
success-of-small-populist-parties-envenoms-politics-across-europe.html>, viewed at January
26
Murphy C, 2011. British political populism risks conflict with Europe over human rights
court, available at: <http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2011/feb/17/british-populism-europe-
human-rights>, viewed at January 26
Mearsheimer J., 1990. Back to the Future: Instability in Europe after the Cold War, available
at: <http://smp.fsv.cuni.cz/Mearsheimer.pdf>, viewed at January 26
McNaughtonM., 2011. Half of US Smartphone Users Access Social Networks Daily via
Mobile, available at: < http://therealtimereport.com/2011/06/30/half-of-us-smartphone-
users-access-social-networks-daily-via-mobile/>, viewed at January 28
Moderandi Inc, 2012. Competitive Positioning available at: <
http://www.marketingmo.com/strategic-planning/competitive-positioning/>, viewed at
January 26
Mind Tools, 2012. Porter's Generic Strategies, available at: <
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newSTR_82.htm>, viewed at January 26
Marketing Teacher, 2012, The Strategy Clock: Bowman's Competitive Strategy Options,
available at: < http://marketingteacher.com/lesson-store/lesson-bowman.html>, viewed at
January 26
M3Planning, 2010. Internal and External Analysis, available at: <
http://mystrategicplan.com/resources/internal-and-external-analysis/>, viewed at January 26
Mucci J., 2011. As phones get smarter, we can work them harder, available at:
<http://www.smh.com.au/travel/traveller-tips/as-phones-get-smarter-we-can-work-them-
harder-20110310-1bper.html#ixzz1kx5coQAA>, viewed at January 26

McNamara M., 2010. U.S. Employee Laws, available at: <
http://managementhelp.org/businesslaw/employee-laws/index.htm>, viewed at January 28
Natural Resources Defense Council, 2012. ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS & TREATIES,
available at: <http://www.nrdc.org/reference/laws.asp>, viewed at January 28
NYTimes, 2012. Economic Crisis and Market Upheavals, Recent Developments, available
at: <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/c/credit_crisis/index.html>,
Nokia, 2006. Life Cycle of Mobile Phone, available at:
<http://ec.europa.eu/environment/ipp/pdf/nokia_mobile_05_04.pdf>, viewed at January 26
Nokia, 2012a. Nokia Research Center 25th Anniversary, available at:
<http://research.nokia.com/nrc25>, viewed at January 26
Nokia, 2012b. NRC, Locations, available at: <http://research.nokia.com/locations>, viewed
at January 26
The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited, 2012a. The Political Instability Index, available
at: <http://viewswire.eiu.com/site_info.asp?info_name=social_unrest_table&page=noads>,
The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited, 2012b. Democracy index 2011. Democracy under
stress, available at:
<http://www.sida.se/Global/About%20Sida/S%C3%A5%20arbetar%20vi/EIU_Democracy_
Index_Dec2011.pdf>, viewed at January 28
Office of the United States Trade Repressentative, 2012. North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA), available at: <http://www.ustr.gov/trade-agreements/free-trade-
agreements/north-american-free-trade-agreement-nafta>, viewed at January 28
Villarreal M.A., 2010. NAFTA and the Mexican Economy, available at:
<http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL34733.pdf>, viewed at January 28
Steinberg R., 1997. Trade-Environment Negotiations in the EU, NAFTA, and WTO:
Regional Trajectories of Rule Development, The American Journal of International Law,
91(2): pp. 231-267
TheHuffingtonPost.com, 2012. Barack Obama 2012 Campaign Officially Launches,
available at: <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/04/barack-obama-2012-
campaign_n_844221.html>, viewed at January 28
Tilton A., 2011. The Outlook for the US Economy by Goldman, Sachs & Co, available at:
<http://www2.goldmansachs.com/gsam/docs/fundsgeneral/general_education/economic_and
_market_perspectives/wp_economic_outlook.pdf>, viewed at January 28
Pradhan M., 2011. The Confluence of Liquidity and Macro Policies, available at:
<http://www.morganstanley.com/views/gef/>, viewed at January 28

Regan M. and Nazareth R., 2012. U.S. Stocks Retreat After GDP Trails Estimates as
Treasuries, Euro Advance, available at: <http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-
27/asian-stocks-end-two-day-rally-on-slowing-economy-earnings-won-weakens.html>,
Shell A., 2012. Market strategists predict stocks up over 10% in 2012, available at:
<http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/stocks/story/2011-12-20/stock-targets-for-
2012/52130104/1>, viewed at January 28
The Nielsen Company, Generation App: 62% of Mobile Users 25-34 own Smartphones,
available at: < http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/generation-app-62-of-
mobile-users-25-34-own-smartphones/>, viewed at January 28
Reuters, 2012. Samsung to report Q4; eyes on smartphone sales, spending plans, available
at: < http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/26/samsung-idUSL4E8CQ2LK20120126>,
Sher P. Young T., 2004. The effects of innovative capabilities and R&D clustering on ﬁrm
performance: the evidence of Taiwan’s semiconductor industry, available at: <
http://www2.egi.ua.pt/cursos_2003/files/tee/aula%207_%20paper_effects%20of%20innovat
ive%20capabilities%20and%20firm%20performance.pdf>, viewed at January 28
Smith A., 2011. Smartphone Adoption and Usage, available at:
<http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/Smartphones/Section-1.aspx>, viewed at January 28
Reichman J. and Uhlir P., 2003. A Contractually Reconstructed Research Commons for
Scientific Data in a Highly Protectionist Intellectual Property Environment, Law and
Contemporary Problems 66(2): pp,315-462
Picks G., 2011. Labor Laws and Employment Laws, available at: <
http://jobsearchtech.about.com/od/laborlaws/Labor_Laws_and_Employment_Laws.htm>,
Read R., 2011. U.S. International Trade Commission endorses SolarWorld's case against
China, available at:
<http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2011/12/solarworld.html>, viewed at
January 28
Ricknäs M., 2012. Kodak sues HTC, Apple over patent infringement, available at: <
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2012/011112-kodak-sues-htc-apple-over-
254778.html>, viewed at January 28
The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited, 2007. Social unrest, available at:
<http://viewswire.eiu.com/site_info.asp?info_name=social_unrest_table&page=noads&rf=0
>, viewed at January 26
OECD 2000, The European Union’s Trade Policies and their Economic Effects, available at:
<http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/16/16/1886277.pdf>, viewed at January 26

Parussini P., 2011. OECD Cuts 2012 US GDP Growth Forecast, Sees Recession In Euro
Zone, available at: <http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20111128-702755.html>, viewed
at January 26
SignalTrend, 2012. Euro to USD Rate Forecast, available at: <http://www.forecast-
chart.com/usd-euro.html>, viewed at January 26
Oxlade A., 2012. Interest rates predictions: When will the UK bank rate rise again?,
available at: <http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-1607881/Interest-rates-
News-predictions.html#ixzz1kwxP6BBH>, viewed at January 26
Online Marketing Trends, 2010. Europe Mobile Users Demographics, available at:
<http://www.onlinemarketing-trends.com/2011/03/europe-mobile-usage-
demographics.html>, viewed at January 26
Ricker T., 2011. Visualized: Nokia R&D spending, almost 3 times its peers, available at:
<http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/03/visualized-nokia-randd-spending-almost-3-times-its-
peers/>, viewed at January 26
Publicservice, 2011. Hahn: R&D spending key to recovery, available at:
<http://www.publicserviceeurope.com/article/287/hahn-randd-spending-key-to-recovery>,
Srivastava M. and ben-Aaron D., 2011. Nokia Rethinks R&D Spending, available at:
<http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/feb2011/tc20110214_758033.htm>,
van Pottelsberghe L., 2009. Lost property: The European patent system and why it doesn't
work, Bruegel Blueprint Series>, viewed at January 26
O'Brien K., 2010. Nokia Sues Apple for Patent Infringement in Europe, available at:
<http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/17/technology/17nokia.html>, viewed at January 26
Rasmussen P., 2011. Huawei sues ZTE for patent infringement in Europe, available at:
<http://www.fiercewireless.com/europe/story/huawei-sues-zte-patent-infringement-
europe/2011-04-29#ixzz1kxWwDvbL>, viewed at January 26
Sprint, 2012. available at: <
http://shop.sprint.com/mysprint/shop/phone_wall.jsp?filterString=htc&isDeeplinked=true&
ECID=SEM:Google:C:Sprint:HTC>, viewed at January 26
T-Mobile, 2012. available at: < http://www.t-
mobile.com/shop/phones/Default.aspx?manufacturer=86adde20-8e79-4032-9caa-
f383553a74da&cm_mmc_o=Vzbp+mwzygt*VAygtzlw*VyBpAgf+mA55Byf*VyBpAgf+m
A55Byf>, viewed at January 26
Slivka E., 2010. iPhone Snags 60% of Japanese Smartphone Market, available at: <
http://www.macrumors.com/2010/10/29/iphone-snags-60-of-japanese-smartphone-market/>,

Pluggdin, 2010. In India, Apple Makes it’s presence felt – WAP impressions Increases
Pluggdin, 2012. available at: < http://www.pluggd.in/multi-sim-market-share-in-india-
297/>, viewed at January 26
Vladeck D., 2012. About the Bureau of Consumer Protection, available at: <
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/about.shtm>, viewed at January 28
Verizon, 2012. Telephone selection, available at: < http://www.wirefly.com/verizon-
wireless/?r=wirefly_google&eid=vzw_cell_phone_b&gclid=CLCLgaK0-
q0CFYRG3godaV8hrQ>, viewed at January 26
Yoffie S. and Kim R., 2009. HTC Corp. in 2009 ,available at: <
http://www.nima.nl/fileadmin/user_upload/Downloads/Qualification_Overig/Oude_examen
s/NIMAC1_examencase_13042010_.pdf>, viewed at January 26
Writer S., 2011. HTC ponders more acquisitions to boost brand name, available at: <
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2011/10/14/2003515666>, viewed at
January 26
Whitney L., 2011. Samsung outshines Apple in smartphone shipments, market share
available at: < http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57318644-37/samsung-outshines-apple-
in-smartphone-shipments-market-share/>, viewed at January 26
Wald M., 2011. Panel Says Chinese Imports Hurt U.S. Solar Firms, available at: <
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/03/business/energy-environment/chinese-imports-hurt-us-
solar-companies-trade-commission-says.html>, viewed at January 28
Weiler L. and Kocjan M., 2005. The Law of European Union. available at:
<http://centers.law.nyu.edu/jeanmonnet/eu/Units/documents/UNIT1-2-EU-2004-05.pdf>,
What is Europe’s trade policy, available at:
<http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2009/may/tradoc_143154.pdf>, viewed at January 26
Wilen, H., 2008, R&D Expenditure and Personnel available at:
<http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_OFFPUB/KS-SF-08-091/EN/KS-SF-08-091-
EN.PDF>, viewed at January 26
Books:
Bowman, C. and Faulkner, D. (1997), Competitive and Corporate Strategy, Irwin, London
Grant R (2002) Contemporary Strategy Analysis, 4th Ed., Blackwell
Haberberg A & Rieple A (2001) The Strategic Management of Organisations, FT Prentice
Hall
Hill C & Jones G (2001) Strategic Management: An Integrated Approach, 5th ed., Houghton
and Mifflin

Taiwanese manufacture HTC Corp

Recomendados

Recomendados

Mais conteúdo relacionado

Mais procurados

Mais procurados (20)

Semelhante a Taiwanese manufacture HTC Corp

Semelhante a Taiwanese manufacture HTC Corp (20)

Mais de Miraziz Bazarov

Mais de Miraziz Bazarov (20)

Último

Último (20)

Taiwanese manufacture HTC Corp