Nikon and the global digital camera industry

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Table of Contents

Introduction. 3

Discussion. 3

Conclusion. 17

References. 19

Appendices. 22

ANALITYCAL FRAMEWORKS. 2

Introduction

The purpose of this report is to address the five (5) questions of the assessment criteria as required by the Module Leader on Nikon and the global digital camera industry. Each question will be addressed based on information obtained from background research, seminar information and material as instructed to be used.

The report is structure as recommended by the Module Leader, addressing the assessment criteria flowing from the introduction, through each question, then conclusion, references and final the appendices

Discussion

1.      An analysis of the international business strategies pursued by Nikon over the years as a competitor in the global digital camera Industry

International I business strategies for large firms refer to the protocols that govern commercial transactions between entities in disparate countries. Usually, the global  business strategy is deployed by the enterprises of private companies rather than the governments with the goal of yielding higher profits within a highly competitive environment Nikon, a large company in the digital camera industry , has gone global and has divided its operations in six distinct regions: Africa , Americas, Oceania, Middle East, Asia , and Europe . Furthermore, the products have additionally been grouped into precision equipment, imaging products, instruments like microscopes, sports optics like telescopes and binoculars, and ophtha lmic lenses (Nikon, 2017). Nikon is a big name in the digital camera industry. Nikon is a Japan based brand and has many competitors to compete with in any market. Nikon have expanded over the years in different regions and markets. India was one of the regions included. While every time Nikon had to expand, it had to face a various issues too that included grey market issues in India. Nikon was a late contestant and players like Sony, Canon, Kodak and Samsung had officially settled themselves as key players in the Indian advertise. To set up itself in the Indian showcase, Nikon needed to contend with these set up players. Aside from this, the nearness of dim market was a genuine sympathy toward Nikon (King, 2015).

Nikon’s own items were generally being sold in the dark market at much lower costs. Regardless of whether Nikon would have the capacity to effectively battle dark advertise issue in India was yet to be seen. With a workforce of around 26,125 representatives, situated in Japan, Nikon Corporation has been a standout amongst the most trustworthy organization required in imaging items (56.9%), exactness gear (33.2%), and instruments (7.8%) (Nikon, 2017).  An examination of Nikon’s international strategy elucidates how the company seeks to gain an advantage over its competitors such as Canon and Samsung, among several others. Nikon has produced high-quality products, which has enhanced the company’s positive within the competitive global environment within the digital camera industry, which is why Nikon products do have a competitive advantage over its competitors. The main strategy Nikon has deployed in the international market is the diversification of its products (Tarcy et al., 2000 : 52). Nikon has been in the market since 90 years, and has its branches in Europe, America, Japan and India. It has been ceaselessly enhancing photography, imaging and the optics business towards the request prerequisites of their clients. With the advancement of IT and quickly evolving advances, Nikon has actualized e-business systems by means of the setting up of sites situated in USA, Europe and Japan. Nonetheless, Nikon’s effective distribution network presents-the–opportunity for Nikon to examine and assess the market dynamics and respond in a celeritous manner prior to competitors gaining a competitive position in the digital camera industry (Nikon, 2017). The global presence of Nikon is further strengthened by the company balancing various currencies, which enables the firm to absorb the shock of when currencies depreciate in the locales that they are operating in (Tarcy et al., 2000: 71). The company’s global presence is also significant because Nikon is able to transfer products from the various regions in order to better promote the company’s business. Indeed, Nikon has both a regional and presence that helps the organization study and analyze the dynamics of each region and appropriate the most optimal strategy.  Nikon also implemented particular aims which enable its subsidiaries to shift products to other markets if certain products are purchased at a slower region in a certain locale. Doing so has enabled Nikon to save on production and yield higher profits in a different consumer market that purchases Nikon products at a much higher and more celeritous pace. What must be mostly discussed pertaining the strategy marketing of Nikon at a global scale is the company’s a-business strategies and marketing capacities which have helped the company remain at the apex of competition.  Due to the fact that technologies are continually changing and innovating, Nikon has deployed cogent a­ business strategies by setting up webpage in Europe, Japan, and the United States, among several other countries in important rising internet platforms has unequivocally enhanced Nikon’s marketing strategies within the global market. The websites function as meaningful platforms for consumers to have access to seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day.  Moreover, Nikon disseminates a broad swath of data and information about its products online, and the inconstantly updated as the products continue to be developed and innovate (Nikon, Fact Book). The website includes the history of the company, corporate and strategies statements, financial information, organizational profiles, and other pertinent information aimed towards enhancing Nikon as a brand on an international scale. Consumers retain the capacity to procure specification and information about a new camera instantly online, but, unlike examining and buy a camera in a shot, they will not be able to actually touch or see the product in the flesh.

An analysis of the innovations that have characterized the global digital camera Nikon marketers have categorized its products to suit all target markets. One example is the Nikon XD on the global market, which called for an examination of the geographical segments min relation to this style of camera because it was launched (Nikon, Fact Book). Such products are launched on an idiosyncratic basis according to the idiosyncrasies of particular regional markets. Furthermore, Nikon uses a recyc1ing system known as “E-Price,” which usually prices newer cameras online in a competitive manner because the company takes into consideration that no other staff and stores costs should be included. It is of paramount importance that Nikon strategy has incorporated an e-marketing mix for its online marketing and advertising strategy. It is this nuanced strategy that has garnered more consumers for Nikon despite the presence of still competition. Through the diversification of product and Nikon’s embrace of e-marketing, Nikon has achieved a high level of success in the global market due to the fact that it has embraced an e-business strategy (Oliver, 1997). Unfortunately, one weakness that must be addressed is he general resistance to change that has hitherto hampered the company’s role in the global market.

“Innovation is sometime defined as recombination of resources without the right kind of resources and capabilities innovation will not be materialized.” (Surja et al., 2016).

According to Grant and Tidd (2015) innovation is the process of creating value from ideas .To create va lue there will be changes in a product or services, or how the product or service is created and delivered , the context or the market for the product or service or changes  to the business model of the product or service.

Digital photography has its roots in the video camera industry and television, with the capturing of images without the use of film.  Prior to the digital age, these video cameras were analog, using a variance in voltage to show the relative lightness or darkness, gathered line by line of resolution to create and image (Cicala 2014).  Nikon reports another item one to two months before discharging it, enabling shoppers the alternative to sit tight for the as good as ever model. D-Movie Mode with sound: Record 720p HD motion picture cuts upgraded by NIKKOR compatible focal point quality and adaptability offers the most bleeding edge optical items in both the business and purchaser showcase.

This never leaves their client in the position of feeling their buy was outdated (Grant, 2011). In the event that cameras and adornments were the enter sections in simple circumstances, the arrangement of the imaging business has turned out to be significantly more extensive as an aftereffect of the advanced changes. Figure 1 demonstrates a four-layer model of bland building development is suggested that clarify free couplings between distinctive layers of computerized advancements (Ozlem, 2002). An essential outcome of digitalization of items is the development of a non specific model of advanced administration engineering with four layers: gadgets, systems, administration, and substance. The gadget layer is additionally separated into physical apparatus furthermore, legitimate gadget OS that gives sensible scripts that control the equipment gadget. The system layer is additionally isolated into the physical transport layer and the coherent transmission layer. The administration layer manages application programs that furnish straightforwardly communicate with clients as they make, control, store and expend distinctive substance. Utilizing the administration layer, clients can tune in to music, send and, get messages, read books, watch recordings, and get route data. At long last, the substance layer incorporates genuine information, for example, writings, sounds, pictures, and recordings. The substance layer likewise contains an abundance of meta-information including possession, copyright, encoding strategies, content labels, and geo-time stamps which all can be basic in conveying the administration. This kind of design stack is not new with PC and system innovations (Dunning, 1998). What is new here is that with expanding digitalization of beforehand non-computerized items and administrations, this four-layered design perspective of digitalized administration has turned out to be all the more extensively appropriate for a wide range of digitalized items

In terms of performance, the Kodak prototype 0.01 mega pixels, the standard measurement of resolution, and took 23 seconds to download the digital image onto a tape for storage. The camera consisted of an awkward body and lens from a movie camera with a suitcase sized storage device. The camera was the size of a small toaster. In 1991 the Kodak technology was married to a Nikon SLR (Single lens Reflex) camera for the first commercially available digital camera.  The Nikon SLR was accompanied by a small suitcase sized digital recorder (floppy disk drives) and boasted a 1.6 megapixel resolution, with a staggering retail price of $13,000.00 US (Cicala 2014).  This was the official start to the digital revolution in cameras and the beginning of the end for film.  This was a disruptive innovation event and signaled a paradigm shift in how photographs would be taken in the future.

The innovation from film to digital was the major disruptive change in the camera industry.  This is also referred to as a radical change and represents a paradigm shift in the path of innovation (Henderson and Clark 1990).  The scope of the change is a drastic change in the manner in which photographs are captured and reproduced.

The advent of digital photography abandoned the nearly one hundred and fifty year old method of exposing the film through the lens, to capturing the image digitally and storing it on some form of digital media for reproduction through a printer or viewing on a computer or similar device.  The elimination of the intermediary medium of the film and the requirement to process the film meant that even the 23 seconds required by the first Kodak digital camera was orders of magnitude faster than the use of film.  It also meant that the pictures could be transmitted digitally. Even the introduction of the first commercially available digital camera by Nikon, did not represent this radical innovation. It was a refinement of the Kodak digital camera prototype from 1975, albeit a commercial model that was designed for retail sales. However, the essence of the digital camera was the same(Henderson and Clark 1990)…………………………………………………………….continued