Imagine being able to
completely customize your cell phone. And no, I don’t mean being able to choose
the color case you want to put on your iPhone so that it stands out in the sea
of iPhones. I mean being able to choose everything, from the display size of
your screen to the size of your camera, from the amount of storage internally
or externally to the size of the battery. A new company, called Phonebloks, is
working tirelessly to make a phone like this possible.
This past week in my
marketing class, a group of students did a presentation on a chapter of our
textbook that covered how to develop new products and manage their product life
cycle. There are eight crucial steps to the New-Product Development Process.
These steps include:
1.
Idea Generation
2.
Idea Screening
3.
Concept
Development and Testing
4.
Marketing
Strategy Development
5.
Business Analysis
6.
Product
Development
7.
Test Marketing
8.
Commercialization
We learned that the product life cycle
includes four stages:
1.
Introduction
2.
Growth
3.
Maturity
4.
Decline
While
these concepts were a large part of the chapter they presented on, the most
interesting part to me was when they discussed the idea of the company
Phonebloks. The purpose of this company is to make a phone that the consumer
can keep forever. When a particular part of your phone breaks or starts not
working as well as the rest, you will just replace that particular part of the
phone, instead of spending the money to buy a whole new phone. This new phone
will be made up of many parts; the core will be where all the accessories snap
onto, a screen for the front, and then there will be many different options for
the back. The basics, such as a camera, battery, and storage will be available,
but their size and location will be customizable.
To
make their idea work, Phonebloks turned to the internet to get the idea out. In
order to make this phone possible, they knew they needed to turn to different
specialists to develop the phones’ components. For instance, they thought that
the camera element of the phone should be developed and made by popular camera
companies such as Canon and Kodak. Consumers will be able to get the exact
camera accessory they want from their favorite camera brand.
Recently,
Phonebloks learned that Motorola was working to develop a phone like the one
they had dreamed up. Motorola has long been one of the most trusted cell phone
brands, but recently fell off the grid due to the emerging companies. This new
phone will be a way to get back in the game and capture up some of the market
for cell phones. Motorola and Phonebloks teamed up and have since been working
to make this phone possible.
I
believe that this type of phone will be extremely successful. The idea of not
having to spend the money to buy a new phone every time your battery life dies
is very attractive to those on a budget and also those who are aware of their
impact to the environment. The largest obstacle I think a phone like this will
face is competition. iPhone users are very dedicated, and many would never
consider opting for another phone. In order to avoid problems such as these,
Phonebloks will have to target iPhone users and convince them that the
Phonebloks product is superior.
Click here to visit Phonebloks website.
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