Competitive advantage is an important part of a company's ability to keep itself out there and in the game. There's a lot of ways to keep ahead. Niche marketing, coming out with new ideas first, gobbling up the entire market share, keeping high tech, or having good old big brother government backing you up.
A few firms come to mind when thinking of competitive advantages. Microsoft, with Windows, has a strong advantage over most other companies in the OS market. Their market share completely obliterates and dominates all the other players. Of course, they're being thwarted by Apple and Linux. But most of the world's businesses and consumers use a Windows based OS. Though, they better keep on top of those security issues if they want to stay on top.
Another company that comes to mind is Gamespot. (See a trend and how I use them?) They're a good focus on niche marketing. They sell only games and the hardware to run those games. The company doesn't focus on anyone else. Their primary focus is on the gamers themselves. As I said in an earlier post, most companies that offer games in their store still cannot compete with Gamestop. When people think games, they immediately think Gamestop, or any of their stores with different names.
Let's bring back Apple and their iPod. Ya know, that nice little machine that plays a couple of million people's music everyday? They were the first company to really make full use of the mp3 market and make a machine that was simple to use and didn't run into a whole bunch of problems converting music and what not. The iPod design itself was also "trendy" and many companies followed it. (Wii anyone?) Apple and their iPod were first in the market to really make use of mp3s beyond illegal downloading and burning to CDs.
Finally, good ol monopoly status is given to most utility companies such as Con Ed. You'll never see Con Ed go out of business, unless everything they own blows up immediately. Of course, being allowed to be a basic monopoly comes with some setbacks. They can't charge exorbitant amounts for each little bit of wattage they provide us. As long as they keep up some decent service, they'll be in that position for a long time.
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4 comments:
You made a great point when you mentioned that even when a company is allowed a monopoly, even though there arent many, They are still under close vigilance by the Govt not to overcharge and also they . I saw few people mentioning Govt comapies as an example for this case but everone forgot to mention the jurisdictions the monoploistic companies have to be within,, Good Job.. :) Keep going..
With ipod I have to agree that Apple practically rocked the world. Ipod nano is the single most popular music player in the history of humanity. In general ipods killed cd and mp3 players all over the world. Now with iTunes music store they're battling to become #1 music store in the world. And to be honest they're almost there - in top 3 worldwide at the moment.
I see what you write and I like what I see! Good, heartfelt post of much writing!
You have touched on Windows' crappy OS, Gamespot, and Apple! All in one post! Jonathan, you know exactly what to talk about my man! I agree that Windows is very smart in marketing their OS. Everyone uses it, but it is a load of bull tut-ti (slang Indian word for doo-doo) due to the security issues and blue screens of rage inducement.
Gamestop IS the SPOT for GAMES! I like Gamestop, when everyone goes to lunch to eat, I go to Gamestop to play their games! And check out future/current games for consoles. They rock and it is very much true that they specialize only in games and hardware. Aside from those two, every accessory (like console skins) revolves around the gaming world or some concept of it.
The great success of the beloved iPod maker was already determined back in the day, when the phrase was coined, "An Apple a day keeps the doctor away." These Apple products are just amazing, and the iPod was truly revolutionary. Although when the little mp3 player came out, I could only look at other people enjoy their music, since it was far too expensive to consider purchasing, I still think it was amazing. They definitely had the market for mp3 players as the initial mp3 player maker.
Your discussion of Con Edison is very true, since Con Edison is too rooted into society for it to go out of business. It is a necessity , so they do get ultimate power, with, thank god, some price limit controls.
Awesome! Has-been-dows XP, to the Apple iPod, and Game-"Don't"-Stop-"Til-You-Get-Enough"
made me a happy reader! Keep the Doughnuts Fresh!
--- Karup
Yes, gamespot was a good one. They are smart to sell hardware with games especially since its usually the gamers that need more serious hardware.
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