Samsung Widens Smartphone Market Share at Apple’s Expense
https://www.fool.com/investing/2019/12/01/samsung-widens-smartphone-share-at-apple-expense.aspx
In this day and age, most people would not be able to live without their smartphones. However, when it comes to choosing which one to get, there are many options. According to James Brumley of The Motley Fool, during the third quarter of 2019, Samsung widened the gap in market share it had with Apple. As of right now, Samsung dominates the smartphone market, with just over 20%, while Apple trails behind at 10%. However, just two quarters prior, Samsung just slightly edged out Apple with regards to market share. So, what happened?
The article relates to what we covered in class in regards to information cascades. I believe that information cascades helped Samsung achieve its increase in smartphone sales. As discussed in lecture, when people are connected in a network, they can influence each other’s decision. In this case, it can allow people to influence other people’s smartphone choice. For example, imagine person A recently bought a Samsung phone, and is very pleased with it. This trend first spreads from initial person A to friends, then from there to friends of friends, and so on. We also know there is a threshold value, where if enough people in your network start using Samsung phones, it might lead you to want to switch yours to a Samsung phone too. In addition, since we are constantly connected due to the internet and social media, if Samsung had a widespread presence over these mediums too, it would influence more people to choose Samsung phones. This information cascade effect would allow Samsung to show the growth it showed over the short span of a year.