Technological Issues Facing Electronics Industry
Technological issues
In light of the intense competition facing the consumer electronics industry, manufacturers are constantly engaged in the creation of new products that would hopefully win consumers' acceptance. However, against a backdrop of changing technology and sophisticated consumer wants, inventing a successful innovation is an uphill task. In this study, we chose two products, the portable MiniDisc player and the MP3 player, to represent the various innovations in the consumer electronics market. A two-stage pluralistic research was carried out; with the use of focus group discussions followed by a survey in order to gather the views and insights of consumers with regard to their adoption behavior.
With the crunch in the consumer electronics industry, manufacturers are under tremendous pressure to create new products. The consumer electronics industry has seen a wave of innovation sweeping the industry, with companies experimenting with a wide range of products from handheld gadgets to portable music devices. Given the advent of new technologies and shorter product development cycles, new products are constantly making their ways to the shelves. Examples of such consumer electronic products include the MiniDisc, recordable CDs, the digital audio tapes, and the MP3 player.
The main aim of this research was to shed some light on the adoption behaviour of consumers in relation to new audio consumer electronics innovations. Specifically, we wished to find out the factors that influence adoption. This study utilized two products from the same category; comparing one that is experiencing much success, (MP3 player) and the other with limited success (MiniDisc player).
New products and innovations often come with high risks as most of them failed in the marketplace, (Cooper, 1993). There has been extensive research carried out to unveil and discover the critical success factors affecting adoption as well as on the process of innovation diffusion itself.
In light of the intense competition facing the consumer electronics industry, manufacturers are constantly engaged in the creation of new products that would hopefully win consumers' acceptance. However, against a backdrop of changing technology and sophisticated consumer wants, inventing a successful innovation is an uphill task. In this study, we chose two products, the portable MiniDisc player and the MP3 player, to represent the various innovations in the consumer electronics market. A two-stage pluralistic research was carried out; with the use of focus group discussions followed by a survey in order to gather the views and insights of consumers with regard to their adoption behavior.
With the crunch in the consumer electronics industry, manufacturers are under tremendous pressure to create new products. The consumer electronics industry has seen a wave of innovation sweeping the industry, with companies experimenting with a wide range of products from handheld gadgets to portable music devices. Given the advent of new technologies and shorter product development cycles, new products are constantly making their ways to the shelves. Examples of such consumer electronic products include the MiniDisc, recordable CDs, the digital audio tapes, and the MP3 player.
The main aim of this research was to shed some light on the adoption behaviour of consumers in relation to new audio consumer electronics innovations. Specifically, we wished to find out the factors that influence adoption. This study utilized two products from the same category; comparing one that is experiencing much success, (MP3 player) and the other with limited success (MiniDisc player).
New products and innovations often come with high risks as most of them failed in the marketplace, (Cooper, 1993). There has been extensive research carried out to unveil and discover the critical success factors affecting adoption as well as on the process of innovation diffusion itself.