Intro

Ever been stranded somewhere and your cell phone battery dies? Help is on the way. The new

solar powered cell phone will allow you to gain two hours of standby power from 10 minutes of

sun. It can be charged with indoor light when no direct sun light is available. This cell phone

can also be charged by charger. Features will be the same as traditional cell phones which

include a camera and internet capabilities. The phones will be available in a variety of colors

and sizes. Touch screen will also be available. Solar power cell phones will hold a charge

longer. Consumers will be able to have longer running time.

Marketing segmentation

Marketing segmentation is the process of dividing a group of key buyers that require different

products. The goal of market segmentation is to target the correct audience with the correct

product and obtain the highest rate of return for a product.

There are 2.0 billion cell phone users in the world and 219 million are in the United States.

Most cell phone users replace their cell phones every eighteen months. According to a Harris

interactive survey, the use of cell phones is increasing and traditional landline telephone

coverage is decreasing. Those who use a cell phone as their only telephone service are largely

men between the age of 18 and 29. This group is more likely to have at least some college

education and have income less than $30,000 and less likely to have income of $75,000 or

more. Cell phone usage is on the rise amongst adults 30 and over and those with income of

$75,000 and over.

ASSIGNMENT ONE SOLAR POWERED CELL PHONES 2

Women see their cell phones as a means of expression and social communication, while men

tend to use it as an interactive toy. Some men view the cell phone as a status symbol and even

use the cell phone to seduce the opposite sex, competing with other males for the most high

tech toy. Cell phones are becoming an integral part of our daily lives. Cell phones give people

a newfound personal sense of power, enabling unprecedented mobility and allowing them to

conduct their business on the go. Men use more minutes than women. Women use camera

phones more than men. Men talk business on cell phones more than women, and matters of

home women rule. Convenience remains top reason for wireless phones. The solar powered

cell phone will enhance this convenience by allowing easier access to power that charges the

phone. The ideal situation for the solar cell phone is to enable the phone to charge from direct

sun light, light sources, and even candle light. I choose to focus on the segments which include

men between the ages of 18 and 29 because this is the largest segment of cell phone only

users. Also, the adult cell phone users over 30 are constantly on the rise. Therefore, I will also

target the adults between the ages of 30 and 64.

Target market

Those who use a cell phone as their only telephone service tend to be younger than the general

population. Approximately half of the cell phone users are males between the ages of 18 and

29. This percentage dropped slightly from two years ago. This does not mean that 18 to 29

year olds are less likely than in 2006 to use a cell phone only. In fact, the incidence of cell

phone only usage among 18 to 29 year olds actually increase slightly (32% compared to 26%

ASSIGNMENT 1 SOLAR POWERED CELL PHONES 3

last year). It simply means that the cell phone only usage also increased among older

individuals, resulting in that group now accounting for a greater proportion of the cell phone

only population. There are 25,500,000 males between the ages of 18 and 29 currently in the

United States. Approximately one-third of them use a cell phone for making calls. This brings

the number to 8,662,500 18 to 29 year old males using cell phones. Other characteristics of

this segment is that they have some college education, have household income $30,000 or less.

The second segment I have chosen to target is the adults ages 30 and 64. There are

approximately 124,830,000 adults between the ages of 30 and 64 currently in the United

States. One in seven adults use their cell phones only to make calls. This brings the number in

this segment to be targeted to 17,476,000. Other characteristics of this group is college

educated and household income of $75,000 and over. The technology is becoming increasingly

popular among the older populations as well as the widely reported younger segments of the

population. The foreign market will be India. With India adding more than six million cell

phone subscribers a month, analysts expect that nearly half of India, 1.1 billion people will be

connected by cell phone by 2010. Mobile phone rates in India are about one cent a minute, the

lowest in the world. Companies have figured out how to stay profitable even selling telecom

services at a penny a minute, opening the market to a base of consumers who are often not

part of the formal financial system.

SWOT analysis

Strengths

Solar cell phones market is new and wide open for competent providers. Right now everyone is

ASSIGNMENT 1 SOLAR POWER CELL PHONES 4

seen as a potential customer. Going wireless has not only become the latest and greatest fad

but very critical for business. The ability to incorporate and adjust to the main challenges for

the application of solar energy to power cell phones. These are the improvement of the

efficiency, the reliability. the safety and the lifetime as well as the reduction of costs.

Weaknesses

The major weakness is being weak as compared to the competition in a key market segment.

There are several cell phone manufacturers already established and well known. It will be a

great challenge to sway customers away from them. Operational costs are more than first

estimated. Additional capital will be needed. And, finally, the lack of post sales service will be a

weakness but not impossibility.

Opportunities

Increase presence in the solar cell phone market. Solar powered cell phones are not readily

available at the moment. This is something consumers want but not yet offered in the United

States. New growth markets where solar cell phone adoption has room to go including India

and other countries. Another opportunity will be to leverage business to get preference and a

stronger position with carriers.

Threats

The major threat is being the new kid on the block and has risk to be displaced by leaders like

Motorola, GE and Nokia. Also, China OEMs are entering the market very aggressively.

ASSIGNMENT 1 SOLAR POWERED CELL PHONES 5

Product positioning

This solar powered cell phone will offer high quality and convenience for the people on the go

who don’t have time to charge their phones. Whether camping, caught in a power outage or

just constantly on the go you can stay connected. My product will be in the quadrant where

high quality and medium prices will be offered. Due to the quality being offered and the

anticipation for the solar powered cell phone higher prices will be warranted and accepted by

consumers. As time goes by and the resources needed become less expensive and more

consumers began to buy prices may change.