Iridium
Situation Analysis: Iridium is a branch of INFOSAT, a company that offers communication systems and products that are very technologically advanced. Some of these products and services include SkyCom, Digital Video, SkyMessage, and Video Conferencing. INFOSAT has installed satellite systems across the globe in remote parts Africa, Southeast Asia, and North, Central, and South America. They provide creative communication solutions for travelers and people living in isolated areas so that their customers never have to feel cut off from civilization. The branch of INFOSAT known as Iridium will be introducing their service to the market in September of 2001. This service will allow users to call anywhere in the world. Iridium's service first came out in the early '90s, but it went bankrupt in 1997. During this period of bankruptcy Iridium continued to provide service for the U.S. Department of Defense. Iridium through the help of its investors has been able to climb out of the fin!ancial debt they put themselves in. Iridium will be marketing their service globally. Their target market will be global travelers with power and wealth. Environmental Scanning: Right now, Iridium faces many challenges especially with the recent change in
political administration. Many people are uncertain of the new changes that the Bush administration will make. During this political transition period we have seen a great decline in economic activity. Also, the recession that we are currently experiencing has brought about a consumer spending slowdown. People are spending less on non-necessities like new cars and computers. This may seriously impact the ability for Iridium to sell a high-tech satellite communication cellular service. The U.S. recession has also affected the economic health of other countries. With our slowdown in spending, fewer products are being imported into the U.S., which means less revenue for countries that have been exporting goods to us. Tourism is being affected globally by our slowdown in spending. People are traveling now mainly for business and not as much for pleasure. Most of the travel is main! · Product Development- will work with technical engineers to create a smaller, lighter phone. Weaknesses: Iridium has many shortcomings that may possibly affect their ability to achieve success. Iridium has already invested $5 billion into this project. Their overhead costs run very high, which has cut into their profits in the past, contributed to their bankruptcy in '97. While they eat some of their high costs in the production process, they pass many of their expenses onto the customer by charging high prices for their service and the phone. Iridium's service will cost as much as $7 a minute for some calls and the phone will cost approximately $3,ooo in the introduction stage of the PLC. Many people in the target market may not purchase the service and phone because of the cost. Others may shy away from the service because it is foreign to them. For this reason, marketers for Iridium will have to enter new realms to sell this product because this is the first product of its kind. Recommended Alternatives: I recommend that alternatives 1,2,3, and 4 be implemented. It will be vital for Iridium to establish a relationship with potential customers. Iridium's target is top executives and top management personnel that do heavy traveling. These people are constantly on the go and having little time for information searching, evaluating products, and choosing alternatives. By contacting them you will also make them feel important because you are coming to them and asking them to be one of the first innovators of your product. Alternative 2 and 3 offer discounts to large firms that have employees that travel a lot. By putting them on a group plan Iridium could offer them slightly lower rates on calls than the individual consumer, but in turn they will se the service enough for it to be profitable for Iridium also. The main fear of Iridium is that the phone that will connect to the satellites to provide the service is too big. Many competitors are working on a m! · Marketing Department- responsible for creating customer profiles. This department will also be involved in the promotion of company discounts. Iridium faces many threats with the immerging technology that will be available to its competitors. Many other companies are working on a way to provide similar service, with more advantages, at lower prices. With any technological product, the threat is of better products and technology coming out as more research is done. Department April-June July-Sept. Oct.-Dec. Jan.- March Opportunities: The fact that Iridium is a pioneer in its field and is the first to offer a product this advanced with so much technology standing
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Approximate Word count = 2413
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)
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