Skullcandy

By
Ibrahim Alsuwailem

In the headphones market, Skullcandy enjoys a sustainable advantage. The sustainable advantage is occasioned by the ability of the company to be innovative and develop new products that beats the competitors in the market. This strategy helps Skullcandy to overcome competition as it always produces a better version of the headphones once the competitors have imitated the current version. This ensures that they are always ahead of the competitors. Furthermore, the strategy of targeting a certain market niche guarantees that the company will always have loyal customers who will be willing to buy its products at all times. For example the company enjoys a 10 per cent sale from its niche market of clients who participate in action sports. Skullcandy has endeavored to provide unique products to this group of clients so as to maintain the product exclusiveness for this group. To remain ahead of the competitors in the market, skullcandy has used the strategy of product differentiation to win the competition war. The company ensures that the headphones that it produces are different from what is available in the market. For example, when skullcandy entered into the head phone market, the headphones that were in the market at that time are the small ones which could be inserted into the ears. The company came up with a totally different headphone that covered the whole ear and which was fitted over the head. The reasoning behind this was that if the company started selling headphones which were similar to what was being offered in the market, it would only increase competition in the market. The best option for the company was therefore to come up with a new and different product that was appealing to the customers.

Another product development strategy that skullcandy has used is product innovation. The company tries to be as innovative and practical as possible to ensure that it always remains ahead of the competitors. For example, when Alden, the proprietor of this company realized that people especially those participating in snow games experience problems accessing their phone, he developed a head phone that offered a practical solution to this problem. The headphone that he developed had features that made it possible for it to be used effectively in answering a phone call. The headphone had a microphone as