 |
| Sharp FX went on sale July 25 for $100 after mail-in rebate |
Sharp's Long History in the U.S. Market
Sharp is an undisputed market leader in Japan`s mobile phone market and it is actively looking to overseas markets for so much needed growth. For a long time North America was one of Sharp`s main targets. The first phones in the US market with the relation to Sharp can be tracked down to 2001 when FCC approved the Sharp Z-800 (Audiovox 7900) handset, once Verizon`s
flagship BREW model. The next success came with being selected by Danger/T-Mobile to manufacture the famous Sidekick device, which was also manufactured by Motorola and some Taiwanese OEMs in different periods of time. The interesting detail is that one of Danger's founder, Andy Rubin then moved from Danger to Google to create Android OS.
Smartphone Boom and Microsoft's Kneejerk Reaction
During the Sidekick era, Sharp has learnt a lot about the US market, starting with market intelligence, market economics, logistics, engineering know-how of QWERTY phone production and finishing with the insights into how to deal with local market players. However, the things have changed after Danger was bought out by Microsoft and the market has turned to smartphones as the next big thing. Microsoft struggling on its own to stay relevant in the smartphone OS wars was very busy to push the release of Windows Mobile 7 into the market and it seemed odd for the industry mogul to buy Danger. Nevertheless, Sharp was picked as a manufacturer of Danger-based Kin One and Kin Two devices with the proprietary OS headed to Verizon. The launch turned out to be a complete disaster with
Verizon ditching the phones in a month after the release. Now it looks like Microsoft used Danger as a short-term solution to stay in the game while the company was taking time to finish Windows Mobile 7.
Sailing on Its Own: Strategy in Question
In the meantime, Sharp turned to AT&T with the Sharp FX. Being picked up by AT&T to ship phones for them is a great achievement on its own. However, the model that was awarded AT&T`s go-ahead is what made me wondering about Sharp`s strategy in the US market. First, the Sharp FX is a feature phone in the AT&T`s quick messaging phone category - a low-priced phone that spots a QWERTY keyboard but sacrifices a lot of functionality over the price. No wonder,
Phonescoop wasn`t impressed with the FX when they did in-depth review. Based on the review, it looks like the FX is destined to go into oblivion pretty fast. But why feature phone in a first place? With a smartphone boom on a rise and
shrinking interest in phones with mid-tier features it is odd for a small player like Sharp to start entering the market with a feature phone. I am not even talking about the squeezed margins for feature phones. You need to be a top-tier vendor with appropriate economy of scale to have the luxury of targeting phones in the range from low-end to high-end segments. With a smartphone probably being planned in the pipeline for the North American release Sharp is facing a risk of creating a brand image of a low-price mid-tier phone OEM - a curse LG had to fight initially in the US. Feature phones are a dead-end game for players without economy of scale. Low-end Android smartphones are going to replace the feature phones in near future but it is not going to help Sharp. Sharp and other small players need to create their niche in a premium segment, focusing on gaining margins instead of gaining market share. Time will tell if Sharp is going to find its way in the US market but at the moment the company`s strategy sends a mixed message.
ShareThis