TitleA comparative study of the factor affecting the demand for iPhone 6 and Samsung Galaxy s5 in Vreed – en – Hoop, Guyana.

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Purpose of the Project

The aims and objectives of this project are:

1. To determine the factors that affect the demand for iPhone 6 and Samsung Galaxy s5.

2. To compare the level of demand for the two brands.3. To establish a relationship between the demand for the two

products.4. To examine how the demand for the cell phones affects the demand

for complementary products.

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Methodology

Primary sources

1. The distribution of questionnaires. Fifteen questionnaires were distributed two males and eight females between the age range of eleven to forty five.

2. Interviews were carried out with a male local entrepreneur who marketed smartphones to find out the rate at which smart phones were demanded.

Secondary Sources

The researcher used:

3. The internet to obtain data.4. An Economics text book to collect additional data.

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A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE FACTORS AFFECTING THE DEMAND FOR THE IPHONE 6 AND SAMSUNG GALAXY S5 AMONG CONSUMERS IN VREED – EN – HOOP.

Instructions: Choose one answer for each question and place a tick () in the box provided. Answer where necessary.

1. What is your gender?MaleFemale

2. What is your age range? 11-1516-2324-4546+

3. Do you own a smart phone?YesNo

4. Which of the following would you prefer to own?Samsung s5iPhone 6BothNeither

5. What brand/ Version of smart phones are most demanded by consumers?iPhone 4iphone5Samsung Galaxy 4gsSamsung Galaxy s5

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6. What factors would you consider most when purchasing a smart phone?PriceFeaturesTrendOther

7. What other products/ services would you like to have with your smart phone?Phone CasesPhone CardScreen ProtectorData Connection Plan

8. The iPhone 6 and Samsung galaxy s5 have many distinctive features compared to other smart phones. If the price of one of these smart phones increases would you still buy it?YesNo

9. Would you prefer an iPhone 6 or a Samsung galaxy s5? Justify your answer.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10. If the price of the iPhone 6 increases by 30% would you still purchase it? Support your answer with a reason.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

11. How do you think the increasing demand for smart phones has affected the demand for products like cases and phone cards, etc.?

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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12. What Factors would you consider when purchasing a smart phone?

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Limitations

Some limitations faced by the researcher are:

1. In distributing questionnaires some of the individuals had lost their questionnaires. The researcher had to reprint questionnaires for those individuals. This was very time consuming and costly for the researcher.

2. Also some of the respondents did not finish filling out the questionnaires they were given. The researcher had to wait and this delayed the analysis of questionnaires.

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Presentation of Data

Question 1: What is your gender?

Majority of the respondents were male.

Gender Male FemaleNo. of Respondents 2 8

Male Female0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Column Chart

Gender

No.

of R

espo

nden

ts

Column Chart illustrating gender of respondents.

Question 2: What is your age range?7

The majority of the respondents were between the ages of 16-23 where the least was 24-45. No respondent was more than forty six years old.

Age RangeNo. of Respondents

11-15 216-23 724-45 146+ 0

20%

70%

10%

Pie Chart

11-1516-2324-4546+

Pie Chart illustrating the age range of respondents

Question 3: Do you own a smart phone?

The majority of the respondents owned a smartphone.

Do you own a smart phone?

No. of Respondents

Yes 8No 2

8

Yes No0123456789

Column Chart

ResponsesN

o. o

f Res

pond

ents

Column chart illustrating the number of persons who own a smart phone.

Question 4: Which of the following would you prefer to own?

All the respondent preferred to own a smart phone. The majority chose Samsung s5.

Preferred Smart phoneNo. of Respondents

Samsung s5 6iPhone 6 3Both 1Neither 0

9

Samsung s5

iPhone 6 Both Neither01234567

Line Graph

Preferred Smartphone

No.

of R

espo

nden

ts

Line Graph illustrating respondents’ preferences for smart phones.

Question 5: What brand/ version of smart phones are most demanded by consumer?

The brand most demanded by consumers was the Samsung Galaxy S5. The iPhone 4 and Samsung 4gs was not demanded at all.

Smart phone most demanded by consumers

No. of Respondents

Samsung Galaxy s5 8Samsung 4gs 0iPhone 6 2iPhone 5 0

Samsung Galaxy s5

Samsung 4gs

iPhone 6

iPhone 5

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Bar Graph

No. of Respondents

Smar

t Pho

nes

Bar Graph illustrating consumers demand for smart phones10

Question 6: What factor would you consider most when purchasing a smart phone?

Majority of the respondents would consider feature whereas, a few would consider price. No respondent would consider trend or other.

Considered FactorsNo. of Respondents

Price 2Features 8Trend 0Other 0

Price Features Trend Other0

2

4

6

8

Line Graph

Factors to be considered

No.

of R

espo

nden

ts

Line Graph illustrating factors affecting consumers’ demand for smart phones

Question 7: What other products/ services would you like to have with our smart phone?The majority of the respondents indicated they would like to have a data connection plan. The least would like to have phone cards with their smart phone.

What services/products would you prefer to have with your smart phone?

No. of Respondents

Phone cases 3

11

Phone cards 1Screen protector 2Data connection plan 4

30%

10%20%

40%

Doughnut Chart

Phone cases Phone cardsScreen protector Data connection plan

Donut chart of what consumers would purchase with their smart phones

Question 8: The iPhone 6 and Samsung Galaxy s5 have many distinctive features. If the price of one of these smart phones increased would you consider buying the other one?The majority of the respondents said they would consider buying another should the price of the iPhone or Samsung Galaxy s5 increased.

OptionsNo. of Respondents

Yes 8No 2

12

Yes

No

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Bar Chart

No. of RespondentsC

hoic

es

Bar chart illustrating whether consumers would buy another smartphone If the one they chose price increased.

Question 9: Would you prefer an iPhone 6 or a Samsung Galaxy s5? Justify your answer.Majority of the respondents chose Samsung Galaxy s5 because of its features, price, and trend. The minority chose iPhone 6 because of its features.

Preferred Smart phoneNo. of Respondents

Samsung s5 – features, trend & price 7iPhone 6 - features 3

13

70%

30%

Pie Chart

Samsung Galaxy s5 – features, trend & price

iPhone 6 - features

Pie chart comparing the demand for iPhone 6 and Samsung Galaxy s5.

Question 10: If the price of the Samsung Galaxy s5 increased by 30% would you still purchase it? Support your answer.Majority of the respondents indicated that if the price increased they would not purchase it, they would rather purchase the iPhone 6. Minority of the respondents indicated they would still buy it because of its features.

If price of the Samsung Galaxy s5 increased by 30% would you still buy it? Why?

No. of Respondents

Yes because of its features 4No. Rather substitute for the other 6

40%

60%

Doughnut Chart

Yes because of its featuresNo. Rather substitute for the other

Doughnut chart illustrating how many persons would still purchase after its price has increased and why.

Question 11: How do you think the increasing demand for smart phones has affected the demand for products like phone cards, phone cases etc.?All of the respondents thought that if the demand for smart phones increases the demand for products like phone cases and cards would be affected. It would increase.

Does the demand for smart phones affect the demand for other products?

No. of Respondents

Yes 10

14

No 0

100%

Pie Chart

Yes No

Pie Chart illustrating whether the demand for smart phones has affected the demand for other products.

Question 12: What factors would you consider when purchasing a smart phone?

Majority of the respondents would consider prices, features and trend while very few would consider brand.

Factors consumers consider when purchasing a smart phone.

No. of Respondents

Price, Features & Trend 8Brand 2

15

Price, Features & Trend

Brand

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Bar Chart

No. of RespondentsC

onsi

dere

d Fa

ctor

s

Bar Chart illustrating the factors which influences consumers’ demand

Report

Fifteen questionnaires were distributed among the residence of Vreed – en – Hoop. Ten of these fifteen were used for the purpose of analysis and interpretation. Twenty percent of the respondents are male and eighty percent of them are female. Twenty percent of the respondents were from the ages eleven to fifteen, seventy percent from sixteen to twenty three and ten percent were from twenty four to forty five.Eighty percent of the respondents indicated that they own smart phone, while twenty percent indicated they did not own a smart phone. This shows how remarkably popular smart phones are becoming and how technology has developed.Sixty percent of the respondents indicated that they would prefer to own a Samsung Galaxy s5, thirty percent preferred to own an iPhone 6 and ten percent indicated they preferred to own both. Samsung Galaxy S5 is an Android smartphone produced by Samsung Electronics. It features a rounded, polycarbonate chassis carrying a "modern glam" look, faux metal trim and a removable rear cover. The iPhone 6 is a smartphones running iOS developed by Apple Inc. The design of the iPhone 6 line is

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influenced by that of the iPad Air, with a glass front that is curved around the edges of the display, and an aluminum rear that contains two plastic strips for the antenna, both models come in gold, silver, and "space gray" finishes.

Samsung Galaxy s5 iPhone 6Fig. comparing the two smart phones.

In making this decision twenty percent of them considered the price of the smart phone and eighty percent of them considered its feature. None of the respondents opted for trend. This means that most consumers would purchase the smart phone with the most features and only few would consider price. However, some consumers would still consider price when purchasing a smart phone because their income level may not be high enough to purchase an expensive phone. Smart phones have advanced features such as Wi-Fi, high quality cameras, Skype, twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and like the Samsung Galaxy s5 water proof which appeals to consumers.

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Fig. showing some features of a smart phone.

Thirty of the respondents would like to have phone cases with their smart phones, ten percent would like to have phone cards, twenty percent would like to have a screen protector and forty percent would like to have data connection plan. Most of the respondents opted for data connection plan because this offers numerous services. For example with this persons would not need to purchase phone cards because one can go on the internet for free and communicate for free on services like skype and WhatsApp. Screen protectors and phone cases are demanded because persons would want to protect their phones from physical damage. This shows that the demand of smart phones increases the demand for other products.

Fig. illustrating a rightward shift of the other products.

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Sixty percent of the respondents indicated that if the price of the Samsung Galaxy s5 increased they would rather buy the iPhone 6. On the other hand forty percent said they would still buy the Samsung Galaxy s5 because of its remarkable features. This therefore shows that some consumers would not mind substituting the Samsung Galaxy s5 for the iPhone 6. This indicates that the two products are substitutes.Because the Samsung Galaxy s5 has more developed features consumers would not easily change their preferences. However, the price influences many person’s many persons’ decision causing them to purchase the cheaper product.

FindingsThe findings of this project are:

1. The factors which affect the demand for iPhone 6 and Samsung Galaxy s5 are features and price.

2. The Samsung s5 is demanded more by consumers when compared to iPhone 6. This is because the Samsung Galaxy s5 has more features.

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3. The products can work as substitutes, that is, one can be used instead of the other.

4. The demand for iPhone and Samsung Galaxy s5 increases the demand for complementary goods such as data connection plan.

Recommendation

Some recommendations include:

1. The improvement of the marketing of the two smart phones. Consumers became aware of the smart phones because of adds on

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the internet. However, this can be improved, if the phones are advertised on the local television channels and local newspapers then consumers would be more aware of the smart phones.

2. Low income earners find it difficult to purchase smart phones like the iPhone 6 and Samsung Galaxy s5. Low income earners can benefit from hire purchase agreements. This is where they get to use the phone but have to pay monthly installments with interest until they have reached the amount the phone costs.

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Bibliography

Books

Gopie, P. (2010). Economics for csec ® examinations. United Kingdom: Macmillan Education.

Internet

(2006). Economics Basics: Supply and Demand. Investopedia. Retrieved 1 November, 2014 from the World Wide Web: http://www.investopedia.com/university/economics/economics3.asp

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Interviews

Manager of Cell King Vreed – en – Hoop, 3 November, 2014

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