MFSA - Report

Industry Analysis of Earphones & Headphones within the Consumer Electronics.

Focal Company – boAt Lifestyle
By Siddharth Sheth (PGPBL0252) & Tamy Sebastian (PGPBL0257)
Table of Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 4

Indian Market ............................................................................................................................. 6

Competition Landscape in India .......................................................................................... 10

Direct Competition........................................................................................................... 10

boAt Lifestyle .......................................................................................................................... 11

About boAt........................................................................................................................... 11

About the Founders .............................................................................................................. 12

Strategy & Insight ................................................................................................................ 13

Industry Analysis – boAt Lifestyle .......................................................................................... 15

Step 0: Business Analysis .................................................................................................... 15

SWOT Analysis ............................................................................................................... 15

Ansoff Matrix................................................................................................................... 15

Step 1: Porter’s Five Forces ................................................................................................. 17

Horizontal Competition: .................................................................................................. 17

Vertical Competition:....................................................................................................... 17

Step 2 : Characteristics of Strategic Groups ........................................................................ 18

Height of Mobility barriers .............................................................................................. 18

Bargaining Power............................................................................................................. 20

Vulnerability of the firm’s strategic group to substitutes ................................................ 20

Exposure of rivalry .......................................................................................................... 21

Step 3 : Competitive Intelligence ......................................................................................... 21

Personality of the competitors: ........................................................................................ 21

Moves & Market Signals: ................................................................................................ 22

Step 4 : Conduct Strategic Choice Analysis ........................................................................ 23

Step 5: Conduct Industry Transition Analysis & Change Management .............................. 26

S-Curve & Inflection Points............................................................................................. 26

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 Kurt-Lewin Force Field Analysis .................................................................................... 27

Red Ocean Strategy.......................................................................................................... 28

Recommendation ................................................................................................................. 28

References ................................................................................................................................ 29

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Introduction
The global headphones and earphones market size was valued at $80 billion in 2019. It has a
very healthy growth of a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9% from 2020 to 2027
(Wadhwani & Gankar, 2020). The reasons for this growth are manifold:
1. Digital native – The young population of millennials and Generation-Z are increasingly
being born with digital or smart devices in their hands. The smartphone is probably the
most popular device, making it the go-to device for communication, entertainment and
gaming. Most consumers want a pair of earphones or headphones to consume or
participate in such transactions with their smartphones.
2. Habit – As the younger generation adopt smart devices faster, these devices also
become more personal to an individual. This means that a family of four will own their
own devices for different activities. The overall smart device ownership of a household
has been rising, resulting in the rise of earphones and headphones.
3. Technology – Technological development has also been surging. Newer technologies
such as active noise-cancellation (ANC), Bluetooth, wireless, near field communication
(NFC), water-proof (IPX1) have constantly fueled the market growth.
4. Internet penetration – Increasing access to the internet and its increased adoption, many
companies have started moving their businesses online, particularly content and
networking companies. This has given rise to Over the Top (OTT) platforms such as
Netflix that necessitate the use of personal audio devices to provide consumers the best
experience on their personal smart devices.
5. Covid-19 pandemic - Unlike for many other industries, the pandemic was a boon for
the personal audio market because of the increased usage of headsets for business
communication, listening to music, and other recreational activities as a result of the
work from home circumstances. Consumers were compelled to buy personal audio
devices to enable them to work from their homes.
6. De-bundling by Smartphone companies – When smartphone brands arrived on the
scene, they would include a set of earphones along with each purchase a consumer
made. A couple of years ago, this trend fell out of fashion as manufacturers realised
that consumers preferred using their own earphones and headphones instead of the
headsets they provided.

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Asia Pacific is one of the largest regions that accounted for over 40% of the earphone &
headphone market shipments in 2019 and is forecasted to grow at a CAGR of 7% from 2020
to 2026 (Grand View Research, 2019). Countries like India, China, Singapore and other
developing nations in the region are fuelling the growth of this industry. In fact, some of the
largest manufacturers also reside in these regions. Some of the prominent global players are
LG Electronics, Xiaomi Corporation, Sony and Samsung. These companies are able to
commercialise newer technologies in two key ways:
1. Economies of scope – The earphones and headphone market typically see incremental
innovations such as water-proof that do not demand radical shifts in manufacturing.
Therefore, many of these manufacturers are able to provide consumers with a plethora
of options (new) as per their preference without incurring high additional costs.
Manufacturers are therefore able to maximise from economies of scope.
2. Economics of scale – The surging demand, adoption of newer manufacturing
technology, and optimising existing processes allow manufacturers to produce in
volume, thereby capitalising on economies of scale.

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Indian Market
Despite the fast growth globally or in the Asia-Pacific region, the Indian market is forecasted
to grow at a slower CAGR of 4.7 to 5% from 2021 to 2027 (Research and Markets, 2021).

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While the growth of the Indian market is due to similar factors such as digital adoption, habit,
technology etc. three key events were unique and significant to India:
1. Reliance Jio – Popularly known as ‘Jio-fication’ or ‘Jio-effect’, Jio brought many of
India’s masses into the internet fold. Its strategy to give services and sometimes
smartphones for free rapidly accelerated the internet adoption of millions of Indians
who had neither access to the internet or smartphones. The ‘Jio-effect’ made data
affordable, costing as little as INR 15 ($0.21) per GB and boosting the averaging per
user data from 700MB per month to over 11GB, a 1500% increase (Ghosh, 2019). It is
estimated that Reliance Jio added over 300 million users (Mathur, 2019).

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2. Make in India – In recent years, India has seen a significant increase in demand for
electronic items, owing to India’s position as the world’s second-largest mobile phone
manufacturer. A large part of this is because of the government’s Make in India drive,
to produce locally than import, which is expected to double the consumer electronics
industry to reach USD 21.18 billion by 2025 (IBEF, 2021).
3. Rise of eCommerce Players and eCommerce penetration – Due to the penetration of the
internet in India, eCommerce players have been able to tap into newer markets outside
the metros and tier-1 cities, laying the foundation for many companies who have an
eCommerce and/or a Direct-to-Consumer marketing approach. eCommerce has
witnessed a growth of 36% year on year in the last quarter of 2020. Tier 2 and Tier 3
cities accounted for a 90% year over year increase in volume and value growth in
particular. In fact, these cities registered a growth of 14% and value share growth of
43% in the last quarter of 2020. (Gartner, 2021). Besides Amazon and Flipkart, the
Indian eCommerce marketplace ecosystem has grown with companies such as Tata’s
Croma and Cliq, Vijay Sales, Reliance Digital, PayTM Mall and many others entering
the fray.

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 4. Funding of Start-up within the category - (Team Inc42, 2019)
According to industry reports, in 2017, the Indian Appliances and Consumer Electronics (ACE)
industry reached $31.48 billion, thus making India one of the largest electronics markets in the
world. This sector was also expected to grow at 41% CAGR and to reach $400 billion by 2020.
As far as funding goes, in just one year, from 2018 to 2019, there have been a total of 27 deals
amounting to $111 Million in the consumer electronics space. Along with this, the rise in the
number of start-ups such as boAt, GenRobotics, SectorQube etc., make the consumer
electronics industry look very promising

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Other factors that are contributing to the growth of this market are rising disposable incomes,
growth of the IT/BPO services, gaming industry with players such as Dream11, rising number
of OTT players such as Hotstar and access to more affordable smartphones (Micromax) than
five years (6W Research, 2021).

Competition Landscape in India

Direct Competition
There are more than 100+ registered audio accessory companies in India with 12-15 main
players, making it a relatively competitive market with no apparent market leader (Ken
Research, 2019). Most of the market sales happen through the internet, with physical retail
sales declining YoY. Unlike the premium segments that use Multi-Brand Outlets (MBO) and
Exclusive-Brand Outlets (EBO) as experience centres, boAt and its competitors rely majorly
on digital channels. Some of the main players in this segment are MiVi, Skull Candy,
Zebronics, Infinity, Intex and Portronics. The market caters to three types of consumer
segments – low, value-driven and premium.

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boAt Lifestyle

About boAt
The brand started up in 2016 with the singular aim of bringing affordable, durable and
fashionable audio products and accessories to millennials across the country. The company
entered the market with its charging cable that was sturdy as they are made out of Kevlar fibre.
The cables aimed to solve the common issue of consumers’ charging cables being flimsy or
susceptible to breakage. Over the years, they have expanded their product portfolio to
encompass products such as soundbars, headphones, earphones, home theatre systems and
many more wearables. However, their strategy has been consistent – tap the existing market
with commonly available products that plug the market gap they identified.
The approach boAt follow is one that is outside-in; boAt’s philosophy is not to create products
that consumers have to fit into their lives but the other way round. boAt intently listens to its
audience and communities to draw insights for its products and addresses them. Another aspect
is that boAt does not consider itself an audio accessory company but rather a global tech-
lifestyle company. As per the International Data Corporation (IDC), boAt is the no.1 earwear
brand and True Wireless Stereo (TWS) in India and no.5 wearable globally, competing with
brands like Apple, Samsung etc. (boAt Lifestyle).

The company, financially, has grown from strength to strength and has securedSD $100
million in funding from Warburg Pincus (YourStory, 2021). boAt’s parent firm, Imagine
Marketing Services, is backed by Innoven Capital, Navi Technologies, and Fireside Ventures,
has received INR 67 crore thus far. Recording steady growth until the pandemic, boAt’s

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revenue was recorded to be INR 701 (USD $100 million) crores for FY2019-20 with a profit
of INR 50 crores, a YoY jump of 196% and 470%, respectively.

(Fintrackr, 2021)

About the Founders

Aman Gupta and Sameer Mehta founded boAt in 2016 with the goal to not be another ‘sourced
from China’ product. They wanted to take a very customer-centric approach to product
development, which is why boAt is a very sought-after brand by the Indian youth. This is
evident from the fact that the first product launched by boAt was a charging cable for iPhones.

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The original cables had very low durability and posed as a problem to most iPhone users since
the replacement was very expensive.

Aman Gupta
The co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of boAt, Aman comes with almost two years of
experience as the Director of sales at Harmon International. He oversaw consumer electronics
brands including JBL, Harmon Kardon and AKG. He was also the co-founder and CEO of
Advanced Telemedia Pvt. Ltd., which helped launch international brands such as Beats Audio,
Sennheiser and Telex in India.

Sameer Mehta
He is the co-founder and Chief Product Officer at boAt. Sameer comes with prior
entrepreneurial experience in the computer gaming hardware industry, where he is the owner
of Redwood Interactive. Sameer is also the Executive Director of his family-owned business
Kores India, into business supplies and equipment.

The prior experiences of the founders are one of the reasons why boAt is now a force to be
reckoned with in the consumer durables industry.

Strategy & Insight

Noticing the market gap of affordable, durable and fashionable personal audio products, boAt’s
strategy is two-pronged. The first is to make discerning consumers aware that there are better
and more fashionables ways of experiencing sound. The second, it to focus on these growing
markets by upgrading traditional users to boAt’s way of life (Business World, n.d.).
Its marketing campaign is also a paradigm shift from the existing A-list celebrity endorsements
employed by other brands. boAt has always focused on acquiring attention (and consumers) by
identifying upcoming celebrities across music, Bollywood, and sports. These celebrities are
then used to create a community called ‘boAtheads’. At present, the community boasts over 2
million users across its networks. Some sample marketing creatives are below. Their tagline is
“Plug Into Nirvana” (Mishra, 2020).

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Industry Analysis – boAt Lifestyle
Based on the information above, below is the industry analysis.

Step 0: Business Analysis

SWOT Analysis
SWOT is a strategic planning tool that helps firms identify their strengths, weaknesses, existing
opportunities, and threats. It helps organisations assess their current position to plan their next
strategic move better or overcome any business challenges that might arise.

STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES

• Affordable • Not an established player in the audio

• Wide assortment of audio products products industry
• Fashionable • Average sound quality
• Not durable

OPPORTUNITIES THREATS

• Growth in the eCommerce and music • Incumbents coming up with products

streaming services industry in the similar price range
• Change in taste and preference of the • New market entrants
millennial audience • High dependency on a few
• Bundled offering with phone/car eCommerce players, e.g.: Amazon
manufacturers (e.g., be the audio and Flipkart, who will dictate the
system provider for Xiaomi or pricing and payment terms
Hyundai)
• Rise in social media and influencers

Ansoff Matrix
Named after and developed by Igor Ansoff in 1960, the Ansoff Matrix is a business strategy
tool popularly used for marketing. It is used to identify which corporate strategy a firm should
employ for future business growth (Oxford College of Marketing, n.d.).
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In the case of boAt; the organisation has evolved over time, starting with sturdy cables that
aimed to serve the need of millennials’ whose phone charger cables kept breaking to transform
into a consumer electronics company with the aim of providing durable, affordable and
fashionable audio products.

boAt
Lifestyle has predominantly focussed on Existing Markets. Their strategy has been to make
audio products accessible in the most fashionable way. eCommerce players and ‘Jio’-fication
unlocked markets in India beyond the metros and T-15 cities. Therefore, boAt uses a two-
pronged approach as per the Ansoff Matrix:
1. Market Penetration - Its cables, wires, earphones and headphones are aimed to gain
customers into their brand by reaching far more consumers in existing markets. This
continues to be a potential and profitable approach as these markets are continuing to
grow.
2. Product Development - To not limit itself and expand the business, boAt turned towards
newer audio products such as soundbars, Bluetooth speakers and home theatre systems
that coincided with the increasing penetration of complementary products such as
televisions and audio streaming platforms. Their target consumer remained the same.
However, these products were positioned to be affordable yet aspirational. They
continue to invest in this quadrant of the Ansoff Matrix as boAt is able to effectively

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 respond and identify their target customers and market needs by leveraging their own
capabilities and competencies for product development.

Step 1: Porter’s Five Forces

Porter’s five forces identify the competitive forces that determine the strengths and weaknesses
of a business. It includes three forces from ‘Horizontal competition’: Threat of New entrants,
Threats of Substitutes and Industry Rivalry, and two forces from ‘Vertical competition’ -
‘Bargaining power of Buyers’ and ‘Bargaining power of Sellers’.

Horizontal Competition:
1. Threat of New Entrants - High
a. Rise in social network and digital marketing is giving rise to many new entrants
into the sound electronics industry. Ex - Mivi, Zebronics, etc.
b. Rise in music streaming apps and growth in smart devices (from the demand
side), and low costs of manufacturing (supply side) are key motivators for new
entrants
2. Threat of Substitutes - Low
a. boAt
b. is into a wide assortment of consumer electronics; from wireless headphones
to home theatre systems (Ahaskar, 2020)

3. Industry Rivalry - High

a. Convenience of personalised music streaming combined with accessibility to
affordable smartphones has driven growth in music consumption and hence
heavy rivalry amongst existing players
b. Target market is heavily segmented (based on age and income), and many
existing players are trying to cater to multiple segments with their wide product
assortments

Vertical Competition:
1. Bargaining power of Buyers - High
a. A lot of boAt sales take place via e-commerce giants such as Amazon, Flipkart.
Hence, Amazon and Flipkart have high negotiation power w.r.t. margins
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 b. Low brand loyalty and relatively new brand makes boAt vulnerable to a high
churn rate

2. Bargaining power of Suppliers - Low

a. Highly competitive market because of an abundance of suppliers. Ex - China
b. High component commonality

Step 2 : Characteristics of Strategic Groups

A strategic group is a concept used in Strategic Management that groups companies within an
industry that have similar business models or similar combinations of strategies.

Height of Mobility barriers

Mobility barriers are those factors that impede the movement of a business between strategic
groups, market segments or entry and exit into a market. Mobility barriers can be grouped into
two:
1. Low mobility barrier: In this case, it is easy for the business to move from one strategic
group to another
2. High mobility barrier: It’s difficult for a business to move between SGs

HEIGHT OF
MOBILITY BARRIER MOBILITY IMPLICATION FOR BOAT
BARRIER

boAt is a relatively new player in the

audio electronics industry and hence has
Economies of Scale High
not been able to attain economies of
scale and so has a high barrier to pivot

boAt is in a relatively mature consumer

durables industry with many large
Product differentiation &
High incumbent players like JBL & BOSE.
brand identification
Although boAt is trying to showcase
itself as a lifestyle brand more than as an

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 electronics retailer, it’s low on
differentiation in the customer’s eyes.
Since it’s a relatively new player, brand
identification by their target segment is
also low.

There are various new entrants into this

industry, for e.g.: Mivi, Zebronics etc.
Thus, many alternatives for customers
Switching costs Low
to choose from and hence low switching
costs for the customer, which will
negatively impact boAt

Again, since boAt is a relatively new

Cost Advantages player, learning curve and building a
High
independent of scale good relationship with the government
will take time

boAt products are majorly sold on e-

Access to distribution commerce websites like Amazon and
Low
channels Flipkart, which have a strong, loyal
customer base

boAt product sales happen online

Capital Requirements Low
without any physical stores.

A majority of the audio products are

made in China. With the government
Government Policy High encouraging Make-in-India, boAt will
be forced to push for setting up
manufacturing in India

The incumbent players and various

Staying Power High other smaller players are moving into
the affordable electronics segment, and

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 so boAt has stiff competition. So
customers have no brand loyalty to boAt

Economies of Scope – Core Low boAt offers a large assortment of

Competence products

Exit Costs Low boAt does not have many fixed assets,
so exiting the market will be relatively
easy for the company. But labour
contracts, if any or other supplier
agreements, might pose a problem in
case of immediate exit

Bargaining Power
This refers to the power of a firm’s strategic group, boAt, with customers and suppliers. Though
boAt lifestyle is a company that is able to reach a considerable Economies of Scope, i.e. their
speakers, microphones and wires can be used across the product portfolio, most players in the
$1.7 billion revenue-generating speakers Indian market are competing with one another. Some
are resorting to even importing components from countries like China. This competition has
swung the bargaining power in favour of the suppliers who cater to a number of audio devices
strategic groups and mobile phone manufacturers that are increasing their accessories line. A
similar trend on the customer front is observed as choices are available across price-points and
product quality. Therefore, customers are more easily swayed through many other brands’
promotions, giving customers an upper hand on the bargaining front too.

Vulnerability of the firm’s strategic group to substitutes

Due to the high number of existing players (domestic and international), diversification of
mobile phone manufacturers into audio accessories and start-ups mushrooming, the audio
accessories market is crowded with players. This implies that boAt’s vulnerability to direct
substitutes is high even within the product segments (high or low involvement).

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Exposure of rivalry
Is the extent to which a business or strategic group is exposed to its competitors. In the case of
boAt and many other competitors do not enjoy favourable bargaining power. This results in a
situation where another brand could, with far greater capital, throw boAt off its game. The
positive of this is that many players sometimes create and expose more markets, creating
further opportunities; however, in this case, boAt will be under constant duress from other
brands.

Step 3 : Competitive Intelligence

Personality of the competitors:

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 Parameter MIVI Zebronics Skull Candy

Focuses on giving high- Believes in the motto Performance audio

quality audio products ‘Always Ahead’ brand rooted in action
at value pricing and Offer products that hold sports and lifestyle
access to the common appeal to customers culture.
Value
person. through design Epicentre of youth
proposition
Products that can aesthetics, features & culture
withstand the Indian performance at value-
environment, including based price
voltage fluctuations

Focus on Indians in the People in metros, mid- Action sports

17-35 age group: tier cities enthusiasts.
college students and Youth in the age group
working professionals 14-24 who want to
whose salary ranges make a fashion
between Rs 15,000 and statement
Target
Rs 1 lakh.
audience
Tech-savvy, music
enthusiasts, fitness
freaks, interested in
online shopping, and
always looking out for
electronics and gadgets

Between affordable and Affordable Premium affordable

Pricing
premium

Speakers, Headphones, Power banks, Wired/wireless

Product Bluetooth earphones, earphones, headphones, earbuds/headphones
Assortment Wireless earbuds, Bluetooth headsets,
cables, chargers, etc Portable speakers

Distribution Amazon & Flipkart 31 retail stores, website Retail stores & e-
Channels commerce sites

Go global; Expand to smaller Enter into other product

Develop an towns within India categories
Future
omnichannel retail
plans
market in tier II and tier
III cities

Moves & Market Signals:

Out of the 100+ players in the existing market, only about 12-15 brands stand out. Most of
these companies source their product from China, and with the covid crisis, many have had to
relook at their supply chain. Some of the major moves of the market and competitors are below:
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 MOVES MARKET SIGNAL

Many smartphone manufacturers and other The Indian government has had an enormous
consumer electronics manufacturers have influence by promoting “Make in India”. This
or are entering the audio accessories market has benefitted the start-up ecosystem across
industries, including audio accessory player

Many existing players such as JBL are With the Covid-19 pandemic, most of the
creating sub-brands, Infinity, to cater to the audio accessories companies are relooking at
same market that boAt caters to with a their supply chain as most of them were
product portfolio similar to boAt’s. sourcing from China

Increasingly, there are other brands that Over the past 5 years, there have been a few
following the marketing and advertising companies that have received various kinds of
footsteps of boAt funding

Price is a very sensitive factor for a

consumer in this market, especially when
there is an abundance of choice.

Many newer brands are also following

boAt’s eCommerce and Direct-to-
Consumer strategy—brands such as Boult
and Mivi.

Step 4 : Conduct Strategic Choice Analysis

The industry evolution from 1784 to the present day is depicted below.

(Inray, 2020)

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The various stages of the industry lifecycle are given below:

BoAt is currently present in the ‘mature’ stage of Industry 4.0.

The characteristics of Industry 4.0 are (Stefanini, 2019):
• Decentralisation
o There is a movement away from a central administrative service
o Networking of intelligent automation devices and other equipment used in
production
• Interoperability
o Multiple separate systems can function together as one
• Real-time response
o Providing immediate results and responses to problems
• Modularity
o Allows for immediate connection and disconnection of different modules
without reconfiguring entire assembly lines

Characteristics of the Mature stage are (Smith, 2019):

• Consolidation among competitors
• More economies of scale have been created
• There is stiff competition for market share and relevance
• Identifying key product differentiators is key
• Businesses key focus must be on their core competencies
• Strong buyers and high entry barrier
• Usually, the most extended phase in the industry lifecycle

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According to Michael Porter, once an industry has reached the maturity stage, the following
strategies can be adopted (Sabol, Sander, & Fuckan, 2013):

1. Cost leadership strategy

• In this strategy, the firm decides to reduce its costs and focuses on providing
products at lower costs compared to its competitors
• Cost leadership is attained in two ways:
o Mass production, mass distribution and economies of scale
o Lean production, restructuring of the organisation and outsourcing
2. Differentiation strategy
• This strategy is aimed at creating a product or service that the end customer will
perceive as unique
• This is attained with a strong brand identity, superior technology and a well-
established and diversified distribution network
• In this strategy, firms are not focused on being the best low-cost provider but rather
on being an exclusive provider. Hence, they can charge premiums
3. Segmentation strategy
• This strategy is about finding those target customers who have not been tapped by
other firms, I.e. finding the niche market
• The strategy is relatively narrow scoped as it focussed on a smaller audience

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Currently, boAt is following the Cost leadership and Segmentation strategy by launching
affordable budget-friendly consumer electronics to price-sensitive millennials. This has been a
strategy that has worked well for them since they are now the fifth-largest wearable brand in
the world.

Step 5: Conduct Industry Transition Analysis & Change Management

S-Curve & Inflection Points

While there is no business inflection point or identifiable S-curve for boAt due to its nascency,
the company has constantly innovated and released new products as per industry trends. This
new product launch strategy at every trend inflection point has helped the business clock a
healthy CAGR of over 90% over the last five years. It has seen a shift in revenue contributions
over the years. Once dominated by the cables & wires category, the company does not receive
any significant contribution from this product line anymore and now reaps its revenues from
personal wireless audio devices.

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Kurt-Lewin Force Field Analysis

Using Kurt Lewin’s Force Fiel Analysis (Morrison, 2014) we analysed the recent changes that
boAt is embarking upon over the next couple of years. Their vision is to be a top global brand
in wearables. To achieve this, the following were Forces that were identified to substantiate
their shift.
• Unfreeze – At the moment boAt has achieved tremendous success over the five years
that they have been in operations. One of the key aspects to unfreeze is their existing
inertia of success. Companies that attain high brand equity and market share typically
become complacent, which boAt should unfreeze.
• Moving – boAt has a strong view on two keys facets. One, the economics of their
product which they are very conscious about. This allows them to innovate rapidly and
in a profitable manner. The second is their organisational drive to be a top global player.
The organisation is constantly motivated by this goal that it continues to succeed in a
very competitive market.
• Refreeze – With their organisational values and strong fundamentals, their move of
bringing R&D, design and manufacturing to India will strengthen their current market
position. Therefore, some organisational changes will occur. However, it only stands to
improve, something that they are already accustomed to.

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Red Ocean Strategy

boAt is a case of a company that competes in a Red Ocean and does well. This is because it
competes in an existing and cluttered wearable audio market that is highly fragmented. It can
beat the competition and attain its top market share position due to a combination of well-
designed products at affordable pricing (addressing a need-gap or opportunity of millennials)
coupled with marketing activites that make the brands aspirational.

Recommendation
The following are the recommendations we would suggest:
1. Follow the Differentiation strategy
Currently, boAt does not manufacture innovative products; instead, they manufacture products
that already exist in the market at affordable prices. The Differentiation strategy will benefit
boAt in the following ways:
• Reduce price competition
• Improve profit margins
• Manufacturing
• unique products which will be hard to imitate will reduce competition
2. Create a Blue Ocean Strategy

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boAt should identify new market segments they can tap into and create innovative products to
serve that segment’s demands

References
6W Research. (2021, Jan). India Headset Market (2021-2027). Retrieved from
https://www.6wresearch.com/industry-report/india-headset-market-2021-2027
Ahaskar, A. (2020, Feb). Whole market is looking beyond China: boAt Lifestyle co-founder.
Retrieved from https://www.livemint.com/technology/gadgets/whole-market-is-
looking-beyond-china-boat-lifestyle-co-founder-11581935653868.html
boAt Lifestyle. (n.d.). boAt Dominates India’s TWS Market For The Third Consecutive
Quarter. Retrieved from https://www.boat-lifestyle.com/blogs/news/boat-dominates-
india-s-tws-market-for-the-third-consecutive-quarter
Business Standard. (2020, Dec). Indian Brand Mivi Launches First Made in India Bluetooth
Speaker ROAM 2. Retrieved from Business Standard: https://www.business-
standard.com/content/press-releases-ani/indian-brand-mivi-launches-first-made-in-
india-bluetooth-speaker-roam-2-120121700853_1.html
Business World. (n.d.). Addressing the Issues Faced By Millennials. Retrieved from Business
World:
https://www.morpheusdaretodream.com/images/dream_chasers/pdf/AMAN_GUPTA.
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