Can Quality be Bought?

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BaselWorld Video

BaselWorld is a prestigious watch show, where the world’s top watchmakers and designers present their newest models. Most of these watches, naturally, cost more than my DePaul tuition. This brings a question to my mind; does a higher price guarantee better quality? It depends how you view quality.

Most of these watches displayed in the video are designed by huge names such as Hermes, Hamilton, Bentley, and Omega. The dimension of quality that is most appropriate for these brands is the Transcendent definition. This definition means excellence. In class we discussed this in detail, stating that many people assume a certain product is of better quality just because of the name that is associated with it.

The man in this video says that the American watch brand, Hamilton, got their big break when Elvis Presley wore it. From then on they became a popular watch, which let them charge hefty prices. A standard Hamilton watch is over $1400! Now, the watch presented in the video, from the Jazzmaster collection, is special for one reason: it has a two-in-one feature, two watches that you can flip over in one overall watch. The point of this is to let the wearer match the watch to his or her mood. Does this make it a better quality watch? Not necessarily, but they are taking into consideration what some of their customers might want.

The next watch the video talked about was one made by Hermes. This was very brief because Hermes is mostly known for their scarves and handbags, but not their watches. There is nothing that distinguishes them from other cheaper watches, such as Fossil or Michael Kors, buts its name. It had a sleek finish so that it would not weigh down on the wearer’s wrist. Omega is another brand that was named which had a watch that was made of “senda” which is just another name for rose gold. The Swatch group, a company known for their quality watches, but with a more affordable price tag, developed this term.

The only watch that was really worth its expensive price tag was the Type 22. The prices weren’t listed, but this watch had chrome finishes, real Italian leather, and a special feature. In each watch there is a pendulum that swings about 28,000 times a minute, which makes its time 72 times more accurate.

I think many watches especially Hamilton, Omega and Rolex are able to have such steep price tags because their reputation, primarily, performance, service and performance, which are all important dimensions of product quality.

Based on all this information, are these watches better quality than something cheaper? If yes, is it because of the name of the maker or is it because of some features? If no, why not?

 

 

Photo source: http://gearpatrol.com/2013/05/02/best-of-baselworld-2013/

Video Source:http://live.wsj.com/video/what-makes-a-luxury-watch-worth-its-price-tag/2EBED16E-ED6F-491C-A174-5A5DAABE0F4E.html?mod=WSJ_article_outbrain&obref=obnetwork#!2EBED16E-ED6F-491C-A174-5A5DAABE0F4E

Will HTC survive?

HTC has been a leading competitor in the smartphone market for years. Recently, their revenues plummeted by 98% compared to last year. HTC claims this is due to the high competition from the market, especially Apple and Samsung. With the decline in revenues, it is only natural that their stock prices fell as well. HTC is struggling to keep up with Apple’s iphones and Samsung’s Galaxy models. HTC was supposed to release the HTC One smartphone in March, but they dropped the ball on that plan due to no revenues coming in and still having their fixed costs. In an attempt to hang on in the market, they recently announced a collaboration with Facebook for the feature of Facebook Home.

In class we had discussions that just because prices of stocks went down, does not necessarily mean that the quality of their product went down. The problem with the smartphone, and technology, in that matter, is that everything is fast-moving and changes are always taking place quickly. I have an HTC Thunderbolt smartphone, and there were extremely high hopes for it. It was a great phone until software started getting updated, such as different apps, but HTC Thunderbolt did not come out with a new update for the phone. Apple has a software update very often. Samsung has come out with the Galaxy and Galaxy 2 during the time that loyal HTC customers have been waiting for the update.

Part of the reason for HTC’s struggle is because they cannot keep up with the quick pace of change. That is one of the main complaints of customers.  This is why benchmarking is crucial. HTC does not need to come up with a new update every week, but they should try to improve their products so that they could keep up with app updates. I waited two years for my update. Before I received it, basic apps such as GMAIL, were not running properly on my phone because the app was no longer compatible with my phone’s software. My phone was essentially outdated. What did I decide to do? I am switching over to Apple and getting an iphone. Many customers have lost faith in HTC because they are taking their time with launching new products and updates.

A decline in revenues means that HTC’s products are not selling. In even a simpler way of putting it, customers are not interested. HTC is in big trouble if more customers start moving away from them and looking into Samsung or Apple products. HTC’s collaboration with Facebook is also up in the air because Facebook Home has not been fully tested out with customers. Currently, it will be an optional feature for your phone, but whether customers will want it is unknown. Before making this a permanent feature on the market, Facebook and HTC should run surveys to see if customers are even interested in something like this.

Do you think that HTC will survive in this constantly changing market? Is the collaboration with Facebook a good idea or a desperate measure to stay competitive in the market?

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/04/08/for-htc-its-still-a-tough-road/