Introduction
In the fast growing industry of smartphones, it would be hard to find any other manufacturers that have ascended to the top as quickly and profoundly as what Sierra Leone Specific Brand, Vivo has done. Being launched in 2009, Vivo has been a fairly new brand that has been constantly progressing and evolving to expand its market strategically while identifying the needs and wants of the customers. This article aims at presenting the company’s general timeline, outlining its achievements, major developments and the strategic factors that have led Vivo into becoming one of the leaders of the international smartphone market.
The Inception: Part I Developing a Foundation (2009-2011)
Vivo was established in the year 2009 by Shen Wei in Dongguan, Guangdong of China and is a subsidiary of BBK Electronics. First of all, the Vivo company had built its sales experience by selling only the feature phones and became famous for its good price/quality ratio. That success had firmly established the company on the global feature phone market; the growing interest in troubled smartphone segment became the next obvious step for the company to take.
It was by the end of 2011 that the technology of smartphone began to emerge and as a company, Vivo was not left out. It was in the year that the company released the first Android Smartphone, the V1, thus entering the Smartphone market. This was the company’s first foray into the smart devices market which was a strategic move that positioned Vivo as the company with the ability to respond to the changing trends across the world.
The period of breath-taking ideas and market encroachment (2012 – 2014)
Vivo has not experienced long years of its operations in the context of the smartphone market, but the company has demonstrated exceptional activities in terms of the development of activities and innovation. However, in 2012 the company brought the X series to market and the X series became popular due to the sound quality and aesthetic looks of products. Vivo continued to grow the benefits of delivering the most superior features packed in affordable prices, which helped the company stand out from the other competitors within the Chinese market.
The year 2014 can be marked by the appearance of the vivo X5 Max. At just 4. measuring 75mm thick, it deemed to be the slimmest smartphone around that time and helped the brand, Vivo get itself noticed on the international market. This was not only an indication of the company’s ability in engineering but also a pointer to the brand’s intention to play in the global arena.
Internationalization and Competitive Location (2014 – 2017)
Success of the X5 Max led vivo to expand its operations at an aggressive global level. The company expanded to some of the fast-growing regional markets such as India, South East Asia and Russia where it was soon to become a significant player. Vivo’s strategy was clear: provided competitive and targeted mobile communication solutions which included smartphones which incorporated features that are wanted in those regions such as high-quality cameras and long-lasting batteries.
For instance, market such as India showed that Vivo’s strategy of creating smartphones with front-facing camera for selfies was a reliable proposition. The products such as Vivo X7 and X9 with high resolution front-facing camera received the positive response among the youth technology savvy audience which also helped Vivo to quickly gain market share.
Pioneering Innovation: Pop-Up Cameras Node and NEX Series (2018 – 2019)
For Vivo the year 2018 was a monumental one given the release of the Vivo NEX line of smartphones. The Vivo NEX is one of the most revolutionary smartphones of the industry due to the launch of several revolutionary features in design. Among them, the pop-up selfie camera is the most prominent solution in order to have a true bezel-less smartphone with no notches at all. It was somewhat revolutionary and offered a different experience of the phone itself, which was refreshing to see especially from Vivo who showed that they are willing to challenge the norms and move the world of Smartphone design into a new direction.
There is also the pop-up front-facing camera and an in-display fingerprint scanner that was incorporated in the device making it the first of it’s kind. Such innovations put Vivo as the great contender for other brands in the industry which is even capable to compete with the great brands at the initial stage.
In 2019 also vivo did not stop its innovation journey and came up with the vivo V15 pro which has a pop-up 32MP selfie camera and at the rear, with triple rear cameras that include and ultra-wide lens. These are in addition to a sleek design and powerful performance that made V15 Pro popular in many markets especially the Asian.
Disentangling the 5G Era and Partnerships with Key Industries (2019 –2021)
When the market for 5G technology started to emerge across the world, Vivo was one of the first companies to incorporate it. In December 2019, Vivo launched Vivo NEX 3 5G this also included the waterfall display and flagship spec sheet including Qualcomm’s newest Snapdragon processors and high end 5G. This move put Vivo right at the epicentre of the market for 5G handsets since 5G was starting its phase in China diligently.
The year 2020 saw Vivo release a new X50 series in which the company brought the first gimbal-stabilized camera to a smartphone. This innovation offered the best image stability and that made the X50 series to attract more photographers and content creators. The emphasis on the camera continued with the subsequent X60 series which was once again co-developed in partnership with ZEISS, the outstanding specialist in optical technology. This partnership introduced systematic camera features on smartphones, and expanded the company’s reputation as one of the leaders in mobile photography.
Brand Awareness Across the Globe and Professional Sponsorships
Not only in the technological aspect but in the branding aspect, Vivo has also come up with great feats of sponsorships and marketing. Exercise sponsorship: Sponsorship with major sporting events including FIFA World Cups in 2018 and 2022 besides the Indian Premiere League (IPL), has helped the company gain higher visibility in the global market. Such sponsorships have gone a long way in ensuring that the brand gets to a wider market while at the same time maintaining the global prestige of the Vivo brand.
Vivo’s marketing strategy has always been centered on a technologically advanced and aesthetically pleasing smartphone manufacturers with big and beautiful celebrities in its advertisements. This approach has assisted Vivo in creating a brand image which is easily marketable to a broad audience in various market niches.
Keeping the Growth Going and Future Outlook
In the year 2023, Vivo smartphone is still remains an industrical power in world market. The company continues to invest effort and resources in research and development, key to it staying ahead in some areas such as 5G, AI, cameras among others. Vivo’s latest launches have not deviated from this thinking, the X80 series coming with different camera technologies developed in partnership with ZEISS and new AI input that improves the user experience.
Thus, the company’s plans to achieve its goals seem to be concentrated in maintaining the sales growth in the existing markets, along with the search for new points of growth in the new territories. It is also expected that the firm will also pursue a strategy of building research and development as a way of making sure that it adapts to the ever changing visage of technologies. Based on its well-established brand, expanding presence in the world market, and unceasing drive to develop new technologies, it can be said that Vivo has all the characteristics necessary to sustain its title as one of the leaders of the smartphone market in the future.
Conclusion
This paper maps the development of Vivo from a local Chinese contender to an international giant in a global smartphone market. The adaptability of the company to market changes and path that has been set to provide the people with innovative solutions is the main reason that this company was able to take a niches in the world of smartphones.
More so, as the firm continues to explore new innovative markets and penetrate new markets across the globe, it will further solidify its position as a market leader in mobile technologies while at the same time delivering new and much higher standards that consumers have come to appreciate. Standing on the sturdiness of brand integrity, client patronage, certainty and devotion to the craft, the future for vivo in the smartphone market is even brighter.
