Table of Contents

Abstract...................................................................................................................................................3

I. Introduction ....................................................................................................................................4

a) Existing Problems ........................................................................................................................5

b) Solution .......................................................................................................................................6

II. Product Planning.............................................................................................................................9

a) Product Innovation .....................................................................................................................9

b) Potential Competitors.................................................................................................................9

c) Market study.............................................................................................................................11

III. Product Specification ................................................................................................................13

a) Customer Needs........................................................................................................................14

b) Matrices Used ...........................................................................................................................15

c) Final Product Specification........................................................................................................17

IV. Product Life Cycle......................................................................................................................18

I. Product Development Time ......................................................................................................18

II. Product Life Cycle......................................................................................................................20

I. Product Development Phase ................................................................................................20

II. Introduction Phase................................................................................................................20

III. Growth Phase....................................................................................................................20

IV. Maturity Phase..................................................................................................................21

V. Decline Phase ........................................................................................................................21

V. Business Analysis...........................................................................................................................22

a) P.E.S.T. ANALYSIS ......................................................................................................................22

• Political situation...................................................................................................................22

• Social analysis........................................................................................................................24
 • Technological analysis...........................................................................................................25

b) S.W.O.T. Analysis.......................................................................................................................25

VI. Final Product Summary.............................................................................................................27

VII. References and Bibliography ....................................................................................................28

VIII. Appendix ...................................................................................................................................30

a) Individual Contributions............................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

b) Survey Questionnaire................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

2
 Abstract

Over here we are talking about developing an innovative product and discuss about its
development processes. Besides that, we will look into customer needs and try to satisfy it.
We will be analyzing the internal and external environment by using the PEST and SWOT
Analysis so that we will recognize that the Business Management and Product Design are
closely connected. The steps are as follow: identification, analysis and problem solution.
These tools that we made use of is to analyze the competitiveness in the business
environment both nationally and internationally so that newly designed product can be
introduced. With the structured methodology in planning, designing and introducing our new
product, we will be able to make sure that it will have a successful product life cycle and we
are looking on the opportunity to extend it.

3
 I. Introduction

The consumer product that we will be working on will be mobile phones. Almost everybody
in the world make use of this telecommunication device to communicate among themselves
over a network. Mobile phones are very much different with cordless phones because for
mobile phones, there is no distance limitations whereas for cordless, you won’t be able to
communicate clearly once the handset is too far away from the base station. Most mobile
phones connect to a cellular network owned by a mobile network operator mainly Singtel,
MobileOne (M1) and Starhub. Besides communicating through voice, mobile phones are
able to provide multi-functional features. They provide additional services such as Personal
Digital Assistant (PDA), Video, Bluetooth, Multimedia Messaging (MMS), 3.5G, Camera,
Wireless Fidelity (WIFI), Global Positioning System (GPS), MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 (MP3)
and Short Messaging Service (SMS). Recently they have released the 4G that aims to
provide broadband wireless access too.

Mobile phone provides many purposes. We use it in the event of emergency, doing business
and also to stay in touch with family members and friends. Some people may even own a
second phone for business or personal use and some may have multiple SIM cards for
various purposes. Mobile phones are divided into different categories such as Smart phone,
camera phone, music phone and a basic phone. The most commonly used feature in a
mobile phone is the SMS text messaging and there are many other software and
applications that are accompanied with it. Now it even offers job search, career consultation,
banking services etc. From here we can see that consumer application is on a rise and
widely available but has anyone thought of the power supply?

The power in mobile phones is obtained from rechargeable batteries and the various ways to
charge a battery includes AC adapter, USB etc. Although there has been a rule from GSM
Association for standardizing the way of charging a mobile phone which is to use a Micro-
USB connector and reports also shows that it is much more energy efficient as compared to
existing chargers. After saying so much, do you realize that what has been mentioned above
all requires power? As the additional services, software and applications increases, the
power consumption increases as well. In the past, manufacturers made use of nickel metal-
hydride batteries then later on they make a switch to lithium ion batteries as they are much
lighter and currently, manufacturers has adopted the lithium-polymer batteries for its
lightweight and the possibility to make the battery in various shape as compared to the

4
previous cuboids shape and that is why we will be making use of this new battery to extend
the battery life of mobile phones.

a) Existing Problems

Many people are using mobile phones nowadays and some even replace their home
telephone line with a mobile phone instead due to their portability. However the main issue is
still with the power of the mobile phone. It will only remain portable when it has sufficient
power. That is why many people are facing the problem of low battery whenever they need
their mobile phones and most of them are trying all ways out to make their battery last longer
and to prolong the battery life.

Many people suggests to turn the phone off when you are sleeping or after working hours,
some suggests to turn off the vibration, backlight, refrain from using unnecessary features
and even to keep calls short. They can go up to the extent of turning off the infrared, GPS,
WIFI, and Bluetooth and also ask you to use GSM instead of 3G. Let me ask you the
following questions:

1. What if you cannot hear your ringtone and yet you turn off the vibration mode?
2. What if you have problem seeing the screen and yet you switch off the backlight?
3. What if you are on a very boring trip and yet you are unable to use the features in
your mobile phone?
4. What if you need to make an urgent call regarding your work and yet you have to
keep your call short?
5. What if you need to transfer some documents from your mobile phone to your laptop
and yet you switch off your infrared and Bluetooth?
6. What if you lost your way and you need to use the GPS and WIFI to navigate your
way out and yet you switched them off?

We believe nobody likes their mobile phones to be at the state of ‘Low Battery.’ Just imagine
that if you are waiting for an important phone call/SMS and your mobile phone dies on you.
Don’t you feel irritated?

This scenario happens to us before and we seem very uneasy without a ‘working’ mobile
phone because nowadays more and more people are getting very reliant on their mobile
phones and that includes us. Frankly speaking we don’t charge our mobile phone everyday
but some people do. This shows exactly how is the battery life of most mobile phones out

5
there in the market. At times you may even forget to charge your mobile phone and you
need it immediately and yet you are unable to access to a charger.

Below will be two real life examples on how much they hate ‘Battery Low’:

Figure 1 – Mobile phone turns off when texting somebody

(Source: Facebook (n. d.) i hate "battery low!" [online] available from
<http://www.facebook.com/pages/i-hate-battery-low/75387032041> [11 April 2010])

Figure 2 – Mobile phone die two times a day

(Source: Facebook (n. d.) I Hate "Battery Low" [online] available from
<http://www.facebook.com/pages/I-Hate-Battery-Low/94461751515> [11 April 2010])

b) Solution

Having heard so many problems faced by the users, we decide to come out with an
innovative product which will be able to resolve all the problems mentioned above or at least
double the battery life as compared to the current duration. Our product name will be ‘In-Built
Auto Switch Dual Battery.’ All the mobile phones in the market only come with one battery by

6
default unless you purchase another spare battery on your own. All of us understand that the
particular battery that it comes with has a limited talk time even it is fully-charged. This
applies especially to those users that will be on the phone most of the time and also to those
users that make use those energy hungry features very often. These two groups of user will
definitely experience a very rapid low battery signal and that is why I think the product that I
am innovating will benefits these two groups of people especially.

The concept of our product will be to build in a secondary battery that will sits together with
the current one and once the primary battery runs out of power, the mechanism will do an
auto switch to the secondary battery without interrupting the user’s work. This will work
similarly like the Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) of a computer system. User do not have
to worry about losing their unsaved work due to battery empty or being interrupted during
their game play when the battery is in critical condition. One condition of doing that will be to
adopt the lithium-polymer batteries so that we will be able to construct the battery into
various shapes to make it compatible for various brands and models of mobile phones.
Other than that, it is also lightweight and this battery will not add on unnecessary weight to
the current mobile phone. We will be taking Palm Pre as my product example and it can be
applied on other phone too (after modification).

The following figure will show the exploded view of Palm Pre and we will be focusing on the
battery and the communication PCB to suggest how the additional battery can be attached.

Figure 3 – Palm Pre Exploded View

(Source: iSuppli (n. d.) Palm Pre Teardown Analysis - Exploded View [online] available from
<http://www.isuppli.com/Asset/Palm%20Pre%20Exploded%20View.jpg> [11 April 2010])
7
 We are suggesting adding in
another connection to battery just
on top of the current one for the
secondary battery that we will be
attaching.

Figure 4 – Palm Communication PCB

(Source: Ryan Kairer (n. d.) iFixIt Tears Down the Pre and Touchstone [online] available
from <http://www.palminfocenter.com/news/9825/ifixit-tears-down-the-pre-and-touchstone/>
[11 April 2010])

We will be discussing with

the manufacturer to make
the original battery
slimmer so that an
additional battery can sit
right on top without adding
too much bulkiness

Figure 5 – Battery Sitting Position

(Source: Doug Berger (n. d.) The Palm Pre has a removable battery [online] available from
<http://www.gadgetell.com/tech/author/admin/> [11 April 2010])

8
II. Product Planning

a) Product Innovation

We will be looking at an existing technology of lithium-ion battery for mobile phones and
apply innovation onto it by increasing its Energy Density. In doing so, we will achieve a
mobile phone battery that is half the size of its predecessor while providing the same energy
storage capability as the bulkier counterparts. Two of this innovative battery designs shall be
installed in each mobile phone – one as the main power source for the device and the other
as a back-up power source. The next step would be to develop a miniature switch circuit –
an existing technology that we plan to utilize and integrate into this back-up battery project -
that would be responsible for switching the cell phone units’ power connection from battery 1
to battery 2.

b) Potential Competitors

The auto-switching dual-battery shall be an innovative product that is aimed to enter the
marketplace as a first-of-a-kind product. It will be the only mobile device battery that offers a
half thicker size as of current offerings but with twice the power and at the same time
provides a back-up system in times of emergencies. However, this does not mean that the
auto-switching dual-battery will have no competitors in the market. As other manufacturers
are having their own innovations, we see the following products that may be competitive to
the auto-switching dual-battery system:

Cellboost

Cellboost is a disposable battery pack that comes in many sizes and applications.
One of which is for mobile phones and other mobile devices. It utilizes the
technology of ordinary batteries but packaged in a sealed container with the
appropriate connector for the device in need of “boost”. It is designed for
emergency power requirement at times when the user is caught in a situation
where there is no charger or power available to charge his/her mobile device. This

9
is pretty much what auto-switching dual-battery product is looking after, although
Cellboost is a bit limited in terms of time of usage as it promise to deliver up to only
one hour of power.

Sanyo Eneloop

Sanyo Eneloop is a battery that combines the advantages of a disposable battery

and a rechargeable battery. The advantage of disposable battery is its readiness in
time of need, you just unpack one and install it in your device and use it right away.
On the other hand there is the advantage of re-usability of rechargeable batteries
which the disposable is not designed for. As Sanyo put it:

“For the first time in battery-history it has been possible to combine the advantages
of rechargeable batteries with the advantages of disposable batteries.

Historically disposable and rechargeable batteries had their individual advantages

which were impossible to combine. “

(Source: Sanyo eneloop (n. d.) What is eneloop? [online] available from
<http://www.eneloop.info/home/general-description.html> [23 April 2010])

Hand-Crank Cell Phone charger

This device is a portable generator that required human power by rotating a lever
and is able to provide enough power for its built-in emergency LED flashlight and a
DC output to charge a mobile device like a cell phone. Here is a short note from the
retailer’s website:

“Multi-function dynamo flashlight & Nokia cell phone charger, no batteries required.
Excellent for emergency use.

Just rotate the swing arms for 1 minute you will have 20 minutes of continuous
bright light for 5 super bright white LED. Or rotate for 3 minutes to charge your cell
phone for 8 minutes talk time.”

This device can be considered to be competing to the auto-switching dual-battery

system as it provides relief from loss of battery charge of a person’s mobile phone
during emergencies – a feature that auto-switching dual-battery system provides.
10
 c) Market study

In today’s competitive environment, one cannot be too careful in making business

decisions, especially for a product innovation project that will utilize limited resources
such as funds. To be able to understand the market, we have conducted a survey from
current mobile phone users and gauge their interest in a new product that will be slightly
thicker but will deliver twice the power.

Our respondents for this survey, as it turned out, were from the age group of 26-35 years
of age, and are professional individuals and both genders equally represented. From the
first questions, we can see that most users utilize their phones for many different
applications; however, calling and SMS/MMS are the top two uses.

Figure 6 – Question 1

On the other hand, if users would be asked to choose between each mobile phone functions,
we see the result leaning towards BLUETOOTH and WIFI among the most chosen function
11
from the rest. These are two of the most power-hungry functions of the mobile phones which
this is giving us indication that mobile phone users demand more from their units in terms of
applications that has implications on their cell-phone battery usage.

Figure 7 – Functions Ratings

Even when majority of the mobile phone users practice a habit of charging their units each
day, a staggering 80% of the users still experience a dead-battery phone scenario as can be
seen from these two graphs. With these data, we can see that there is an unmet need by the
end-users for an alternative to having a dead-battery phone. This is where our product can
exploit the opportunity by offering a solution of a second power source (a second battery) for
one charging only.

12
Figure 8 – Question 5

The question of whether the consumers would be willing to use a product that solves the
problem of dead battery at a trade-off for a slightly thicker phone is clearly answered by this
survey result:

Figure 9 – Question 6

III. Product Specification

We are interested to develop a secondary in-built auto switch battery for the mobile phone
market although many battery manufacturers are selling high capacity batteries but often
these batteries are very expensive. We are targeting consumers that are more concern with
price and their mobile phone battery life. We want to broaden the sales of our innovated
battery so we will be spending a lot of time identifying customer needs. We will have to
spend time working with the mobile phone manufacturers and dealers because they are the
13
one who have assembled the list of customer needs. Over here we will present a method for
establishing product specifications. We are not going to make use of complicated software.
We are just going to use the spreadsheet software that everyone is familiar with to come out
with the matrices.

a) Customer Needs

I have previously discussed that this innovation is to resolve the problems that are
encountered by many users. I have identified what the customer need and went ahead to
propose this idea to satisfy the customer’s needs and requirements. I am pretty sure that this
product is focused on the need of the customer and all the information provided above are
facts based. I will be adopting the customer-needs framework to properly proceed with the
development with this product. The following figure shows how customer-needs framework
is related to other development process:

Figure 10 – Customer-Needs Framework

(Source: Karl T. Ulrich, Steven D. Eppinger (2000) 2nd edn. ed. by Jill Braaten Product
Design and Development. United States: McGraw-Hill Higher Education)

In order to fulfil customer’s needs, I need collected raw data from them for further
interpretation and that is why I am able to identify what are their primary and secondary
needs as well as who I am targeting. With all the consolidated data on hand, I will have more
confident in building a value-added product and ensure that the quality of the product is not
being compromised. The main mission of this innovation is to resolve the problem of ‘Low
Battery’ frequently with the help of my ‘In-Built Auto Switch Dual Battery.’ My business goal
is also very clear. Hopefully this product can be launched in the fourth quarter of 2010 and
my aim is to capture at least 15% of the mobile phone market by 2012. Our product primary
14
consumer will be those business personnel and teenagers while our secondary consumer
can be anyone that holds a mobile phone. This shows the flexibility of this product.

b) Matrices Used

In the figure below you will see a list of customer needs. We will develop a set of
specifications precisely based on the details stated.

No Need Imp
1 In-built auto switch battery reduce the frequency of charging 3
2 In-built auto switch battery easy switch between battery 2
3 In-built auto switch battery instant switch when battery flat 5
4 In-built auto switch battery should be firmly attached 3
5 In-built auto switch battery should preserve the characteristic of the phone 3
6 In-built auto switch battery remain rigid even if phone if dropped 4
7 In-built auto switch battery is lightweight 4
8 In-built auto switch battery fit wide variety of mobile phones 5
9 In-built auto switch battery is easy to install 4
10 In-built auto switch battery instils pride 1
11 In-built auto switch battery is affordable 4
12 In-built auto switch battery will not corrode 5
13 In-built auto switch battery easy access 3
14 In-built auto switch battery lasts a long time 3
15 In-built auto switch battery safe to use 5

Figure 11 – Customer needs for the in-built auto switch battery and their importance

The product specification does not tell us what to do to meet the customer needs but it gave
us a gauge on what the customers are looking for and what we have to do. In order to have
an idea on how to design and engineer our product, we have to establish this product
specification so that we state out precisely all the measurable details that our product has to
do to be commercially successful. We will reflecting on the customer needs stated above
and differentiate our product from the competitors and we will make sure that it is
economically and technically realizable. We are going to establish our product specification
by making use of the needs-metrics matrix. This particular matrix will reflect directly the
degree to which our product meets the customer needs. This is what we meant by

15
transforming customer needs to a set of precise and measurable specification. The following
figure will show the list of metrics created.

Metric No. Need Nos. Metric Imp.

1 1 Capacity preload 3
2 5, 7 Total weight 3
3 1 Min. time of battery life 3
4 2, 6, 13 Mobile phone adjustment 3
5 14 Cycles to failure 3
6 8 Battery sizes 5
7 9, 13 Time to assemble 4
8 10 Instil pride 1
9 11 Unit manufacturing cost 4
10 2 Time to disassemble 2
11 15 Industrial Standard Test 5
12 2, 3 Uninterrupted Power Supply 4
13 2, 3 One-click switch button 4
14 4, 6, 8 Precise measurements 4
15 7 Use lightweight materials 4
16 8 Compatibility Test 5
17 9, 13 Step by step user guide 4
18 12 Use high quality material 5

Figure 12 – List of metrics for the battery

The figure above is also known as the target specifications. It represents the aspirations and
hope of the development team. These specifications are developed before knowing the
technology constraint. Some of the specifications here may not be met. The following figure
shows you the needs-metrics matrix.

16
Figure 13 – Needs-Metrics Matrix

c) Final Product Specification

From our research, there is no technological constraint and the expected product cost is
within budget. There is not much refinement to be made as these are all desirable
characteristics of our product and below we present our product final specification.

No. Metric
1 Capacity preload
2 Total weight
3 Min. time of battery life
4 Mobile phone adjustment
5 Cycles to failure
6 Battery sizes
7 Time to assemble
8 Instil pride
9 Unit manufacturing cost
10 Time to disassemble
11 Industrial Standard Test
12 Uninterrupted Power Supply
13 One-click switch button
14 Precise measurements
17
 15 Use lightweight materials
16 Compatibility Test
17 Step by step user guide
18 Use high quality material

Figure 14 – Final Product Specifications

IV. Product Life Cycle

The product life cycle represents the time when the product is launch until its decline stage
which leads to withdrawal of the product. There are certain phases that the product will go
through and these phases help the organization to plan better so that they know when they
should introduce a new product and when to withdraw a particular product. Before that, the
product development takes time and it is often broken into tasks represented using the Gantt
Charts.

I. Product Development Time

The Gantt chart will show which tasks must be completed before other task can start. The
Gantt chart can overlap for convenience purposes because some of the tasks are not
dependent on each other. The figure below shows the product development time.

Figure 15 – Project Schedule (Gantt chart)

18
Next we will be representing both the dependencies and timing on the PERT Chart. Each
block is labelled with its task and duration. The figure below shows the PERT Chart.

A Receive and accept spec.

B Concept generation/selection
C Design beta battery
D Produce beta battery
E Develop testing program
F Test beta battery
G Design production battery
H Design mold
I Design assembly equipment
J Purchase assembly equipment
K Fabricate molds
L Debug molds
M Certify battery
N Initial production run

Figure 16 – PERT Chart with Critical Path

Those with the thicker lines are actually the critical path which means the longest chain of
the project. It is important to identify it because if any of these tasks are delayed, it will affect
and increase the project duration. All other paths also consists slack which means even
there is a delay in a particular task, it may not affect the project duration.

19
 II. Product Life Cycle

Basically there are five stages in the Product Life Cycle which is the product development
phase, product introduction phase, product growth phase, product maturity phase and lastly
product decline phase.

I. Product Development Phase

At the moment, we are still at the development phase. We are beginning to develop this new
product idea. In the process, we are transforming all the bits and pieces of information and
incorporating them into our new product. As mentioned in the previous section, our product
will need to go through a lot of changes and modification during the development phase
before introducing it into the market. At this point, the sales are zero so there won’t be any
revenue. During this period, we are spending the most with no returns at all.

II. Introduction Phase

At this phase, it is the time to launch our product. When we are launching this product, we
want to make sure that it will create a huge impact on the market. Once the impact is good,
sales will automatically boost up. At this point we will be spending a lot of money on
promotion and advertisement. We will be planning to distribute our product widely around the
island and we will be making plans to venture overseas as well. We are prepared to spend a
substantial amount of money during this stage and we know that we will only get back a
minimal amount of it back. We will pay special attention to the price of our product and we
will make our pricing policy more aggressive so that our product is more competitive.

III. Growth Phase

This is the time to show the public what we have to offer. We will be our products offerings
for all the supported mobile phones on the market and differentiate our product from rest by
introducing to them the speciality in our product. At times we will make some modification so
that this will discourage our competitors from copying our product and offer the same

20
products like us. As our products are growing, we have to make sure that we are efficient
enough to cope with the situation. We have to make sure that our products are always
stocked up and available as well as provide excellent customer service. If we are able to
manage a good pricing and discount policy, we will be able to gain customer confidence.

IV. Maturity Phase

The market may exist various products that may provide the similar features. Competitors
are definitely coming out with alternative products. No doubt that during this period, we will
me making the most revenue from the product. However, we need to introduce new brand
and renew our models more frequently. As competition arises, we will make amendments to
our pricing and discount policies too. During this stage, we no longer promote to get new
customers but instead we will be changing our scope to differentiating our product in terms
of quality and reliability.

V. Decline Phase

We will be withdrawing our product from the weaker market during this phase. At this point,
we should have another new product ready to be launched so that our product life cycle can
be extended. Therefore we will need to have a very strong development team as well as a
very good marketing strategy. If we are able to upgrade our product or replace our product
with a new product, then the termination of the existing product will not be much of an issue.
This is what we expected but we understand that many products do not follow the usual
shape of the product life cycle as shown below.

21
Figure 17 – Product Life Cycle

(Source: NetMBA.com (n. d.) Product Life Cycle [online] available from
<http://www.netmba.com/marketing/product/lifecycle/> [22 April 2010])

V. Business Analysis

It is essential that we review the factors that we review the many factors that may affect
the launch of the auto-switching dual battery product into the market to ensure its success.
We begin by looking into the macro-environmental analysis of the business and intended
country where this will be launched by using the P.E.S.T. analysis. Later on we will co-
relate this with the micro-environmental factors of the product by using the known
S.W.O.T. analysis to clearly mark out the possible prospects and risks of launching the
auto-switching dual battery product.

a) P.E.S.T. ANALYSIS

Political situation

The mobile phone and its accessories like the battery are under the oversight of the Ministry
of Information and Communications Authority of Singapore. Although the government does
not directly intervene with manufacturing processes, certain regulations and legislations can
be put into place that might affect the business of mobile phone batteries. This is especially
22
true now that election is around the corner and new leadership might point a new direction.
For the mean time, however, things are looking good as the government increases its
support to enterprises with reduced corporate income tax from 18% to 17%.

(Source: Janus Corporate Solutions Pte Ltd (n. d.) Singapore Income Tax, Singapore
Corporate Tax [online] available from <http://www.guidemesingapore.com/corporate-
taxation/c321-corporate-taxation-system-overview.htm> [23 April 2010])

The NEA is overseeing battery disposal procedures and promotes recycling drives to the
public and business sectors alike. Policies and disclaimers have to be drafted down to make
sure that this product does not run across any problem with this agency. So far, the agency
is very supportive having seen minimal problems in battery disposal in Singapore.

Economic situation

Last year, Singapore economy entered into a recession that prompted the government to
pump stimulus funds to help dampen the impact of the global crisis. This year, however, the
Singapore economy is looking optimistic having been able to get out of the recession earlier
than expected. This optimism is shared by many industries including consumer electronics.
Consider the industry forecast by the business monitor below:

Industry Forecast Scenario

The Singapore consumer electronics

market is worth US$3.2 billion in 2010 Consumer Electronics Demand (US$mn)

and is forecasted to swell into US$3.7 2008-2014f

billion in 2014.

In this amount, communications

equipment such as mobile phones
account for about 10% with a strong
growth profile that follows the trend until
2014.

e/f = estimate/forecast. Source: BMI

Figure 18 – Consumer Electronics Demand

23
(Source: Business Monitor International Ltd (n. d.) Singapore Q2 2010 (Industry Forecast
Article) [online] available from <http://www.businessmonitor.com/cgi-
bin/request.pl?SessionID=736490531216502&view=articleviewer&article=327481&service=
20&iso=SG&metaid=190> [23 April 2010])

With this data projecting growth in consumer electronics, it can be said that the market
presents a good opportunity for introducing dual-battery auto-switching project.

Social analysis

The social environment in Singapore is one that is vibrant, as well as stable and peaceful.
Although a heterogeneous society, this hybrid regime country having democracy and
authoritarian elements (Source: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Singapore [29 April
2010]) has attained a social harmony through the good governance of its officials.

Singaporeans have an age median at 38 years old (Source:

<https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sn.html [29 April 2010]) are
vibrantly engaged with each-other through various social networking websites, which they
access mainly through wireless mobile devices such as cell phones (Source: Marketing-
interactive.com (21 April 2008) Singaporeans' love for online social networking surpasses
major overseas markets [online] available from <http://www.marketing-
interactive.com/news/6284> [29 April 2010]) which can be a good opportunity for the auto-
switching dual battery product as more people tend to use their mobile devices to get
connected with friends and family.

Most working Singaporeans attain a level of economic freedom that equates to a generally
better and satisfying life. This is supported by The Heritage Foundation’s Economic Freedom
Index 2010 that placed Singapore second amongst 183 countries that were rated. (Source:
The Heritage Foundation (n. d.) Index of Economic Freedom World Rankings [online]
available from <http://www.heritage.org/index/ranking.aspx> [29 April 2010]). This will
definitely have a good impact to this project having known that the market intended for has a
buying power.

24
 Technological analysis

Singapore is an attractive business haven for many multi-national corporations mainly due to
its investment in technological infrastructure in many facets of its economic governance.
Information Technology is one of the predominant benefactors of that infrastructure
investment. As a result, Singapore is one of the countries in the world with the fastest
broadband connection not only in offices but also in its households. As a result, internet
connection is becoming (if not already is) an integral part of the lives of majority of
Singaporeans. This dependence is also being translated to wireless connections and mobile
devices. As such, the state of technology in Singapore presents an opportunity for the auto-
switching dual-battery product as more and more people rely on their mobile devices for
many applications.

b) S.W.O.T. Analysis

STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES

1. Reduced frequency of charging 1. Thicker than usual batteries

2. Twice the battery capacity 2. Bulge on the back of the phone

3. Automatic back-up switching 3. More expensive than conventional

battery
4. Longer battery life-cycle

5. Cost-effective

6. Safe

OPPORTUNITIES THREATS

1. Innovative technology 1. Substitute products:

2. Instils pride of ownership a. Sanyo Eneloop

3. Dependence of population to wireless b. Cellboost

devices
c. Hand-cranked cell phone battery

25
4. Tech-savvy population charger

2. Super-capacitor

Figure 19 – SWOT Analysis

The auto-switching dual-battery will enjoy a great number of advantages over the
competition thanks to its numerous strengths. The feature of “Reduced frequency of
charging” and “Twice the battery capacity” will be welcomed by end-users who are not a fan
of frequent charging. On the other hand, the features “Automatic switching to back-up
battery” and “Longer battery life-cycle” are a convenient addition to the advantages that the
consumers would enjoy. On top of these, the innovative product is made cost-effective and
safe to use. By banking on these advantages, the company can enjoy a place in the market
for mobile phones and accessories.

However, there are a few disadvantages that this product presents like being thicker, more
expensive than ordinary batteries and the unlikely aesthetic feature that it will present to the
mobile phone. These are the factors that the company should manage to lessen the impact
of the disadvantages. In the survey conducted, however, we can see that there is statistically
far more people who would consider a slightly thicker battery in exchange for twice the
power.

The auto-switching dual-battery is facing many opportunities as it is an Innovative new

technology that the Singapore populace would readily embrace. Singaporeans are known to
be one of the people that are eager to have what the latest market is offering which the
company can bank on. Furthermore, their dependence to wireless devices as a means for
getting by their day-to-day lives presents a good opportunity to address their battery power
needs.

As the auto-switching dual battery product is an innovative unit, it will be one-of-a-kind in the
market that will not have an equal competitor. The threat for this product, therefore, will
come from the substitute market offerings such as Sanyo’s Eneloop battery and Cellboost
instant battery that is useful for emergency and the cumbersome hand-cranked cell phone
charger for emergency purpose as well. Another substitute to this product would be the
super capacitor – this is a new technology development in the electronics component field
that could soon overtake the battery industry as it mature in the near future.
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VI. Final Product Summary

From this innovation on improving battery life on mobile phones, we are able to recognize
that Business Management and Product Design are closely connected, both relating to
identification, analysis and problem solution.

We have also demonstrated knowledge of the core concepts of marketing, considering the
customer’s requirements, product value and quality and the financial implications of design
decision.

We have selected the suitable tools to analyze the competitive business environment, both
designed nationally and internationally so that our newly designed product can be
introduced.

In this innovation, we applied a structured methodology to the planning, design, and

introduction of our new product and from what is being explained throughout this whole
report, we discussed on our product development processes and identify the customer’s
needs and work towards satisfying it. Not forgetting to analyze the environment internally
and externally through the PEST and SWOT Analysis. Last but not least, the product life
cycle gave us a gauge on how to analyze the product life and how it the product matures
together with new technology. It reflects on the change in customers as technology matures.

27
VII. References and Bibliography

Printed Source

1. Karl T. Ulrich, Steven D. Eppinger (2000) 2nd edn. ed. by Jill Braaten Product Design
and Development. United States: McGraw-Hill Higher Education
2. John Mateo (2010) A330MED Product Development Strategies. Singapore: Auston
Institute of Management & Technology

Electronic Source

1. MobileOne Ltd (n. d.) M1 [online] available from

<http://www.m1shop.com.sg/DisplayProduct?displayDetails=24915&coID=M1&coe=y
> [11 April 2010]
2. Facebook (n. d.) I Hate "Battery Low" [online] available from
<http://www.facebook.com/pages/I-Hate-Battery-Low/94461751515> [11 April 2010]
3. Facebook (n. d.) i hate "battery low!" [online] available from
<http://www.facebook.com/pages/i-hate-battery-low/75387032041> [11 April 2010]
4. iSuppli (n. d.) Palm Pre Teardown Analysis - Exploded View [online] available from
<http://www.isuppli.com/Asset/Palm%20Pre%20Exploded%20View.jpg> [11 April
2010]
5. Ryan Kairer (n. d.) iFixIt Tears Down the Pre and Touchstone [online] available from
<http://www.palminfocenter.com/news/9825/ifixit-tears-down-the-pre-and-
touchstone/> [11 April 2010]
6. Doug Berger (n. d.) The Palm Pre has a removable battery [online] available from
<http://www.gadgetell.com/tech/author/admin/> [11 April 2010]
7. Andrew Lim (n. d.) Extend your mobile phone's battery life [online] available from
<http://digitalliving.cnet.co.uk/insidersecrets/0,39030287,49276132-1,00.htm> [11
April 2010]
8. Wikipedia (n. d.) Mobile phone [online] available from
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phone> [11 April 2010]
9. Shining Lion (n. d.) Mobile Phone Functions [online] available from
<http://www.buzzle.com/articles/mobile-phone-functions.html> [11 April 2010]
10. Markdotnet, Alan J, Bex (n. d.) How to Make Your Cell Phone Battery Last Longer
[online] available from <http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Your-Cell-Phone-Battery-Last-
Longer> [11 April 2010]

28
11. Varun Krish (n. d.) Guide to Survive on Low Mobile Phone Battery [online] available
from <http://www.fonearena.com/blog/2008/12/19/guide-to-survive-on-low-mobile-
phone-battery.html> [11 April 2010]
12. QUICKONLNETIPS (n. d.) 12 Easy Ways to Extend Mobile Phone Battery Life
[online] available from <http://www.quickonlinetips.com/archives/2009/07/12-easy-
ways-to-extend-mobile-phone-battery-life/> [11 April 2010]
13. CNET (n. d.) Sony Ericsson W800i Spec [online] available from
<http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/mobilephones/0,39051201,39087068p,00.htm> [11
April 2010]
14. GSM Arena (n. d.) Palm Pre - Full phone specifications [online] available from
<http://www.gsmarena.com/palm_pre-2726.php> [11 April 2010]
15. Palm USA (n. d.) Palm USA | Palm Pre Phone | Features, Details [online] available
from <http://www.palm.com/us/products/phones/pre/#tab2> [11 April 2010]
16. NetMBA.com (n. d.) Product Life Cycle [online] available from
<http://www.netmba.com/marketing/product/lifecycle/> [22 April 2010]
17. Sanyo eneloop (n. d.) What is eneloop? [online] available from
<http://www.eneloop.info/home/general-description.html> [23 April 2010]
18. Janus Corporate Solutions Pte Ltd (n. d.) Singapore Income Tax, Singapore
Corporate Tax [online] available from <http://www.guidemesingapore.com/corporate-
taxation/c321-corporate-taxation-system-overview.htm> [23 April 2010]
19. Business Monitor International Ltd (n. d.) Singapore Q2 2010 (Industry Forecast
Article) [online] available from <http://www.businessmonitor.com/cgi-
bin/request.pl?SessionID=736490531216502&view=articleviewer&article=327481&s
ervice=20&iso=SG&metaid=190> [23 April 2010]
20. Marketing-interactive.com (21 April 2008) Singaporeans' love for online social
networking surpasses major overseas markets [online] available from
<http://www.marketing-interactive.com/news/6284> [29 April 2010]
21. The Heritage Foundation (n. d.) Index of Economic Freedom World Rankings [online]
available from <http://www.heritage.org/index/ranking.aspx> [29 April 2010]
22. Wikipedia Web Encyclopaedia on Politics of Singapore
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Singapore [29 April 2010]
23. Central Intelligence Agency Website on Singapore
<https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sn.html [29 April
2010]

29
VIII. Appendix

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