This document provides an overview and analysis of Vodafone's strategic position in Egypt. It begins with a brief history of Vodafone Egypt and an evaluation of its vision and mission statements. It then analyzes Vodafone's internal and external factors through SWOT, IFE, and EFE matrix analyses. Finally, it evaluates Vodafone's competitive position against its main rivals Orange and Etisalat using Porter's Five Forces model and a competitive profile matrix. The analyses show that Vodafone has the largest market share in Egypt and generally performs well against its internal and external factors, but could improve by pursuing new opportunities in technology.
4. 4
Brief History:
• 1998 - Entered the Egyptian market as (Misrfone
telecommunication company/Click GSM).
• 1999/2002 - Acquired by Vodafone group.
• 2002 - Rebranded as Vodafone Egypt.
• 2003 - Telecom Egypt acquired 8.6% ownership stake.
• 2003 - Established Vodafone Egypt Foundation.
• 2005 - Telecom Egypt obtained an additional
ownership stake of 16.9% (total 25.5%).
• 2006 - Launched its offshore operations under the
name of Vodafone International Services (VIS).
• 2007 - Acquired Raya telecom.
• 2008 - Acquired Sarmady.
• 2007 - Vodafone Egypt’s shareholders structure
consisted of Vodafone Group with 54.93% ; Telecom
Egypt with 44.94% and a minority free float of 0.13%.
5. 5
Vision and Mission Statements:
Vision statement:
We will be the communications leader in an increasingly
connected world.
Mission statement:
Connecting and empowering people and communities,
accelerating the development of Egypt.
Evaluation: Vodafone's mission statement is too short,
lacks a lot of components (technology, concern for
employees, public image, etcetera), and relatively
inconvenient.
6. 6
Mission Statement Evaluation:
Suggested mission statement:
Vodafone is proudly leading the telecommunication
industry in Egypt with the highest market share and
millions of subscribers. We manage to use the latest
technologies in our business to offer the highest service
quality available, for meeting the trust of our customers.
At Vodafone, we believe in connecting and empowering
people and communities, that includes our clients,
employees, stakeholders, government, in addition to
supporting the non government/profit initiatives.
8. 8
S.W.O.T Analysis:
Strengths: Vodafone's major strength point does exist in
their market share, which is the biggest among other
competitors; that reflects a stable and strong financial
performance through many consecutive years.
Weaknesses: the marketing department at Vodafone
may be strongly responsible for the company's points of
weakness, which are their less innovative offers and to
their annoying sales efforts on both calls and messages.
Opportunities: Egyptian internet companies in 2016 still
offers a 512 kb/s internet speed accompanied by a poor
service. Also, there is a growing use of technology and
internet in Egypt, both represent a great opportunity for
Vodafone to strongly compete in that market.
Threats: nearly no one out there in Egypt doesn't have a
single cell phone with an active network, if not two or
more, that's the big threat: market saturation. Also, the
governmental restrictions is a big threat too, especially
with the unstable political and economical atmosphere.
10. 10
External Factor Evaluation matrix:
KEY INTERNAL FACTORS WEIGHT RATING SCORE
Opportunities:
1. Insufficient technology in the 0.10 1 0.10
market (global comparison)
2. Weak local internet companies 0.15 3 0.45
3. Growing use of technology 0.10 3 0.30
Threats:
1. Inflation and bad economy 0.15 2 0.30
2. Severe competition 0.20 4 0.80
3. Development of some new 0.15 3 0.45
substitute technologies
4. Market saturation 0.05 3 0.15
5. Governmental restrictions 0.10 2 0.20
2.75
11. 11
Comments:
As noticed from both IFE and EFE matrices, Vodafone is
dealing relatively good with its internal/external factors,
with overall scores of 3.05 and 2.75 respectively, they
remain over the 2.5 average.
Obviously, Vodafone is managing the core better than
the crust. A little look at the company's history, you’ll
notice that since 2007, there has been an absence in the
big strategic moves like partnerships and acquisitions,
Vodafone paid a greater attention to strengthen the
internal issues, and successfully managed to do that.
Well, will not state the opposite about managing the
external issues, because apparently Vodafone did that
good too, but not as good as the inner thing, so it's
recommended for the company to get back on the old
track as for catching opportunities. Technology is very
needed and very poor out there, the road is clear, they
have to go bravely for that.
13. 13
Competitive Analysis:
(Porter’s Five-Forces Model)
Rivalry among existing competitors: High
The word ‘high’ may not be enough for describing the
competition among the three major companies in the
telecommunications industry in Egypt, instead, we can
use ‘severe’ / ‘extreme’. The three companies are nearly
the same in their services, offerings, promotion, etcetera.
Vodafone comes first in the market share with around 44
percent, Orange (formerly Mobinil) in the second place
with 33 percent, and finally Etisalat with 23 percent.
Bargaining power of buyers: High
With similar services, very low priced sim cards, and poor
customer retaining and loyalty programs, the only reason
for sticking to one company may be “don't wanna change
my number” and even you can shift to another company
with your same old number.
14. 14
Bargaining power of suppliers: Low
The telecommunications industry –by nature- is not
affected by suppliers, supply chain here don't play and
important role and is not considered as an advantage, as
there is only one fair service supplier, which is the
government. Other suppliers (SIM cards manufacturers,
network towers companies, equipment suppliers,
etcetera) may have an influence, yet, it remains
insignificant.
Threat of substitute products: Medium – High
Cell phones network communication could perhaps be
the new land line communication (a new old thing); with
the development of social networks and applications,
phone networks could be useless comparable to those
technologies. Companies need to think in ways to cope
with that shift without losing their ‘beloved’ source of
revenue, their clients.
15. 15
Threat of new market entrants: Low – Medium
Although Etisalat entered the market in 2007 and
successfully acquired a fair share of it, that cannot be
repeated again easily from a new company, as the
market is almost fully saturated, mobile network
subscriptions have already exceeded the number of
population, and a place for a new player may not be
available anymore. Although it's hard to enter, but it’s
not impossible, a revolutionary technologies and services
could reopen the market’s closed doors.
17. 17
Comments:
Vodafone is four or five (more than one) steps ahead of
its competitors, this could easily observed in the higher
market share, the better service quality, and the wider
range of geographical reach.
Currently, the competition is not only limited to mobile
network operators, ‘Whatsapp’ for example may be
considered as a competitor. People are communicating
differently nowadays, phone calls are being replaced by
social media applications, it's a universal invasion, and
network operators in general need to turn this need into
a want, and by ‘this’ I mean phone communication.
Overall performance of Vodafone among competitors is
great, with one point above the 2.5 average, and over
half a point over its competitors.