Business consultancy project

SWOT- Analysis

Figure.12 SWOT Analysis

Internal	Strength	Weakness
	Market leader	Stable Market Share
	Brand awareness	Absence of the Customer Loyalty Program
	New Marketing Strategy	Low share in the Enterprise Market
	Wide range of Products	Decline of Gross Margin
	Opportunity	Threat
External	Expanded Network Coverage	Market Saturation
	Consumer demand for digitalized services	Mobile services became commodity
	Smartphone Penetration	Mobile Number Portability
	Mobile Broadband share	Competitors price cutting strategy

Strength

Azercell is a market leader with a steady brand position. By using various advertising types, Azercell succeeded to create strong brand recognition among the potential consumers. Recently Azercell has updated its brand identity, and within a modification of a new brand, the company has defined a new marketing strategy for further integration. Currently, Azercell is trying to become the leader in the digitalization of mobile communication services and is aimed at the overcoming obstacles of creating a digitalized environment for consumers. (Azercell - Press Releases, 2019)

Weakness

Market share of Azercell is smaller in comparison with preceding years due to hectic rivalry on the market. Despite that the market share is stable in the last three years, the absence of the growth creates anxiety for the company for further perspectives. Besides, Azercell still falls behind in the enterprise market. Another retreating part of Azercell from competitors is the absence of loyalty programs for customers. However, GencOl program of Azercell is envisaged for segmented subscribers, while extra non-GSM services are also available. Nevertheless, the general loyalty program needs to be developed additionally. Azercell is also forced to reduce prices because of competitors’ behavior, to maintain the lead on the marketplace that leads to the diminishing gross margin consequently.

Opportunity

The mobile network coverage expanded across the country and Azercell covers 99,8% of the residential area of the country (Azercell LLC, 2019). Considering that smartphone penetration is increasing gradually, and in the last year, the growth rate was 28%, the extension of high-speed broadband is becoming the critical requirement of the present mobile communications. Compared with competitors Azercell has the highest mobile broadband share within the country, and Long-Term Evolution (LTE) coverage is being expanded to the whole territory. (GSMA Intelligence Data, 2019)

Threat

The current situation on the market and extremely low-cost strategy of competitors undermine the leadership of Azercell. Moreover, MNP also accelerates and strengthens the rivalry leading to market saturation. Meanwhile, mobile communication is becoming a commodity, and customer loyalty is becoming fragile. Even though the low-cost price is not becoming the critical factor for customer retentions and contemporary customers require more sophisticated and digitalized services through mobile devices.
Consequently, through the evaluation of two assessment tools, it became clear that Azerbaijan Mobile Industry market is saturated, and the competition is getting very aggressive among players. In order to hold the leading position, Azercell must consider new opportunities for creating a value proposition for customers and has to look beyond the traditional background through enlarging horizons. Considering the extensive and effective mobile broadband coverage, Azercell must grow horizontally by bringing new services to
Azerbaijan mobile market via analyzing the global GSM market innovations. Besides, Azercell has to consider collaborative cooperation with other business industries for reinforcing customer retention and competitive advantage through win-win partnership strategy.

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