Information leaks in the smartphone market : should phone makers be concerned?

• Main Authors: Choo, Adam Jin Fu, Tan, Christine Li Wei, Yong, Ai Wen
• Other Authors: Au Pak Hung
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2019
• Subjects: DRNTU::Social sciences::Economic development
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/76867
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

In the ever-increasing market for smartphones, brands compete on features, prices, and swanky new technologies in order to capture consumers attention and affection. Does a set of features help determine what phone the consumer ultimately chooses? Do information leaks and accidental reveals play a role in influencing consumer decisions? More importantly, do firms leak information intentionally to gain a competitive advantage? We build a theoretical model about information leaks, and hand-collected a dataset to test its predictions. Secondary data on the date of leaks of 5 major smartphone brands: Apple, Huawei, LG, Samsung and Xiaomi are collected and examined for the possible relationship between the date of leaks and other factors such as performance of the phones. We found that the empirical evidences support the predictions. A major finding is that the earliest leak that is revealed to the public tend to be the better performing dimensions of the smartphone.