Reference no: EM132266755
At the beginning of 2013, THREED competed exclusively in the manufacturing of 3D-printers industry and generated approximately 97% of its revenue from the sales of 3D-printers and the rest from sales of other accessories. Of the total of these revenues, 50% was from sales in the U.S., 30% was from sales in Europe, 15% was from sales in Asia and 5% was from other areas. In December 2013, THREED entered the 3D-pen manufacturing industry by introducing a new 3D-pen known as PenDora. While a 3D printer is precise and most appropriate for prototyping parts, a 3D-pen supports fluidity and creativity and doesn’t require a fully modelled 3D file to start. In developing and selling the PenDora, THREED was able to use many of the same R&D facilities, suppliers, production facilities, and distribution and sales outlets as it did for the 3D-printers. By 2016, the THREED’s PenDora and accessories accounted for 35% of THREED' revenues.
1. Describe in theory different types of corporate diversification. What diversification type best characterizes THREED in 2013 and why? Answer the same for year 2016. If THREED were looking to getting into the business of making laser cutters, what would its diversification be called?
2. Which type of economies of scope is THREED experiencing between its units? Now assuming that one of the reasons that THREED entered into the 3D-pen industry was to offset weakness in the 3D-printers industry (when the 3D-printers industry was weak, the 3D-pen industry was strong, and vice versa), THREED would be pursuing which type of economies of scope?
3. Describe shortly the concepts of multipoint competition and predatory pricing. If, when THREED introduced its PenDora in 2013, the company used its profits in the 3D-printer industry to subsidize its operations in the 3D-pen industry and used this subsidy to sell the PenDora for a price that was less than the cost of producing and selling the 3D-pens, this would be an example of which of the two?
4. Assume that in 2013 THREED did not want to employ a diversification strategy to enter the 3D-pen industry. What could it use as a substitute for diversification?