Articles

Business Strategy for Pharmaceutical Company to Become the Market Leader in the Psychiatry Sector in Indonesia

The prevalence of people with mental disorders in Indonesia continues to increase and its growth has been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The increase of the prevalence is also extrapolated to the market for psychiatric drugs in Indonesia which has grown by ten percent from 2018 to 2019 and 2019 to 2020. In the psychiatric market, 12 companies with the highest sales already account for 80% market share. Seeing the psychiatric drug market condition that continues to grow and its market share is still small, the low-market-share pharmaceutical companies must have a new business strategy to seize this opportunity and become one of the market leaders in the psychiatric drug market in Indonesia. This research was conducted to determine the main external and internal factors that affect psychiatric drug business and then provide alternative business strategies for pharmaceutical companies to become one of the market leaders in the psychiatric market. In this study, interviews were conducted with 18 experts in the pharmaceutical field. Data from interviews were analyzed using content analysis. Pharmaceutical market data from IQVIA was used in this study and analyzed using the growth-share matrix. The results of the content analysis show that the main external factors affecting the psychiatry business are categorized into legal, political, economic, market, technological and social aspects. Meanwhile, the key internal factors are categorized into brand, corporate culture, human assets and intellectual capital, organizational resources, originality, physical resources and relationships. Low-market-share companies in the growing market need to carry out an intensive strategy to increase its market share through product development, market penetration and market development.

Premium on a Budget: Second-hand iPhones in Indonesia

Apple, as one of the major players in the global smartphone market, does not have a strong position in the market but there are unique patterns found in the iPhone market in Indonesia as the second-hand market is thriving, although the newer iPhones keep releasing annually. This research is trying to explore the uniqueness of the Indonesia market through several interviews conducted and observation. Through analysing the company’s internal capabilities and market conditions in Indonesia, it is found that despite the annual changes, Apple has preserved the older iPhone due to longer life cycle support by the company, releasing the older iPhones as ‘cheaper versions’ at discounted prices as the part of strategy to maintain the premium images of iPhones. This strategy not only meant to increase the sales of iPhones, but also to increase the consumer base of the iOS product as the iPhone was considered a gateway of the Apple software and product ecosystem. The buyer desired to have the iOS experience on a budget. However, most second-hand iPhones in Indonesia were not registered under Indonesian authorities which could potentially be blocked by the Indonesian government and buyers’ concern about the used quality product. Solutions proposed for the Indonesian market meant selling the certified refurbished iPhone that officially shipped to Indonesia as the budget iPhone options with better quality control to ensure the consumer’s peace of mind.