Being in demand forecasting, I am quite used to dealing with
intra category and cross category cannibalizations esp. in consumer electronics
industry (eg. Smartphones vs compact cameras; tablets vs netbooks; TVs vs mobile
computers). But still the main reason for this cannibalization was over lapping
features.
However, the more I am studying consumer industry, the more
interesting it’s getting. Ultimately people have limited resources (to begin with
money (given this current economic situation for sure that’s not growing), but
it doesn’t stop there as we can also argue over limitations on time and mental
capabilities;) and they cannot have everything.
Recently I was reading one paper that took cannibalization to
another level………… socio economic factors
Smartphones vs CARS (really cars!!)
Youth culture was once car culture. Cars were Friday night.
Cars were Hollywood.
Yet these days, they can't even compete with a smartphone. Young
adults are in fact buying fewer cars today than in the past. According to CNW
Marketing Research, Americans between the ages of 21 to 34 purchased just 27
percent of new cars in 2010, down from 38 percent in 1985.
Is it really reasonable to blame that drop on Gen Y's love
of technology? No, not entirely. But it is fair to think that our preoccupation with
smartphones and laptops might be contributing to the fall. Here's why.
First, Gen Y is strapped for cash. Badly. Thanks to the
recession and slow recovery, it's been slammed with high rates of joblessness
Second, young Americans aren't simply turning their back on
buying cars. They're also turning their backs on driving. The percentage of
teens and twenty-somethings with licenses has dropped dramatically over the
past thirty years, which may be the sign that Gen Y's indifference towards
autos is a cultural shift as much as an economic one.
Finally, this all might be part of a global pattern. There's
a vivid, albeit anecdotal, evidence from Japan, where in 2008, the Wall Street
Journal reported that the country's tech-obsessed youth had all but forgotten
about cars:
“Unlike their parents'
generation, which viewed cars as the passport to freedom and higher social
status, the Internet-connected Japanese youths today look to cars with
indifference, according to market research by the Japan Automobile
Manufacturers Association and Nissan. Having
grown up with the Internet, they (young Generation) no longer depend on a car
for shopping, entertainment and socializing and prefer to spend their money in
other ways.”
Sound familiar? As youth
culture becomes tech culture, it may be be that cars just tend to get pushed
out of the way. No matter where you are in the world.
