Strengthening Its Market-Oriented Strategy Through B2C Promotion
Use of the Type-C Connector Was the Key to Growth
More than 10 years has passed since Thunderbolt™ was first released on the market. From the very beginning, Motoi Matsuo focused on expanding sales. He has been managing the sales of Thunderbolt™ since 2012.
“We approached PC peripheral device manufacturers mainly in Europe and North America to raise awareness of the features and product appeal of Thunderbolt™, a product that can connect to any device and achieve high-speed transmission. Every manufacturer gave it high marks. Furthermore, Thunderbolt™ 3 enabled the use of USB Type-C ports, which led to its widespread market penetration.” (Matsuo)
What is noteworthy here is that while the basis of the Sumitomo Electric Group's business is B2B, with regard to Thunderbolt™, the group is promoting it as B2C with end users in mind while still keeping B2B at the core.
Awareness-Raising Strategy Through B2C Promotion
Thunderbolt™ cables provided by the Sumitomo Electric Group have been sold by major online retailers for about 10 years. Although sales are small, they represent a valuable opportunity to understand the needs of end users. Then in 2024, new strategies to expand sales were launched. One is the B2C promotion strategy. In addition to traditional B2B promotion, this involves directly approaching end users with the aim of raising awareness and expanding demand. Sumitomo Electric also plans to distribute Thunderbolt™ 4 cables to customers in other business divisions as giveaways, and also aims to have them adopted as giveaways by their customers.
“Thunderbolt™ cables are well known among B2B customers such as PCrelated device manufacturers, but awareness of them among end users is currently low. Therefore, we hope to use various opportunities, such as communicating through social media, revamping our website, developing brand pages on major ecommerce sites, and exhibiting at overseas exhibitions, in order to ultimately increase awareness among end users and spur increased sales. If these efforts prove successful, we would like to expand them to our sales bases around the world.” (Matsuo)
When Thunderbolt™ cables were first released, the Sumitomo Electric Group had a lion’s share of the market. However, overseas suppliers and manufacturers have since followed suit, so the market is now in a state of fierce competition. Let us see how the sales side is going to secure a market advantage.
“What's important is to quickly respond to various requests for minor changes from our B2B customers, leveraging the high level of technical expertise we have developed thus far. At the same time, it is also important to respond accurately to the feedback we receive directly from end users through B2C channels, while proactively using this feedback for our marketoriented B2B strategy. We also want to demonstrate our strength in terms of price and supply by thoroughly reducing costs to enhance our competitiveness and by expanding production in Vietnam.” (Matsuo)
The Sumitomo Electric Group has also begun manufacturing and selling USB4 cables (the latest standard) for the large USB market. It will be interesting to see how the Sumitomo Electric Group's new B2C business, which started with the first generation of Thunderbolt™, develops with the upcoming release of Thunderbolt™ 5.
Thunderbolt™ cables can be used as giveaways from your company!
Use Thunderbolt™ cables as a giveaway for your company. For more details, please contact us at thunderbolt-enquiry@info.sei.co.jp
■Giveaway details
Product name: Thunderbolt™ 4 or 5 (passive cable)
Cable length: 0.5 to 1.0 m
Color: Black
Box: 115 mm × 82 mm × 28 mm
* Box design can be customized according to your preference.