We often talk about a market as one huge block or one big pool: the market for shoes, the market for cars, and the market for computers. This perspective is valid but can be misleading, particularly for someone starting a business. Generalizing things makes them average. A person wanting to sell computers will be in a tough spot if they think they should start with just “computers.” A better question to ask would be: what kind of computers and for whom? Is it gaming computers or corporate machines? For organizations or individuals? For creatives or gamers? Developers or musicians?
Apple and Samsung might be in the same field, but they are not really competing. We might be deceived into thinking they do compete because they are in the same industry, but to a large extent, they don’t. Apple has its customers, and Samsung has its customers.
The market is divided.
The best way to understand a market is to see it as many markets, based on the buyer and the product they are seeking. And that’s the power of niching down.
