Each of you game represents a processor manufacturing company, which manufactures

different variants of processors for mobile handsets. The buyers of the processors are various
mobile handset manufacturers who usually place bulk orders.
Certain variants in the processors are available and you will have to decide among them,
which one to produce, promote and price. You would be provided with certain inputs for
proceeding to further levels. These include
Number of units of each of the processors to be produced: Individual decision to be taken
based on the current demand and future outlook of each of the processors.
Price for individual processor
Promotional spending for each of the variant
Spending on resources used for production: For the players this is not exactly an input, but
they would have to keep in mind of the fact that this is a combination of fixed and variable
cost incurred by the company. And the maximum economies of scale are attained if the
company produces each of the processors in the multiples of 1000.
Spending over research which would help in new product development: This is generally
higher for a company compared to promotion or resource spending costs
Based on the inputs, and the impact of various other parameters such as consumer buying
behaviour, economic and political conditions; and other uncertainties (explained in the later
part); the results are generated which would help the players to take decisions in the
subsequent levels.
Current Scenario
The Smartphone market is rapidly growing and is competitive all the more. With various
players offering high value products, Brand alone cannot help a company. Customers are
slowly turning tech-savvy and Smartphone configuration plays a big role in the buying
decision of a customer. Configuration specifications like RAM, processor, Camera, etc. are
all taken into consideration before finalizing a smart phone purchase
In the current year there are majorly three processors available in the market namely:
Octa Core: A high end processor with high capacity, and best performance among the three
categories. Buyers of this product are much concerned about quality of the product. This
processor is used in luxury segment of phones.
Quad Core: This is processor with medium capacity and decent performance, better than
dual core. This is used in performance segment of phones. The buyers of this processor give
similar weightage to price and quality.

Dual Core: This processor is low priced and also weak in performance in comparison to
other two. This processor is used in economy segment of phone. The buyers of the processor
generally focus on price over quality.
There is a trade magazine named Anandtech. This is a magazine used by processor and cell
phone manufacturers in order to understand the past year market performance and also to get
latest news on going market trends. Both processor and cell phone manufacturers use this
magazine for taking critical decisions about their input variables. This magazine is used for
promotion by processor manufacturers.
Relevant Excel Tab for Players:
InputMaster- The data is explained below

Y1-Input:Y5-Input
Input Decisions
Promotion Spend on individual processors
Price for individual processors
Number of Units to be produced for each of the processor types
R&D Spend (Net of all processors)
No of resources to be purchased (It is not exactly an input but a variable dependent on
the number of units of product produced)

At the end of each year, data on the above mentioned parameters will be benchmarked, and
the entire results would be shared with the players

Playe
rs

Du
al

Price
Qua Oct
d
a

Du
al

Units
Qua Oct
d
a

I/P

I/P

I/P

I/P

I/P

I/P

I/P

I/P

I/P

I/P

I/P

I/P

I/P

I/P

I/P

I/P

I/P

I/P

I/P

I/P

I/P

I/P

I/P

I/P

I/P

I/P

I/P

I/P

I/P

I/P

Resources
Dual
Auto
Fill
Auto
Fill
Auto
Fill
Auto
Fill
Auto
Fill

Quad
Auto
Fill
Auto
Fill
Auto
Fill
Auto
Fill
Auto
Fill

Octa
Auto
Fill
Auto
Fill
Auto
Fill
Auto
Fill
Auto
Fill

Du
al

Promotion
Qua Oct
d
a

R&
D

I/P

I/P

I/P

I/P

I/P

I/P

I/P

I/P

I/P

I/P

I/P

I/P

I/P

I/P

I/P

I/P

I/P

I/P

I/P

I/P

Y1-Output:Y5-Output
Output
Product Wise Market Share
Number of Units Sold For Each Product
Profit for Each player
Pressure on resource
So number of units of each of the products that are sold by a player is mentioned. Along with
the market share of that player in that particular segment is mentioned and last comes the
pressure on the resources which is an output which highlights the demand estimate in the real
market is putting

Output Table

Units Sold

Market Share
Pressure on
Resource

Dual
Quad
Octa
Dual
Quad
Octa
Dual
Quad
Octa

Cash before year

Gross Profit
Resources Cost
Fixed Cost
R & D Cost
Promotional Expenses
Net Profit
Net Cash

Playe
r1
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P

Playe
r2
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P

Playe
r3
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P

Playe
r4
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P

Playe
r5
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P

50000
0
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P

50000
0
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P

50000
0
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P

50000
0
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P

50000
0
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P
O/P

Finally the balance sheet is given for that year considering each of the events and the decision
taken by each player highlighting the profit. We begin the game with each of the player
having 500000 units of money in their account. So this snapshot depicts that only.

Things to know before playing the game

*A Player cannot join the game in mid of the game. He would be allocated resources
from the initial stage and need to play at each level/year of the game only then he would
be allowed to move to next level of the game. In case he does not changes his inputs in a
year his last year would be taken as default

YEAR 0
To make a level playing field for all the players of the game there is an assumption that
players who are playing the game for 5 years have been given few resources, equal resource
allocation to each of them. The breakdown of the resources can be seen in InputMaster tab
of the excel sheet. The breakdown of the resources are given below

Year 0 Data
Dual Quad
Price
5
10
Variable Cost per unit
3
6
Units Sold
10000 6000
Promotion
3000
5000
Fixed Cost
15000
Resources
11
8
Units produced per
resource
1000
1000
4000
Cost Per resource
20000
0
R&D
10000
Net revenue

50000

COGS

30000

Gross Profit
Total Gross profit
Fixed Cost
SGA
Net profit

20000
62000
15000
25000
22000
50000
0

Cash balance

6000
0
3600
0
2400
0

Octa
15
9
3000
7000
5
1000
6000
0

4500
0
2700
0
1800
0

All the 5 players in year 0 had priced the Dual core processors @ 5/unit, Quad core
@10/unit and Octa-core @15/unit respectively
The variable costs incurred to each of them in each category of processors are 3, 6 and
9/unit respectively
Units sold are also same for all the players across the three categories
Total fixed costs and R&D spending inclusive of all the three categories is equal
Promotion costs are also equal across all the categories for all the players
All the players are able to sell equal number of units in each category along with
spending on promotion equally in each of the categories of the processor
Resources are expenses that depends on the lot size of 1000, so the maximum benefits
are incurred if you produce units in multiple of 1000, each resource has a different
cost for different processor
All the players begin the game with a cash balance of 500000
Balance sheet is then prepared with the help of income and expenses generated from
the data mentioned above in year 0
Profit received in each year would add up to the cash reserves at that time
Inventory unsold at the end of any year is perished and is a sunk cost. Hence any
company will be able to sell the produce pertaining to the current year only
Market Share is calculated based on Number of units
The winner of the game will be one with highest net profit in the year 5

Year 1

Information given before the round

A lot of customers are now demanding quad-core, and some phone manufacturers are
even racing to oneup the competition by pushing out phones which have octa-core
processors in them.
Market size for each type of processer would be described and so would be the
growth rate. Consumer characteristics are loosely based on the market trend shown
above.
Currently there are online forum where informed smartphone users discuss
performance and features of processors

Year 2

Information given before the round

Year 1 results profits and market shares of each of the players; along with number of
units sold
Changes in the processor market: Octa-core processors market is growing moderately
whereas Quad-core processors are in maturity phase. Dual-core processors market starts to
decline
There is news about revolutionary new processor technology being developed at the
Syproc University and the players have an option of funding the research and leveraging it in
the future. If the technology hits the market, it has a potential to attract smart phone
manufacturers to use the processors
The variable cost per unit has gone up by 10% owing to the inflation in the economy
Extra Input Variable to be entered:
Option to invest in new research technology Yes/No
Invest in
research of
new
technology
Yes
Yes
No
No
No

Year 3

Information given before the round

Year 2 result: Profit and Market share of each player in each processor segment
New mobile phone OS, AndroSmart has been launched by a small technology company
which redefines the way smart phones is used and contains a range of completely new
features. This new OS has the potential to disrupt the current market dynamics according to
leading technology magazines

 As per the system requirement specification released by the company, AndroSmart OS can
be used in phones having AlphaPrime or OctaCore processer to get the best performance out
of it.

Year 4

Information given before the round

Year 3 results profits and market shares of each of the players; along with number of
units sold
Changes in the processor market: The new government has increased taxes on electronic
goods including smart phones which has led to decline in the demand
There have been a few instances of Octa-core processors overheating which has led to
widespread negative publicity of Octa-core processors
The market for dual-core processors has declined significantly because of the rising
popularity of Andro-smart phones whose market is expected to grow by 50% and only Alphaprime processors have been found compatible with these phones
Players have an option of leveraging the technology for developing alpha-prime although
the cost of investing in this technology has increased significantly

Inputs
Number of units of each of the processors to be produced
Price for individual processor
Promotional spending for each of the variant
Spending on resources used for production
Spending on research and development

Year 5
Information given before the round
1. Results of Year 4: Market share, profit earned and number of units sold for each player
2. Market Downfall: Recession has cause a huge decline in the smart phone market
3. McKinsey Reports: Industry Experts estimate the sale of entry level phones to decline by
12%, mid-level phones by 5%. However, in spite of the recession the sale of premium phones
are expected to rise by 3%
4. Anandtech Magazine Articles: Technology Experts see low or null scope for the quad
core processors while the octa core processors might survive a few months without any
growth expected; Alpha prime processor is expected to be in more than 70% phones by the
end of second quarter

Inputs
Number of units of each of the processors to be produced
Price for individual processor
Promotional spending for each of the variant
Spending on resources used for production
Spending on research and development

Final Result
As per the rules the player with the maximum profit would be declared the Winner of the
Game