Well, first you said companies not just manufacturing companies so I would have pointed to Wal Mart. But since you have limited the range it's more difficult because manufacturing companies are not as high profile as retailers. I will point to China as a whole as a contemporary example. Chinese companies have consistently beaten the previous generation's manufacturers by achieving lower costs.
Anyway, since you say "it is fairly established" the burden should be on you to tell me where & by who. What I know is established is that internet marketing gurus speaking to small & micro businesses recommend finding non price differentiators. This arguably makes sense for small businesses where market size is not an issue. Most large companies however, need to go after large markets & that means lower prices.
My old marketing textbooks say that there are two broad positioning strategies & corresponding pricing strategies niche(differentiated) & penetration(low cost). The larger share of the pie usually belongs to the latter with high margins often going to the former.
I would argue that low cost strategies are probably more "stable" since they do not rely on innovation & other constant miracles. Even Apple may flop two or three major products in a row & die again.
Being a low cost producer is a great survival strategy, even for a new entrant. Walmart, Amazon, and PC vs. Minicomputer are good examples. You can either use your cost advantage to undercut prices profitably, or use your large margins to outspend on R&D, marketing, etc.
Selling at low prices given the same cost structure is not a good survival strategy. "We lose money on every unit but we'll make it up on volume!"
Honda, Toyota, et al got a leg up on the US Automakers by delivering a higher quality and more efficient product. They also managed to do it cheaper, but their competitive advantage was NOT primarily price.
Car companies that tried to deliver a low-cost product without the quality behind it (eg Yugo) ultimately failed.
Honda / Toyota advantage was cost. They produced a better product for slightly less money because they had lower production costs. If you look at early Toyota cars they where all low end and cheap because that's all they could make. Just look a the size of the Accord when it was introduced vs the Civic vs the Fit. It's all about starting at the low end of the market and working your way up to the less price focused customer.
PS: Don't forget the market decides price, you can only really control cost if you want to be more than a nitch player.
Yes but the Japanese strategy was not "sell at the lowest possible price". It was "we have good control over our costs, let's pick a price and see what we can deliver at that price". At that point in time, US automakers didn't even know what making a car cost them, they were so focussed on revenue they lost sight of the bottom line.
Anyway, since you say "it is fairly established" the burden should be on you to tell me where & by who. What I know is established is that internet marketing gurus speaking to small & micro businesses recommend finding non price differentiators. This arguably makes sense for small businesses where market size is not an issue. Most large companies however, need to go after large markets & that means lower prices.
My old marketing textbooks say that there are two broad positioning strategies & corresponding pricing strategies niche(differentiated) & penetration(low cost). The larger share of the pie usually belongs to the latter with high margins often going to the former.
I would argue that low cost strategies are probably more "stable" since they do not rely on innovation & other constant miracles. Even Apple may flop two or three major products in a row & die again.