AT&T’s SWOT Analysis

AT&T's SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis is a critical tool for every company in the market. AT & T stands to gain pertinent insights from SWOT analysis that is critical for their competitive advantage. SWOT gives insights regarding the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. AT & T stands the benefit of operating at its optimal levels if they consider undertaking SWOT continuously critically.

AT&T is a leader in the telecom industry; it has the largest network with high financial performance in the industry.

AT&T – At a Glance

NameAT&T Telecommunications company
Websitewww.att.com
FoundersAlexander Graham Bell, Thomas Watson, Gardiner Greene Hubbard, and Thomas Sanders
Chief Executive Officer (C.E.O.)John T. Stankey
HeadquartersDallas, Texas, United States
Type of CorporationPublic
Year Founded5 October 1983,
Revenues (2019)171.8 billion USD (2020)
Key Products/Servicesbroadband connectivity, high-speed fiber, and wireless broadband networks
Key CompetitorsFrontier Communications, Verizon, Vodafone, Sprint, and Windstream

AT&T’s Strengths

A Strong Brand

AT & T ranks position 11 in Fortune 500’s list of companies. The company is position 8 overall on the JUST 100 ranking of America’s best corporate citizens and ranks first position on the same list among telecom companies. In response to this ranking, the company pointed out its work with communities, customers, response to the COVID pandemic, and the environment.

AT&T’s CSR is a major strength in strengthening AT & T’s brand equity. The growth in AT & T’s brand equity enables effective customer engagement, which drives more brand loyalty and growth of the business.

Strong Product Offering

AT&T offers the strongest network in the nation; it has high speeds, reliability, and modern equipment backed with current innovation. The company serves both individuals, corporates, and governments, thereby broadening the company’s risk base.

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Strong Financial Performance

AT & T has registered strong financial growth over the years. It registered $171,760 million in revenues in 2020 and was ranked position number1 among the 74 competitors in the industry. In addition, its asset base is estimated at $525,761 million for 2020 and was equally ranked the first position in the industry. Strong financials are critical for implementing an expansion plan for the company to keep the company in its leadership position for the foreseeable future.

Market Leader

 AT&T is the world’s largest telecommunications company and the largest provider of mobile telephone services in the U.S, with a 44.8 percent market share of wireless subscriptions as of the first quarter of 2021. This gives the company leverage for lower production costs due to economies of scale, shorter sales cycle arising from market awareness, and as well automatic inclusion in product evaluations.

Huge Customer Base

AT&T has had the highest number of subscribers since 2017 in the second quarter of 2021.  The company serviced 191.65 million connections and mobility subscribers by the end of the 2nd quarter of 2021. The figure has since increased by 58 million subscribers as the company simplified its strategy centered on core telecom services.

Strong Innovation

AT&T has innovation engraved in its mission; to bring customers the technology of tomorrow, today. Innovations and technological applications like artificial intelligence, data science, cybersecurity, and wireless technologies like 5G enable AT & T’s experience in the market. The company averages 5 patients per day and has 8 noble prizes to its name.

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The company additionally has alternate wireline use that has enabled its customers to adapt to the company’s next-generation services. These include Ethernet, managed internet services, and a virtual private network with very high-speed internet access.

Huge Infrastructure

The company has a giant network of wireless and wired networks with the world’s most advanced internet protocols for the company’s back-borne. This is a great advantage for the company over its competitors for the seamless services delivery. This network is able to handle the huge traffic base of the company.

AT&T’s Weaknesses

Gaps in Customer Service

While AT & T is a market leader and is rated highly on reliability, equipment, and speed, there is a need for continuous improvement in areas like customer support, customer interaction, and value, among others. A look at the various feedbacks and customer reviews on various sites shows gaps in the company’s customer service.

Trustpilot.com site rates the company with 1.2 stars out of 5 from 3,776 reviews. It is rated 2.5 by highspeedinternet.com, consumeraffairs.com rates the company at 3.8 out of 5 stars from 2,777 reviews, has 2.3 ratings on sitejabber.com 3.4 on broadbandnow.com from 2788 reviews, 2.6 on moneysavingpro.com, and a 1-star rating on resellerratings.com.

Areas of concern and improvement included: poor communication, poor service and resolution of complaints, lack of clarity on charges, and basically poor customer service. The company can use it strengths to overcome these weaknesses so that it doesn’t evolve into a threat for the company by cause loss of customers to completion.

AT&T’s Opportunities

Technological Innovation

Technology holds huge opportunities for the telecoms industry. The industry largely relies on innovation to drive growth in the industry. This is critical since technology is evolving at a very fast pace

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Changing Tastes and Preferences

Trends, tastes, and preferences among customers call for more innovation and the creation of applicable products. This shift creates more opportunities for growth in the sector.

Expected Growth Rates

The industry is expected to grow at the rate of at a compound annual growth rate of 5.4% to USD 2,467.01 billion by 2028. The company should continue positioning itself to explore this growth potential.

AT&T’s Threats

Strong Competition

AT & T faces fierce competition from companies like América Móvil, Orange Business Services, Telefónica, BT, Verizon Communications, Singapore Telecommunications Limited, Facebook, and Google, among others.

This competition, both traditional and non-traditional, threaten AT&T’s market share as well as profitability. AT&T needs to implement more competitive strategies for more market penetration, acquisition, and retention of customers.

Technological Advances

Technological advances have increased the scope of types and uses of the available products and services. There have been increased inventions in the market that provide substitute products at comparable favorable prices. These advances have, in turn, inched at the company’s market share and reduced the company’s revenues.

Reduced Regulation for Legacy Services

There has been a reduction in the levels of regulations for legacy services comparable to AT&T. This has significantly reduced the costs of alternative service providers in the telecom sector. With lower barriers to entry, the industry has witnessed more new entrants. This will not only continue pushing revenues down but will also push market shares down. 

Conclusion

AT & T is a global leader with heavy investment in the telecoms industry. The company has a great strategy for continued innovation, which is key for continuous growth. The company needs to keep on improving on its interaction with customers and their customer support to ensure a cutting edge in the market.

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