A Study Of Channel Management And Pricing Strategy In Semiconductor IC Industry

This research divides semiconductor IC manufacturer’s performanceinto four factors: product strategy, pricing strategy, channel strategy, andtechnical support. Research model is based on Katsikeas et al.’s (2004)model on supplier-distributor performance. A30-item questionnaire isdesigned based on prior studies on semiconductor IC channelmanagement strategies and interviews with marketing and sales managersof a well known semiconductor IC manufacturer.25530-itemquestionnaires are given out to8authorized distributors of thesemiconductor IC manufacturer for data analysis on the research model.Pilot study uses20samples to run Cronbach’s Alpha, KMO and Bartlett’stests to ensure the reliability and adequacy of the factors and measures.Test results indicate that data collected are reliable, adequate, and suitablefor such supplier-distributor performance model.5hypotheses are testedand confirmed to be as predicted. Correlation and regression analysis areperformed and results suggest that product strategy and pricing strategyare the most influential factors to IC manufacturer’s performance out ofthe4factors in this study. Interestingly, the pricing strategy factor alsoreceived lowest score rating among the4factors in the questionnaire.Suggestions on how to reform product strategy, pricing strategy, channelstrategy, technical support and improve IC manufacturer’s as well as ICdistributor’s performance are discussed in this research.