Cable manufacturing industry

Intro

The cable manufacturing industry has 18 corporations operating regionally and internationally. GCC therefore could at any given time compete with these companies in a direct capacity. Additionally because General Cable offers a broad range of products, competitors are different for each of its market segments.

Niche Corporations

Commscope

Commscope is a United States based company with its headquarters located in North Carolina. Commscope has narrowed its business strategy to communications technology. Specifically, Commscope offers products in communication infrastructure, broadband connections, and wireless technology. Commscope's strategic focus has been on the United States where it completes almost half of its business. This strategic focus is also mainly in the wireless networking and comprises 2/3rds of its revenue.

Coleman Cable

Coleman Cable Inc does its business in the physical cable market. Coleman manufactures products which are wire based (i.e. no fiber optic cables). These product lines include “(1) industrial wire and cable, including portable cord, machine tool wiring, welding and mining cable and other power cord products; (2) electronic wire, including telephone, security and coaxial cable, thermostat wire and irrigation cable; (3) assembled wire and cable products, including extension cords, booster and battery cable, lighting products and surge and strip products; and (4) fabricated bare wire, including stranded, bunched, and single-end copper, copper clad steel and various copper alloy wire.” Coleman is highly dependent on raw materials, and their pricing structure is a direct result of the cost of raw materials. All of Coleman's manufacturing is located in the United States so that it is close to the primary buyer.

Carlisle Companies

Only half of Carlisle Companies Inc revenue comes from the cable industry. Carlisle is a diverse collection of subsidiaries with products ranging from construction materials to tires for garden equipment and golf carts. Carlisle continues to sell its products globally however, these sales only account for 10% of revenue. Carlisle's cable business primarily focuses on aerospace and electronics applications. Carlisle is a one-stop-shop for both cable and assembly harnesses relating to these sectors of the market. This further indicates Carlisle's diverse manufacturing base.

Encore Wire

Encore Wire Corporation is the only publicly traded copper wire company in the United States. Encore specializes in cable used in home and building applications.

Belden

Belden Inc specializes in creating high-speed, high-performance cables and products for harsh environments. Specifically Belden manufactures in the video, sound, and security markets, the industrial automation market, and the aerospace and defense business. Belden's headquarters are located in St. Louis Missouri and all of Belden's customer offices are located in the United States. However, Belden is an international company with suppliers in almost every country in the world. Southwire

Southwire is headquartered out of the state of Georgia and primarily focuses on bare copper wire used in distribution of power.

Global Competitors

Nexans

Nexans S.A. is a company based in Paris, France. Nexans offers a wide variety of wire products ranging from copper to fiber optical and a wide variety of applications from infrastructure, to shipbuilding and aeronautical. Nexans is a very global company with an industrial presence in nearly 40 countries and over 22,000 employees. Nexans is one of the most principle competitors to GCC for several reasons. Nexans has developed a similar strategy to GCC to increase market share in developing regions of the world.

Thomas and Betts

Thomas and Betts (T&B) is a US based company out of Tennessee. T&B has three primary business units consisting of HVAC equipment, electrical connectors, and steel structures such as transmission towers. T&B collects over 1/3 of its revenue from outside the US. T&B focuses on the cable industry in bare wire accessories and components. Thomas and Betts would primarily be a supplier rather than a competitor.

Sumitomo Electric

Sumitomo Electric Industries has over 150,000 employees and is based out of Osaka Japan. Sumitomo is one of the largest cable companies in the world and manufactures everything from bare electrical wire to semiconductors. Sumitomo has more than 200 subsidiaries and affiliates and is considered one of the industry leaders in innovation. Despite Sumitomo's vast size, over 2/3rds of its revenue still comes from Japan. In fact, most of its principal subsidiaries are located in the US.

Corning

Corning Inc is a broad technologies based company located in New York. Corning has five main focus industries: Displays (flat-screen televisions); environmental technologies, telecommunications (fiber optical, cable), life sciences (biosensors), and specialty materials (semiconductors, optical sensors). Corning derives most of its sales from Taiwan, Japan, and the US. Due to its high level of sophistication and expense, Corning has a lot of difficulty entering developing markets. Corning's primary competitor is Sumitomo Electric.

Conclusion

The cable industry is vast in terms of products and competition. General Cable Corporation has a very diverse portfolio of products and could compete with both niche competitors and other broad global corporations. As a result, each competitor and product should be analyzed separately to gain a full understanding of market position. Overall, GCC has developed a strategy to increase global market share by targeting developing markets. GCC is one of the few corporations with the resources and corporate culture to accomplish such a strategy.