Samsung should focus on being their own best. Don't let another company set your standards and then try to 1 up them. Compete against yourself, not others.
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Samsung's Goals for 2012: 'Beating Apple is #1 Priority'
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Not sure why they didn't have on their list to Copy Apple. It's been a huge part of their business practice.
"Copying" is synonymous with "beating" for Samsung.
You have the wrong idea of what competition is. Samsung is not "competition" in the sense.
A competitor creates a great product that puts them far ahead forcing everyone else to try and make something better. Samsung copies Apple. Other than a bigger screened phone there really isn't anything major Samsung has done or is innovative that separates them from the rest.
They should strive to be the best they can be, and give their customers what they want/need from a device. Simply aiming to beat someone else isn't the best goal to have.
Amen. They rely on other people innovating for them and then, believing that's what people want, create low quality imitations of them at a cheaper price.
I wonder how long this strategy will last before Samsung has to trim back the marketing budget to get revenue back?
The way I see it is Samsung's marketing did hurt Apple, but it really hurt the other Android makers as they quickly took over the lion share of Android based phone sales. Now, all the Android makers are after Samsung and Apple will soon release a phone that makes the "bigger screen" advantage a thing of the past. At that point, Samsung will have to stand out based on reputation, service and quality. As well as differentiate themselves from the other Android makers who have some nice alternatives already.
It will be interesting to see where we're at in a couple years.
The way I see it is Samsung's marketing did hurt Apple, but it really hurt the other Android makers as they quickly took over the lion share of Android based phone sales. Now, all the Android makers are after Samsung and Apple will soon release a phone that makes the "bigger screen" advantage a thing of the past. At that point, Samsung will have to stand out based on reputation, service and quality. As well as differentiate themselves from the other Android makers who have some nice alternatives already.
It will be interesting to see where we're at in a couple years.
Stop with this propaganda. Everybody knows that Samsung now makes more profits than Apple. They might be making a little less profits than Apple in mobile in general but I believe in their profits in smartphones are actually higher than that of Apple (they are still behind in tablets). And even if Apple did make more profits so what? Samsung is a different animal. They reinvest a lot more than Apple. Their capital expenditures are order of magnitude higher, their R&D budget is way higher. They make sure they succeed not just today but also in the future.
Samsung has proved you don't have to make the best product out there to win market share....just make everyone THINKS its the best and flood the market with different varieties.
Honestly, it'd likely be better for the Android world if Samsung took a step back. There are numerous OEMs out there who make great devices that are being squeezed by Samsung. At this point, Samsung products are bought because of the name - they've essentially become Apple, though I think Apple makes a better product overall.
Still baffling why Samsung devices are so popular....I get the Note-series, but that isn't really a huge seller.
Honestly, it'd likely be better for the Android world if Samsung took a step back. There are numerous OEMs out there who make great devices that are being squeezed by Samsung. At this point, Samsung products are bought because of the name - they've essentially become Apple, though I think Apple makes a better product overall.
Still baffling why Samsung devices are so popular....I get the Note-series, but that isn't really a huge seller.
One think I like about iPhone is I can treat my carrier like I do my ISP - a dumb pipe.
This has always been the case for every product category.
People buy the things they think are the best quality that they can afford. How do they make up their mind about quality? It's usually influenced by advertising. Sometimes friends or outside sources, but mostly advertising.
That needed to be proven? To who. That's one of the key principals of marketing - no matter what your product is.
I think there are better products out there. But if you're choosing an android device based on camera quality - unless the m8 truly delivers - one of the best, if not, is Samsung in that arena.
And I thought that people were buying Samsung phones because they were better than iPhone. Did not Samsung phones had LTE a year sooner than iPhone? Or WiFi AC? Or the best display (3x resolution of iPhone, wider color gamut and more accurate color reproduction)? Or pressure sensitive pen? How about the ability to run multiple apps on the screen simultaneously? 3x RAM? Galkaxy S5 has the first ISOCELL camera sensor in the World (not just among the cell phones)
Not sure why they didn't have on their list to Copy Apple. It's been a huge part of their business practice.
That would be because stating it would be redundant.
So Samsung were providing evidence of Apple's internal documents which showed they were worried about their competition, when in fact Samsung has been worrying about Apple.
Is it really a surprise to anyone that these two were worried about each other?
Huh? Samsung's profit last quarter was 6.7 billion. Apple's was 13.1 billion.
You're right, Samsung is a different animal. They produce a far greater range of products (TVs, refrigerators, washing machines, etc) and therefore demand a far higher R&D budget versus Apple that has an extremely slim product portfolio.
Rearward looking strategies are common if not dominant in the consumer products industry.
Apple is not only forward looking, but tends to game change, leap frog, or otherwise cause a paradigm shift. Totally different perspective in life and business.
Hence the aggressive protection of its IP in courts. The courts seem toothless to do anything other than deliver money damages (a decade later) in the jurisdictions where outright IP copying is discouraged. There seems to be essentially no traction or time sensitivity to ban infringing products.
This is the environment Samsung operates in.
Rocketman
I was speaking to those who talk about making the best product possible being the main focus.
But the reality is - Samsung still hasn't surpassed Apple. The iPhone line still outsells the Galaxy line. Samsung, by nature of its enormous array of various smartphone offerings, sells more OVERALL. But that's really to be expected.
Someone put it perfectly in a different thread - two sandwich shops, Tim's and Shin's.
Tim sells three sandwiches - in a week he'll sell 100 sandwiches with 60 being his newest boar's head ham and swiss, 30 being the tried and true turkey and cheddar and 10 being a PB&J he no longer cares to market or make.
Shin on the other hand sells 200 sandwiches a week, but he sells everything from roast beef and provolone to pb&j with the crusts cut off. He doesn't sell more than 20 of any individual sandwich per week.
Two different business models. We can argue about the merits of each all day, but in the end Samsung isn't doing anything "special" for consumers. The idea that Samsung is "good for competition" is ludicrous. Samsung has KILLED Android competition.....they dominate the space while the others are left to hang on.
It always makes me laugh when people complain about Apple's marketing strategies.....usually they're Android users and the percentages would say that most likely own Samsung devices. You want to talk about being beaten over the head with marketing strategies?.....look no further than Samsung.
Everyone who visits MacRumors forums knows that lilo777 is one the resident Apple hater among others. No one believes a single thing you say because we all know your motives. And everyone knows that Apple makes more smartphone profit than Samsung or any other phone manufacturer.
It must really bother you that Apple, a computer company, was able to come into Samsung's market and steal a significant amount of share, huge developer following that Samsung still can't get, and again most importantly the majority of the profits. Samsung had been making phones for decades. What's wrong with Samsung and the rest of the phone makers? Why are they letting Apple dominate them like this? Apple just basically came in their market and stole their cookies. lol. Eats you up inside, huh?