Samsung Compares Galaxy S9 to Very Slow iPhone 6 in Frivolous Ad

[redneckitengineer]

If getting a “performance management” software upgrade counts as on OS upgrade I would be pleased not to get them...sneaky fixes are not upgrades!

Neither is expecting your aging equipment to run flawlessly.

 

[mi7chy]

The fact that my iPhone 5 that I use for plane traveling is not lagging at all with the wallet app. Or showing white screen when loading movies app.

Is the iPhone 6 that much worse?

Depends on what iOS version is forced onto the iPhone 6. Being that you have the iPhone 5 there's no update beyond 10.3.3 that introduced lag and throttling with 11.x.

 

[Rogifan]

If Apple hadn't reused a nearly identical design for four years this ad wouldn't be possible, but the iPhone 8 is nearly indistinguishable from an iPhone 6 from the front. Granted, performance is Apple's main advantage over Android as its Chipsets are at least a year ahead of the competition. I guess Samsung is using the strategy of attacking their competitors strengths instead of highlighting their weaknesses.

You mean like the GS9 looks like the GS8 which looked like the GS7? And the GS6, 5 & 4 which all were very similar.

 

[C DM]

Depends on what iOS version is forced onto the iPhone 6. Being that you have the iPhone 5 there's no update beyond 10.3.3 to 11.x that introduced lag and throttling.

Additional performance power management features were first introduced in iOS 10.3, not iOS 11. They also only apply to iPhone 6 and later devices. But let's not actually allow facts to get in the way.

 

[rolsskk]

I don't get the simulated part though. If the images are simulated, then the whole thing is bogus. Do they think their customers are just too dumb to notice that? I am sure it's legal for them to market this way, but I just don't get who they are marketing to. I guess their customer base?

Pretty much every technology display is going to be simulated due to the need to be able to have things repeatable in a controlled environment.

 

[Ds6778]

I am not sure why the "what's a computer" commercial got so much hate. I found it to be a refreshing take on how flexible technology is today and how youth adopting and utilizing technology pushes it forward. So much so that terminology that was once ubiquitous is now becoming less and less applicable to the devices we use most. This is why I was so happy that Apple rededicated itself to education.

As for the commercial, I could care less. I really only concern myself with Samsung enough to keep up with whether they will ever have to pay the billion dollars or so that was awarded to Apple for their copying the original phone design. I might buy a Samsung TV too. So there is that.

So you could care less? Why don’t you then?

 

[genovelle]

The strategy is; if you still own an iPhone 6, you should upgrade.
No different than apple telling you to upgrade your old phone.
Trying to get someone to sell a new phone for your new phone just doesn't wrk.

I wonder if supporter to this strategy of comparing a 4 year old phone to the new one when the general public is not versed in which iPhone model is which, would be supportive of Apple using the same strategy next week, comparing the iPhone 10 to the Samsung exploding phones as if they are thier currently device? Except in the fine print of course.

 

[Rogifan]

220 comments here (so far), 126 on 9to5Mac. This ad isn’t about getting someone to buy a GS9 it’s about trolling the Apple community.

 

[DNichter]

Pretty much every technology display is going to be simulated due to the need to be able to have things repeatable in a controlled environment.

So it's not accurate at all then, makes sense. I still can't figure out who they are marketing to.

 

[trifid]

Not sure how effective the notch stab is since other android manufacturers are going nuts copying it and it looks like Samsung is missing out on the fugly notch fashion trend.

 

[Col4bin]

Yet they specifically point out that it's iPhone 6 with actual headlines in that commercial.

If they were trying to do that they wouldn't undercut themselves by specifically referring to it as iPhone 6 in the commercial. Either they aren't doing that, or they are really bad at doing it.

Just bad at doing both it seems.

 

[TC_GoldRush]

Whatever Samsung phone came out the year of the iPhone 6 is probably significantly slower. This ad would only make sense if they were implying that their devices can maintain strong performance for 4 years, and somehow prove it.

I also can't imagine how frustrated her mom would be when she starts having green bubble messages with her daughter!

Nope! That would be the Galaxy S5 & Galaxy Note 4! The Note 4 is still a very decent phone by today's standards. Samsung should've showed off their 4 year old Note 4. I laughed when I saw they were comparing an S9 to Apple's iPhone 6.

 

[tardegrade]

Advertising Exec: Our concept is;

1. To compare your latest model to an old iPhone.
2. Use negativity and focus on the competitors flaws, not your strengths.
3. To feature more iPhone and Apple, than Samsung.

Samsung Board: Wow yeah! Go for it!

Riiiiiight.

 

[urbanslaughter1997]

Apple deserved it. Be honest with your costumers next time.

costumers? Who is wearing a costume?

 

[curtvaughan]

That is not accurate. It is as bad as Samsung portrays. The wife used my old 6+ for a week while we waited for parts for her battery repair for her 6s to come in (I messed up the tape that came in the kit). She commented how slow that phone was. Almost to the point that she said she did nothing other than phone calls and texts. That throttling is BS and really, really bad.

I pull out the old Galaxy S5 from time to time as it's the spare phone now. It's slow but nowhere near as bad as the iPhone. Need to get it to Apple for a $29 battery and sell it.

The 6 didn't seem slow when it first came out - the slowness is largely the result of the successive updates to iOS, necessitating more memory and faster processing. This isn't generally as much of an issue with Android phones, as they get very few updates in system software.

 

[Applemaniac7]

Lazy.

Would have a lot more respect for Samsung if they made a ‘positive’ advert, pushing the qualities of their device.

This sort of negative advertising, just criticising the competition, is lazy, dull, and frankly a bit pathetic in these modern times.

You mean like a shed of Apple ads over the last few years...

 

[PickUrPoison]

I’d heard that sales of the S9 were rather poor, but apparently they’re so bad they’ve driven Samsung to a level of deception unthinkable just a year ago.

What’s happened to this once respected company? To their management? Do they have no shame?

If I already had (or was considering purchasing) a Samsung flagship, I’d be embarrassed to show it in public. If the only way Samsung can make the S9 look like viable competition to an iPhone is by putting it up against a four year old 6 operating at 1/2 speed due to a bad battery, that speaks volumes about how they view their own flagship.

This ad reeks of desperation; this is Samsung in all out panic mode. The best they could do this year is an uninspired update that gave its best customers little reason to update from the S8. Of course sales are in the toilet.

Telling potential customers the S9 is the phone to buy—at least when compared to a four year old iPhone with a bad battery—doesn’t seem like the kind of message you want to send about your supposedly cutting edge flagship.

Expect price cuts into the five and six hundred dollar range as Samsung tries to move this lemon. But I don’t expect price cuts to help much. They’ll sell more, but profit will be hard to come by. Samsung could very well be on their way to losing money on this year’s flagship. Their ASP should still be above $200 though.

 

[ChrisChaval]

pathetic

 

[curtvaughan]

Like the “I’m a Mac” and “I’m a PC” advertisement campaign?

Tellingly, Apple doesn't make Mac vs. PC ads these days. PCs were easy targets back then - not so much anymore, given Mac directions lately.

 

[stopthenonsense]

Whatever Samsung phone came out the year of the iPhone 6 is probably significantly slower. This ad would only make sense if they were implying that their devices can maintain strong performance for 4 years, and somehow prove it.

I also can't imagine how frustrated her mom would be when she starts having green bubble messages with her daughter!

That would be the Galaxy 5. I bet you can't find one running. And if it is, it hasn't had an update in 2+ years.

 

[Nozuka]

Let's hope they don't follow the Notch trend like every other manufacturer... or that Notch Hair guy will come back to haunt them

 

[Fixey]

Wasn’t iPhone 6 performance on par with Galaxy S9,

SAMSUNG should stop with this childish behaviour saying mines better than your and if your using iPhone your silly, not going to win new loyal customers when you seem to go out of your way to insult future customers.

If I was going to go from iPhone to an Android based phone I am not going to go with SAMSUNG not someone that insults me, LG, SONY etc but not SAMSUNG

 

[mi7chy]

costumers? Who is wearing a costume?

All the clowns Apple made of their customers by throttling their phone.

 

[_Refurbished_]

The notion that a four year old phone “must slow down” is utter nonsense. My six year old PC is running stronger than ever. Planned obsolescence is real, and I’m glad Samsung is using it to their advantage.

I love Apple, but i don’t like their targeted upgrade strategy. It preys on the naive and weak. People that “only” buy Apple products have come to expect slowdown as normal and “a part of a computer’s lifecycle”. The reality is this isn’t the case on other software platforms.

 

[Amazing Iceman]

Well, Samsung played their move.
Now it's Apple's turn.
(Be positive, this will get interesting...)