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Samsung May Announce Galaxy Note 5 in August to Beat iPhone Launch
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I'd like to think a company takes great care and effort to produce beautiful, well-thought-out and meticulously designed and constructed products before they release them, when it comes to personal electronics anyway.
If it's that easy for Samsung to just move up a release date by a month, I can't help but wonder how much effort and 'polish' has really gone into some of those products by the time they hit the market.
In the rush to beat their main competitor, quantity over quality perhaps?
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Perhaps it was already ready.
Nothing says that a product must be worked on until the last second. That kind of thinking is what has led to Apple manufacturing screw-ups, from iPhone assembly quality problems, to Apple Watch delays because of insufficient parts testing ahead of time.
Heck, a lot of people think that Jobs wouldn't have put out the Apple Watch so soon, because it wasn't "polished" enough yet.
But you're right; sometimes marketing (or a new CEO) pushes for earlier release.
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I had considered that, and I realize that many considerations factor into a product's public release date. Also a month's leeway in either direction doesn't seem that much in the grand scheme of designing, manufacturing and marketing a product, even products with relatively limited lifespans such as smartphones. This case just seems so glaringly to be a strategic move however that it got me thinking.
But no, there's nothing wrong per sé with strategic marketing, and most companies no doubt practice that to varying degrees.
yes, sure – as for all companies/products:
"great" is a definition made buy each customer for their own needs … ;-)
Most likely the Note 5 will follow in the footsteps of the Galaxy S6 and if it does there will be a lot of upset customers and they may just go with the iPhone 6+s.
What Sammy is counting on is that the Note 5 hits retailers a little bit before the iPhone 6s/6+s and people walk in and see that the iPhone is sold out, but pick up the Note 5 instead. My guess is this strategy will give them a 10% increased sales bump.
What Sammy is counting on is that the Note 5 hits retailers a little bit before the iPhone 6s/6+s and people walk in and see that the iPhone is sold out, but pick up the Note 5 instead. My guess is this strategy will give them a 10% increased sales bump.
Actually right. Its the Xiaomi, One+ and couple of others that are squeezing samsung out of breadth. Apple never came down to Samsung devices in price competition.
Samsung's high end phones e.g the S series and the note series cost the same as the iPhone at launch. I think that the iPhone going larger has definitely eaten into Samsung's sales at the high end. I switched to the note /S line for a few years mainly due to them having larger, high definition displays. Once the 6 plus was announced I didn't see any reason for staying with Samsung and picked up the 6 plus and switched back. If Apple hadn't of released bigger phones I'd still be using a galaxy phone now.
I think many of us can agree that the advantages Samsung phones have had over iPhones have been diminishing over time, and will continue to do so at their expense.
For example, the larger screen size advantage is gone. Many of the android-exclusive features have been added to iOS over the years (such as turn-by-turn navigation, control center, etc.).
With the iPhone 6s, three more advantages should be gone: the high performance (with the Apple A9 chip, which has to have killer performance considering the A8 wasn't a big upgrade and "S" phones always deliver this), the "more-than-enough-for-most" 2GB of RAM (I know it's not three, but two should be enough for most for a while), and the higher megapixel count (might not be 16, but 12 should to be a good balanced choice, especially considering low-light performance).
Now one of the only things missing from iPhones will be fast charging, and I have a feeling that will be a key feature of the iPhone 7.
For example, the larger screen size advantage is gone. Many of the android-exclusive features have been added to iOS over the years (such as turn-by-turn navigation, control center, etc.).
With the iPhone 6s, three more advantages should be gone: the high performance (with the Apple A9 chip, which has to have killer performance considering the A8 wasn't a big upgrade and "S" phones always deliver this), the "more-than-enough-for-most" 2GB of RAM (I know it's not three, but two should be enough for most for a while), and the higher megapixel count (might not be 16, but 12 should to be a good balanced choice, especially considering low-light performance).
Now one of the only things missing from iPhones will be fast charging, and I have a feeling that will be a key feature of the iPhone 7.
Absolutely. Going larger is why Apple sales picked up so much in China and elsewhere.
(Cook wanted to grab Samsung's market. I think it's a major reason for going bigger. If he wants to take more, I think he might even add stylus support to compete with the Note.)
Apple got in just in time, too. Gartner is saying that China's smartphone market is now saturated, and the former huge yearly sales growth has stopped or even gone negative. If so, this has consequences for everyone from Xiaomi to Apple. They all will now need to turn to other markets for growth.
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They've also lost the advantage of having a removable battery and expandable storage. For me there isn't really anything that Samsung have that sets them apart from the iPhone apart from the fact that it runs android. I think iOS, overall is the better OS, simply because it's more reliable. Also Apple have a better ecosystem and have better after sales support.
When I look at the galaxy phones now I can't find a compelling reason to pick one over the iPhone, whereas I could and did in the past.
Yes I think India will be next and then they will have to move onto Africa but perhaps they will have to push the C rather than the flagships in Africa.
Can't argue with that! Oh, and I totally forgot that they don't have removable batteries and expandable storage! And it looks like the Galaxy Note 5 is no different, so it would seem that they haven't listened to their most loyal fans (or don't want to listen). Sales and profit will make them listen for next year, but by then it might be too late...
Unfortunately for Samsung, many of the people who used to love the Note are now 6+ owners.
From what I can tell, about 1/2 of the Chinese population are defined as living in an urban area. That's close to 700 million.
Supposedly, all of China (~1.4 billion) now accounts for more iPhone sales than North America (pop ~ 530 million).
That makes sense. So being #1 in urban China doesn't mean #1 in the entire country?
So what is your point? So, Apple is doing great, but not incredibly great.
When it comes to profits though, Apple is doing amazingly, freaking unbelievably, great. And everything seems indicate that nothing is going to stop their momentum. The sky is the limit. Apple is actually defining what that limit in the sky is.
Samsung, on the other hand, is taking a dizzying downward spiral. Seven quarters of losses...ouch. Other Android manufacturers aren't exactly raking in the money either. Do you think some of these Android manufacturers would like to be just #1 in urban China (as opposed to #1 in the entire country)?
Whatever you say. Hopefully you'll get what you wish for, a world where there is nothing but Apple.
For some context: There are about 1.229 billion mobile phone users in China. According to counterpoint, 3/4 are smartphones or 921.75 million smartphones.
The wsj is not reporting urban China, but China:
"Apple in the first quarter became China’s largest smartphone maker by market share, according to IDC, surpassing Xiaomi on the strength of its popular iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.
http://www.wsj.com/article_email/ch...ows-down-1431296873-lMyQjAxMTE1MzEyMDQxNzAwWj"