Samsung Profits Tumble as Apple Enters Large-Screen Phone Market and Low-End Options Thrive

[McCool71]

Great business strategy, flooding the market with cheap phones and having barely any profit margin is only a race to the bottom. Glad they hit the bottom first

The thing is: The cheap cell phone market is there, and there will be sold huge amounts of cheap cell phones no matter if you as one of many suppliers want to sell to that market or not.

Which boils down to it likely being better to sell 50 million cheap phones than none. This is not a market that will move to higher priced phones anyway.

 

[fourthtunz]

Wow.
Really didn't think "entering the large screen market" (I didn't even know that was a market) would have such an effect.

So bigger really is better?

When bigger is all that is available..

 

[cire]

Windows Phone lack of success is simply the fault of not getting phone out to the pubic. Thier marketing department blows.

When windows phone first came out MS should have flooded the market wiith low cost or free with a contrat phones to build a base, that would be willing to stay.

The OS is nice, and with some tweeks here at there it could easily rival android, and possilby i0S in time.

What evidence do you have that free
Phones build loyalty. The phone with the most loyalty did have a free model for years...and it is one of the most expensive. Free is the Android model and there will always be a company offering a free phone to attract those same "loyal" buyers.

 

[rGiskard]

Not so sure about that, it's the same with Windows and hardware OEMs. The problem is that it drives a race to the bottom, which affects quality and also innovation. That business model has problems both for OEMs and the platform vendor in the long run, ask yourself why IBM sold of it's PC division to Lenovo, or why Microsoft now makes their own hardware (Surface/Surface Pro).

Yes, it is much like Windows and OEMs. Macs don't compete with Dell, HP, etc, it's OS X versus Windows. Hardware innovation reaches all competitors fairly equally, so it's the OS that differentiates them.

Look at the mobile device hardware - no company is ever more than a year ahead or behind. All rely on ARM architechture (at least until Intel gets it's act together in the mobile space). Apple are a bit ahead on ARM implementation, and Samsung have a lock on OLED display tech, but even so, it's the OS that defines each of them. Qualcomm can make an SoC that's VERY close to Apple's Ax series, and Apple can use LCD tech that is VERY close to OLED performance. All those little hardware differences are rendered moot by OS optimizations and user experience.

 

[rdlink]

People keep mentioning all the commercials, do you remember Apple started all that with the Mac/PC commercials? I'd say a majority of companies are involved in some practices that some would find shady, especially with the tech industry... I think that's just the nature of the beast. Just because you haven't heard anything about shady practices doesn't mean they aren't using them, it just means they haven't gotten caught yet. Look at Apple setting up locations in Ireland to avoid paying all those taxes, if that loophole gets closed (which is being looked into now) Apples profits are going to take a hit.

Nothing shady about Apple's (or any other company's) practice in Ireland, and it's really annoying when people paint it as such. Tell you what. Why don't you go over your tax return with a fine tooth comb and take out all of those "loopholes" (i.e., mortgage interest deduction, energy tax credits, charitable contributions, education deductions) that you're taking advantage of. Then you can cast moral stones at corporations for their legal tax strategies.

 

[rGiskard]

There are many types of plastic and many of aluminum....

Yep, and even the same aluminum alloy could be used to create a more structurally sound iPhone.

I still favor a steel chassis design. Mobile devices go with us everywhere, so they need to be strong and tough. It's disheartening to see each new iPhone generation grow more delicate than the last.

 

[rdlink]

You strike me as somebody who is very naive with that statement. I wouldn’t mind betting something quite substantial of mine that Apple, (and plenty of other companies), have interpreted lots of laws in lots of creative ways, been blind when they need to and got away with all kinds of crap over the years.
Think about it. We all do what suits us when we think we can somehow justify it to ourselves and those that favour us. We love to think we are ethical but refuse to spend the time and money it takes to be really demonstrably ethical. As individuals we harp on about the environment and then we buy a 2 ton car with a 5 litre supercharged engine. Yeah, great. What’s wrong with a small engined item that only does 80Mph?
Just to be clear I have a 2 ton car with a 5 litre engine.
Now multiply that by 1,000,000 and you have the way in which corporations behave. ALL corporations.

M biggest problem with Samsung is that I don’t really like their 'finished products’.

Rant much? Naiveté is not a trait of mine.

Not sure what someone's decision to buy a gas guzzling car has to do with the management of a company blatantly and knowingly violating the law. Perhaps you can enlighten me. And your blanket statement about ALL corporations just shows your naiveté, BTW.

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What feature is that? I'm not being a D i actually want to know.

Being able to preview exposure on a photo before taking it.

 

[osofast240sx]

Wrong again, my friend. This article is about Samsung's mobile devices unit, not about Samsung's OEM parts division.

The original source included tv's and chips

 

[BaldiMac]

No, it's misleading because there is no way a phone(s) that have been out for 3 weeks ruined the profits of a massive company that makes WAY WAY WAY more than just phones.

Except if you read what I said or what the headline said, you would realize that that it does not say what you think it says.

In my opinion, it implies it. I think it's unfortunate that two Apple fan sites do this kind of headline writing regularly, and I never really see it elsewhere. Maybe the Register, which has similarly low grade writing these days too.

It reads to me like the headline was written to specifically avoid implying causation. I think it's noteworthy that Samsung is being pressured at both the high end and the low end of the mobile phone market at the same time it has a dramatic drop in profitability.

 

[Dontazemebro]

Do you mean on the right path for continuing to lose profits? I agree

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And the galaxy apologists will came in forces....

.... and the cycle continues. Where's a good head explode gif when you need one

 

[TsunamiTheClown]

This is a text book example of competition/capitalism...?

That should be manifest.

 

[rdlink]

Actually most of them are.

The 'make fun of'-ads are merely internet-fodder via YouTube to get attention, they are rarely used in real large scale advertising like TV-spots. Strangely those are the only Samsung commercials a lot of people around here have seen, even though most of them have never made their way to prime time.

Actually, not true at all. I've seen the attack ads on television plenty of times.

 

[fourthtunz]

true dat!

I don't know how it is anywhere else, but for my morning commute in NYC I see probably 80% iPhones in peoples' hands. There is now officially no one that I talk to now that makes my messages green since a couple holdouts got the bigger iPhone 6. Which is awesome because I can now talk to all of my contacts on my computer.

Put simply the iPhone is the best phone out there. The people have spoken.

Look at the reviews on youtube, even faithful fan-droids are switching to iPhone
Ha ha, suck it samsung

 

[osofast240sx]

No, it's misleading because there is no way a phone(s) that have been out for 3 weeks ruined the profits of a massive company that makes WAY WAY WAY more than just phones.

Sure there is. Think about it. Apple controlled leak of a 4.7" and 5.5" was enough on its own. Now think have you known about the new phones.

 

[fourthtunz]

hahahhahaa its definitely not a rage but a JOY

Loving the android defenders who come to an apple fan site and expect love,
suck it samsung!

 

[JobsGang]

I'm amused at the rage of the Apple users in this thread. Kool aid, cults, sheep, It's amusing how angry they are

What rage? I just see euphoria.:It's all in good fun for most of us.Some people really hate Samsung though

 

[cire]

Plagiarism? You mean how Apple just started making bigger phones like Samsung did years before them?

Phone size is not intellectual property, there is no plagiarism. Shifts in market demand call for changes in production mix...notice that the 6 looks nothing like a Samsung Phone? Notice the Alpha looks like the love child of a 5s and a Galaxy? Talk about plagiarism!

 

[KdParker]

What evidence do you have that free
Phones build loyalty. The phone with the most loyalty did have a free model for years...and it is one of the most expensive. Free is the Android model and there will always be a company offering a free phone to attract those same "loyal" buyers.

Free just gets them into the system. Once they are in that is when you have to hook em. Like I said, it is a process and long term.

Windows Phone OS is actully pretty good, while not IOS (IMHO), it is on par with android.

 

[stasha]

Loving the android defenders who come to an apple fan site and expect love,
suck it samsung!

yep yep but keep em coming here they are funny

 

[Dontazemebro]

What evidence do you have that free
Phones build loyalty. The phone with the most loyalty did have a free model for years...and it is one of the most expensive. Free is the Android model and there will always be a company offering a free phone to attract those same "loyal" buyers.

Nothing is free, the sooner you learn this, the better off you'll be.

 

[rish]

Well thats an...

...interesting outcome. I hope samesung experiences a little more of this. After all the trolls that have had to be endured on this site I'd welcome a little more of the same outcome for them. As for someone saying that Karma's a bitch, well I'd say Karma dealt with the bitch and it got a little taste of what it deserves.

 

[mk_in_mke]

I believe Samsung is indeed trying to saturate the market with soo many products. If only they developed customer service and an echo system such as that as Apple, there would be exceptional competition.

Apple shall always be premium so long as they keep up with the quality products and have an echo system maintaining them. It's no doubt that the Note series of phones are compatible and very good but the echo system that supports them just isn't there.

One that is good at everything is great at nothing.

I "echo" your assessment on the ecosystem.

I repeat, I "echo" your assessment on the ecosystem.

I repeat, I "echo" your assessment in the ecosystem. I repeat,....

 

[Max(IT)]

What a strange post. This from a person who owns an iPhone 6.

In a signature you can be anything.... In a signature

 

[rish]

Phone size is not intellectual property, there is no plagiarism. Shifts in market demand call for changes in production mix...notice that the 6 looks nothing like a Samsung Phone? Notice the Alpha looks like the love child of a 5s and a Galaxy? Talk about plagiarism!

I agree with your post entirely. The alpha stinks of the iPhone 5 design. Absolutely stinks. As for the 6 & 6+ well again don't see how that looks anything like a samesung design.

 

[Max(IT)]

what Rage? we are all celebrating Apple's victory over Lamesung.

Actually any Apple user shouldn't care less about Samsung....