Guessing Samsung have learnt people love the edge

[The Game 161]

Sales wise all reports suggest is not supplying enough edge is what has hurt them.

For pre orders 53% wanted edgd over S6 regular.

Maybe they will supply alot more next year for S6 edge 2 and this year's S6 edge plus.

Can but hope...S6 line wpuld of been an even better success if they did

 

[tbayrgs]

Count me as one those that thought the regular S6 would sell better, primarily because of price.

My question though is how much better would sales have been had they made more edge version? Wouldn't there really only be lost sales if the person who would've bought the edge not buy the regular S6 or wait for a S6 edge and chose something else? I guess the real tragedy would be losing the sale to an iPhone. I don't see many prospective S6 buyers choosing something else.

 

[Technarchy]

I opted for a standard S6, but on launch day a lot of people wanted the Edge from what I remember.

 

[The Game 161]

Yeah and I think this is why sales aren't as good as they should be

 

[MRU]

Yeah and I think this is why sales aren't as good as they should be

When they (analysts and business reports) report S6 sales they include S6 & S6 Edge.

Just like iPhone 6 sales figures include IPhone 6 & 6+


The reason sales aren't as good as they hoped they would be has been the long standing problem of 1) more choice in Android space 2) people don't upgrade as often 3) saturation point has pretty much been reached in developed countries 4) these flagships in developing countries are far too expensive to gain traction 5) many Samsung users of previous S Line have moved to the Note line

The reality is that Sales will likely never reach the highs that the S3 reached - that was a peak year, since then S4, S5 & S6 have all failed to reach Samsung's own predictions which means two things

1) their in house analysts are either yes men too afraid to predict real figures or they are just incompetent

2) the reasons mentioned prior - more choice - people upgrading less - saturation point has been reached - too expensive outside of developed countries - many S users switched to Note

 

[cube]

I hope they also learnt people expect removable batteries and SD slots from Samsung.

 

[The Game 161]

When they (analysts and business reports) report S6 sales they include S6 & S6 Edge.

Just like iPhone 6 sales figures include IPhone 6 & 6+


The reason sales aren't as good as they hoped they would be has been the long standing problem of 1) more choice in Android space 2) people don't upgrade as often 3) saturation point has pretty much been reached in developed countries 4) these flagships in developing countries are far too expensive to gain traction 5) many Samsung users of previous S Line have moved to the Note line

The reality is that Sales will likely never reach the highs that the S3 reached - that was a peak year, since then S4, S5 & S6 have all failed to reach Samsung's own predictions which means two things

1) their in house analysts are either yes men too afraid to predict real figures or they are just incompetent

2) the reasons mentioned prior - more choice - people upgrading less - saturation point has been reached - too expensive outside of developed countries - many S users switched to Note

Question is why are apple iPhone sales always so great even when the product isn't any different to what they bring out. .iPhone 6 and 6S won't be any real difference

 

[MRU]

Question is why are apple iPhone sales always so great even when the product isn't any different to what they bring out. .iPhone 6 and 6S won't be any real difference

One manufacturer making the only iOS phone device.

If you want the latest iOS device you can only get it from Apple. Also what has helped iPhone 6 / 6+ sales was the fact that it has been contrary to predictions successful in China (which is quite surprising since the 'home' competition consists mostly of Android OEMs making far cheaper android devices that mimic the look and feel of iOS).

Sales aren't always great, the 5 or 5S didn't do as much as stock market hoped but yes still far higher than Android manufacturers.

Like I say Samsung are an Android manufacturer in a sea of android manufacturers and whilst they are still the biggest of those that constant barrage of devices from other OEMs all of which are getting better at matching flagship specs (as Android seems to hinge on a spec war whereas iOS doesn't) means that Samsung despite its muscle hasn't managed the traction Apple has in the likes of China or even India where they are losing out to likes of Xioami, Meizu, Huawei etc...

Then for all the reasons mentioned prior - people in western economies just aren't upgrading as often or exercise less brand loyalty than iOS users simply because they can.

If I want a device running iOS I can get an iPhone. If I want a device running Lollipop I can get a whole array of devices that I can be far more picky, selective and less brand loyal in that sense.

Sadly I don't see that changing for any Android OEM anytime soon.

Everyone assumes Samsung's biggest competitor is Apple, but this isn't really the case. Their biggest competitor is the myriad of other Android OEMs who even with only small global share percentages are eating away at Samsung's dominance and ability to generate ever increasing sales.

I'm sure one of the many reasons for the pursuit of Tizen was for Samsung to take control not only of the ecosystem but to also have an OS that is solely its own. One that competes only with itself and not every other Android phone. Sadly for Samsung the Tizen rescue package came too late for it to gain any traction and they realised this quickly relegating it to obscure niche products. It will never be Samsung's iOS now.

Which leaves Samsung at that point where it now competes each year on hardware specs with other Android OEM's and people are getting wary of that and far more selective.

Let's face it at least they are not in same kind of trouble as HTC and Sony

 

[The Game 161]

Very well put

Sadly most apple fans do point to sales vs Samsung but really that's not the whole picture

 

[mrex]

Question is why are apple iPhone sales always so great even when the product isn't any different to what they bring out. .iPhone 6 and 6S won't be any real difference

the real question is why they cant get more market share.
www.idc.com/prodserv/smartphone-os-market-share.jsp

iphone 6 plus was a savior for apples market share. but where are all new customers? and apple has no competitor selling ios-devices.

why sales are fine? clever marketing and they can sell the same device twice for you. they do a phone now, it's a new, there is just some new thing(s) to call it a new, better, amazing phone. (6plus was actually something new) But, they dont put all things at the same time. they save something for the next model. A year later they have a new, amazing phone, which is basicly the same as the old one (e.g. 5 and 5s) but it is enough differend to call it as a new, amazing thing. if there isnt nothing, they dont hesitate to call a new air-thin volume button as a amazing volume button and people are sold. it is already a year ago when they bought the phone, they are ready to buy a new one! you dont need to do much, just tiny changes.

think about air and air2. what is the main difference? 2gig ram (and touchID) why didnt they put 2gig ram to air in the first place? because they needed a device which they can sell again a year later. 2gig ram was amazing new thing for air. then think about the difference between 5 and 5s. just a new processor and touchID. that was enough.

it is not hard to quess that in their next phone there is a 2gig ram. why they didnt put that to iphone6? they needed to save the ram for the next model to sell it again a year later when people are ready to buy again. trust me there is this new amazing 2gig ram which revolutionizes the ios experience with ios9.

it is a pretty clever marketing that they have managed to create: you really dont expect to get much from apple, but just enough to buy it. when samsung for example announces a new phone, you are always expecting something real revolutionary or you are disappointed, because you have got used to it that samsung gives you always something new.

 

[The Game 161]

the real question is why they cant get more market share.
www.idc.com/prodserv/smartphone-os-market-share.jsp

iphone 6 plus was a savior for apples market share. but where are all new customers? and apple has no competitor selling ios-devices.

why sales are fine? clever marketing and they can sell the same device twice for you. they do a phone now, it's a new, there is just some new thing(s) to call it a new, better, amazing phone. (6plus was actually something new) But, they dont put all things at the same time. they save something for the next model. A year later they have a new, amazing phone, which is basicly the same as the old one (e.g. 5 and 5s) but it is enough differend to call it as a new, amazing thing. if there isnt nothing, they dont hesitate to call a new air-thin volume button as a amazing volume button and people are sold. it is already a year ago when they bought the phone, they are ready to buy a new one! you dont need to do much, just tiny changes.

think about air and air2. what is the main difference? 2gig ram (and touchID) why didnt they put 2gig ram to air in the first place? because they needed a device which they can sell again a year later. 2gig ram was amazing new thing for air. then think about the difference between 5 and 5s. just a new processor and touchID. that was enough.

it is not hard to quess that in their next phone there is a 2gig ram. why they didnt put that to iphone6? they need to save the ram for the next model to sell it again a year later when people are ready to buy again. trust me there is this new amazing 2gig ram which revolutionizes the ios experience with ios9.

it is a pretty clever marketing that they have managed to create: you really dont expect to get much from apple, but just enough to buy it. when samsung for example announces a new phone, you are always expecting something real revolutionary or you are disappointed, because you have got used to it that samsung gives you always something new.

Good post

Sadly Samsung giving you plenty each upgrade market wise is what hurts I guess. Apple are very clever in how they market things that's for sure.

 

[MRU]

Good post

Sadly Samsung giving you plenty each upgrade market wise is what hurts I guess. Apple are very clever in how they market things that's for sure.

Yeah and no. Whilst certainly you could argue they hold things back they are also doing so to preserve the longevity of existing devices. Smallish incremental updates arguably make shelf life of existing devices better. It's why people can still pick up a 4S and have a reasonable experience that has most of software features of newer models. How many 4 year old android devices are still receiving support ?

In many ways Apple's incremental model actively encourages users not to upgrade each year - it is why they made a big push for developing countries lately as that is really where the only growth will come from.

But again it's really a case that Apple pretty much competes with itself here, this business model just doesn't work if your an Android OEM.

Here the race to outdo each other on specs alone for flagships seems to be the only way they perceive differentiating themselves from the Hurd. Sadly as prices increase regular Joe Soap much like Apples users are not upgrading as often, what was once every year has become every two - three years.

Forum users are not indicative of regular joe soaps. This is something the majority of people (especially fans of particular brands) really fail to understand and therefore what makes users like us change phone or purchase goods is not the same as normal users

Samsung sales will continue to stagnate and perhaps slowly shrink unless they can take on developing markets, but again the competition is so strong that the odds are stacked against them.

This race to outdo each flagship android on specs alone can only go so far before apathy sets in and arguably were already heading there.

 

[The Game 161]

I think that's the issue. The amount of Android comp there is...it hurts Samsung no matter how great devices are.

Apple just competing against themselves

 

[MRU]

I think that's the issue. The amount of Android comp there is...it hurts Samsung no matter how great devices are.

Apple just competing against themselves

Yep. It's constant and there are just a forever ending supply of new OEM competitors nibbling at their toes. Even if your the number 1 android manufacturer that constant barrage inevitably is going to eat at your bottom end ...

[cue 'oh matron' Kenneth Williams image]

 

[mrex]

Yeah and no. Whilst certainly you could argue they hold things back they are also doing so to preserve the longevity of existing devices. ... How many 4 year old android devices are still receiving support ?

true, and a customer service (but you pay the high price to get that service too).

but im abit disagreeing about the support. all gapps are updated from playstore without needing the newest os. your very old phone is still getting those updates everytime google updates their apps. unfortunately it doesnt help if there is a bug in the os itself (e.g. security risk).

 

[MRU]

true, and a customer service (but you pay the high price to get that service too).

but im abit disagreeing about the support. all gapps are updated from playstore without needing the newest os. your very old phone is still getting those updates everytime google updates their apps. unfortunately it doesnt help if there is a bug in the os itself (e.g. security risk).

Yep third party apps will still be updated to some extent, though I've seen many JB/ICS devices not getting latest versions.

But this doesn't really help first party stock apps which only get updated (on older devices) with an OS update. Thankfully there has been a push to put some first party stock apps on the play store so hopefully that improves but it's still not to same extent of support as iOS - but given the breadth of support someone like Samsung would have to offer if they did because they have so many devices you can see why the support OS shelf life is often a lot less than iOS.

 

[Abazigal]

Apple also initially miscalculated the ratio of iPhone 6 to 6+ and didn't produce enough 6+. To their credit, Apple was able to switch production quickly enough to meet demand.

The problem was not Samsung realising that people love the S6 edge, but their inability to swiftly rectify the problem when it occurred.

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

I predicted this from the start.

 

[jamezr]

Apple also initially miscalculated the ratio of iPhone 6 to 6+ and didn't produce enough 6+. To their credit, Apple was able to switch production quickly enough to meet demand.

The problem was not Samsung realising that people love the S6 edge, but their inability to swiftly rectify the problem when it occurred.

But to be honest the dual edge screens are much harder to produce than any other screen on the market. Then to produce in mass quantities is a huge undertaking. Apple backed off Sapphire screens just for this very reason.

 

[Abazigal]

But to be honest the dual edge screens are much harder to produce than any other screen on the market. Then to produce in mass quantities is a huge undertaking. Apple backed off Sapphire screens just for this very reason.

True that. A very expensive lesson for Samsung. Hope that by the time they sort out their production issues, consumers would still be interested in the curved screen designs.

 

[nj-morris]

This surprises me. When I first saw the S6 edge, with the exact same specs as the regular S6, I thought that it would be the next Mini 3, except that Touch ID is a much more useful feature than a curved screen. But, apparently people like this feature.

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

This surprises me. When I first saw the S6 edge, with the exact same specs as the regular S6, I thought that it would be the next Mini 3, except that Touch ID is a much more useful feature than a curved screen. But, apparently people like this feature.

It's not the feature of the edge per se that people like. The S6 edge is just freaking beautiful. I knew since the announcement that it would be in high demand.

 

[nj-morris]

It's not the feature of the edge per se that people like. The S6 edge is just freaking beautiful. I knew since the announcement that it would be in high demand.

Fair enough. At least the 'freaking beautiful' bit doesn't come at a $10000 price tag.

 

[MRU]

Fair enough. At least the 'freaking beautiful' bit doesn't come at a $10000 price tag.

Just to correct that...

People keep making statements like that but they are flawed analogies because they do not bare in mind that the $10,000 price tag is not about the device itself - after all it's same tech hardware as cheaper model - but it's the cost of the gold itself which is a high priced commodity.

There are plenty of shops in Dubai who will sell you a Galaxy Edge in 'Real Gold' for up-to $10k asking too.

You are the consumer, if you want an Apple watch (I don't) then you are not given a sole 10k SKU.

So these false analogies people keep making in forums (not just here) are missing key information based on the price of commodities.

Whilst the Apple watch may date - arguably the 10k gold version will retain high value based on its gold weight alone.

 

[GadgetSN]

Samsung Note 5 edge 128gb needs to come in at £600 RRP on release date.