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Samsung’s dire earnings preview should scare every smartphone maker (Apple)

sunking101 said:
Touchwiz bloat? Plastic phones? Ugly, plastic phones? A saturated market? Buyers tiring of diminishing returns?
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Most people don't care about TouchWiz or plastic phones, ugly is an opinion, and what do you mean about diminishing returns?

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osofast240sx said:
It will be a complete game changer. Samsung has shot their load as far a features.
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Really?

The iPhone 6 will be a game changer with it's slightly bigger battery and slightly bigger screen? Or will it be the sapphire for the screen?
 
sunking101 said:
Touchwiz bloat? Plastic phones? Ugly, plastic phones? A saturated market? Buyers tiring of diminishing returns?
Click to expand...
Diminishing returns can be an Apple problem as well.

Display has been basically the same 'quality' since retina introduced with iPhone 4.
Real world needs for CPU power pretty much topped out with the 4S, maybe the 5.

Increasing pixel density, is meh.
Doubling CPU strength again, is meh.

A 5.5 inch device could eat into iPad sales.

They need to continue new innovative angles, like TouchID.
 
Michael Goff said:
Most people don't care about TouchWiz or plastic phones, ugly is an opinion, and what do you mean about diminishing returns?
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Smartphones don't really bring us any killer new features anymore if we upgrade regularly. I mean; proper full web browsing was a killer feature, as was a camera which pretty much made compact cameras extinct, and so too 4G/LTE.
What more can they bring us over the next 18 months? A bigger screen for sure, but Android users have had that feature for years.
 
sunking101 said:
Smartphones don't really bring us any killer new features anymore if we upgrade regularly. I mean; proper full web browsing was a killer feature, as was a camera which pretty much made compact cameras extinct, and so too 4G/LTE.

What more can they bring us over the next 18 months? A bigger screen for sure, but Android users have had that feature for years.
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It could be a huge selling point for all the galaxy note and galaxy S series owners who switched only for the bigger screen.
 
osofast240sx said:
It will be a complete game changer. Samsung has shot their load as far a features.
Click to expand...

Hard to make that argument when plenty of "new" iOS 8 features were done years ago. Larger screen iPhone? It's been done.

SHNXX said:
It could be a huge selling point for all the galaxy note and galaxy S series owners who switched only for the bigger screen.
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True it could be. But there are probably some who may have given Android a fair chance and in turn ended up liking it over iOS.
 
sunking101 said:
Smartphones don't really bring us any killer new features anymore if we upgrade regularly. I mean; proper full web browsing was a killer feature, as was a camera which pretty much made compact cameras extinct, and so too 4G/LTE.
What more can they bring us over the next 18 months? A bigger screen for sure, but Android users have had that feature for years.
Click to expand...

I've been saying what you're saying for a while with regards to Apple. A year ago, the rhetoric was that everyone but Apple was growing because they were all innovating while Apple was just the old dinosaur. In reality, even then, smartphones weren't really bringing any new killer features to the table. Most of the new smartphones featured faster processors and bigger/better screens. Samsung brought out a plethora of new features but the company only seemed to care about filling up a feature list rather than making sure that those features worked as well as advertised and were useful features to have. The market's perception has finally caught up to reality. Sure, Apple's improvements may seem incremental but that's not much different from what everyone else is putting out.
 
tech4all said:
Hard to make that argument when plenty of "new" iOS 8 features were done years ago. Larger screen iPhone? It's been done.
.
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Precisely my point, Android has played most of there major cards. Apple will continue playing its cards at a controlled precise pace.
 
The problem Samsung has along with every other Android maker is the same that every Windows PC manufacturer faces. Namely the only thing that really matters is features (people care about) and price.

Looking at computers the chief feature is speed. Although with phones I'd say battery life and wireless reception abilities are important as well. Screen size is up to personal taste and the gamut is covered.

Apple isn't as effected quite so much. What they sell is a package of OS and hardware. As long as the features and price are not too far off. People will continue to pay more for this. Since they get an easier to use package. With no alternative manufacturer to turn to.
 
They are just trying to justify crappy sales. The industry as a whole may be down, but good manufactures aren't down.
Notice HTC has sold tons of the new ONE (M8). They built a solid phone that has been well received and is converting Samsung users. I would expect Apple to continue to see growth, especially with the advent of the Next/Edge programs. iPhone users love their phone and iPhone exhibits some of the most loyalty from its users. Android users in general will be loyal to the OS but not a to a specific phone which is why Samsung is losing ground.
I expect more whining from Samsung as their sales continue to drop.
 
Until the iPhone hits an iteration that doesn't set records and outsells other previous models I don't think they will be concerned. That time will undoubtedly come eventually, but I seriously doubt it will come with the iPhone 6. I expect it to be the biggest seller yet.
 
MacDawg said:
Until the iPhone hits an iteration that doesn't set records and outsells other previous models I don't think they will be concerned. That time will undoubtedly come eventually, but I seriously doubt it will come with the iPhone 6. I expect it to be the biggest seller yet.
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Yep. A lot of people I know skipped the iPhone 5 and 5S and have been waiting for the 6. I have been perfectly happy with my 4S but am ready for an upgrade. Plus a lot of Android people might switch now that there will be larger sized iPhones available
 
sunking101 said:
Smartphones don't really bring us any killer new features anymore if we upgrade regularly. I mean; proper full web browsing was a killer feature, as was a camera which pretty much made compact cameras extinct, and so too 4G/LTE.
What more can they bring us over the next 18 months? A bigger screen for sure, but Android users have had that feature for years.
Click to expand...

A bigger screen will be hailed as revolutionary by some for whatever reason.

But you're right, there's nothing big to bring to the smartphone table for anyone. Faster, more efficient, higher resolution, better colors, thinner, better battery life, and so forth are all we have to look forward to for the next few years at least.
 
sunking101 said:
Smartphones don't really bring us any killer new features anymore if we upgrade regularly. I mean; proper full web browsing was a killer feature, as was a camera which pretty much made compact cameras extinct, and so too 4G/LTE.
What more can they bring us over the next 18 months? A bigger screen for sure, but Android users have had that feature for years.
Click to expand...

That's the biggest problem for these companies. Smartphones have reached the point where they can do what most people ask of them comfortably. When I had a Droid 2, I needed to upgrade as soon as my contract was up because it just couldn't do web browsing comfortably. It could plod along and render a page, but it wasn't very good at it.

My S3 is different. I have no need to get an S4 or an S5 or any other new smartphone because the S3 is fine. Basically, smartphones have reached the point laptops did years ago. Annual or biannual upgrades bring less and less of an improvement as the devices get faster, so fewer people feel the need to spend the money.
 
After reading the earnings statement, I'm not sure where "dire" comes into play.

Slowing growth of the smartphone market is hardly news. It's a natural outcome. You can only convert feature phones to smart phones for so long before you run out of feature phones to replace. Projecting the rate at which maturation occurs (which affects inventory decisions) is an area that leaves room for surprises, both up and down. But sooner or later, puberty ends and the focus shifts from growth to retention. If Samsung or Apple stay right where they are, they'd still be huge, very profitable companies. It's the investors looking for rapid capital appreciation who go elsewhere.

Every major publicly-traded company is expected to issue periodic earnings reports. All you can do is look at what each company reports, for its own situation. You certainly can't say Samsung's excess inventory of low- and mid-priced devices (a forecasting error within Samsung itself), currency exchange issues, or OEM display business have direct correlation to Apple's earnings. Conversely, the performance and prospects of the iTunes business have no correlation at Samsung.

So, other than a well-known market trend that is addressed in both Samsung's and Apple's earnings reports, it's best to compare Apple to Apple.
 
People are tired of cheap, creaky plastic devices and want premium. That means increased sales for Apple and HTC.
 
deluxeshredder said:
I think other Android makers and Oracle's rudiculous Java lawsuit are a bigger threat to Samsung than Apple.
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What's ridiculous about that law suit? Oracle owns the rights to Java. Google is using Java without paying licensing fees.

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Michael Goff said:
A bigger screen will be hailed as revolutionary by some for whatever reason.

But you're right, there's nothing big to bring to the smartphone table for anyone. Faster, more efficient, higher resolution, better colors, thinner, better battery life, and so forth are all we have to look forward to for the next few years at least.
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Mobile Payments big enough?

How? NFC

Security? Touch ID

Implementation? Allow users to add Debit/Credit Card information into a "passbook" style iOS app that holds financial info like a iWallet for lack of another name.

How will we use this? Wave your phone at Point of Sale registers to make payments.

But not every POS has NFC? This is Apple we're talking about. If they do it the Merchants will come.
 
Armen said:
What's ridiculous about that law suit? Oracle owns the rights to Java. Google is using Java without paying licensing fees.

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Mobile Payments big enough?

How? NFC

Security? Touch ID

Implementation? Allow users to add Debit/Credit Card information into a "passbook" style iOS app that holds financial info like a iWallet for lack of another name.

How will we use this? Wave your phone at Point of Sale registers to make payments.

But not every POS has NFC? This is Apple we're talking about. If they do it the Merchants will come.
Click to expand...

Apple doing NFC? I wouldn't hold my breath.
 
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