Who will be the next "Samsung" of the Android world?

[Robstevo]

Samsung makes great hardware, I'll give them that. Their screen display tech is top notch, and the SoC is one of the best.

But man, Touchwizz just blows, really hate it. When you have an already awesome OS to use, stock vanilla Android.

I read another compare Touchwizz to like installing Windows 95 on a brand new custom computer rig with the latest hardware. That computer may have the new Skylake platform and Intel 6700k compressor, and GTX 980Ti card, but it's ran by the outdated, ugly and crap Windows 95. That's Samsung's Touchwizz on their new phones.

I think current tocuhwizz is alright actually, certainly far better that it was.

The problem in general with android is the lack of speedy updates.

With an iPhone you know what your getting , as soon as Apple release the software....boom I get it.

As soon as Google release the software...erm we wait a few months, the wait a few months more. Then Samsung release the software....then we wait a few months for carriers to release the software.

It's pathetic really and it's pathetic Google have next really fixed the overall problem.

You can be waiting a whole year before you get the later Google, and by the time you get it, it's already outdated.


Now in terms of Samsung....the s6 and s6 edge are amazingly great phones, with hardware and quality on par/even better than the iPhone 6.

However they need to roll their heads a little bit. They are trying too be too like apple, however if people wanted phones like iPhones then they would buy an iPhone.

Sd card slots
Removable batteries
Water proofing

These are things that stand out against the iPhone , instead of getting rid of such features , embrace them!!

 

[Tsepz]

I don't think anyone is saying they are going out of business, obviously their business is much much larger than just smartphones. But their phone division keeps losing more and more money every year, at some point they have to decide if the losses are worth it. I'm sure they still make a profit even with the losses, but at some point that may not be the case anymore. Whether it's the Chinese, or Motorola, or Google cheaper handsets are still a danger to them. Look at the MotoX, arguably better than the Note 4 ignoring the stylus. Note I didn't say better specced I said better overall and for less than half the price, specs don't make a difference if the experience is smooth, Motorola and Apple have proved this versus Samsung still having a crappy experience with industry leading 3gb of RAM. Google also had cheap hardware once upon a time and I wouldn't be surprised if they went back to building a quality but inexpensive phone.

Common sense would say that their phone division has been in a downward spiral for a while now and their poor decisions and high prices are not making things better. Certainly this round of releases has not been an improvement.

Tizen I'm not sure about. It's interesting how many on here moan and gnash their teeth vehemently against Microsoft because they have no apps (when in reality the vast majority of apps are represented), but have no qualms about endorsing Tizen which has squat. Good luck getting consumers to side load apps, we are in the dumbification age of mobile devices.

WRT Tizen vs. Windows Phone. The difference is that Samsung are not pushing an OS that still has few apps, they are being very patient and developing Tizen at their own pace and releasing sort of 'test the waters' type devices where apps are not that important e.g. TVs, Watches and very low end phones.

What I like is that they have proven how power efficient they can make it, it shows that they really need to get many more app devs. to Tizen, so that they may use it as their main OS.

 

[GadgetSN]

The only other brand that could takes Samsungs mantle is Sony although this is unlikely to happen. All other brands in the Android space just screams budget brand name regardless of how well they are currently doing. This would not be good for Android.

 

[apolloa]

I think current tocuhwizz is alright actually, certainly far better that it was.

The problem in general with android is the lack of speedy updates.

With an iPhone you know what your getting , as soon as Apple release the software....boom I get it.

As soon as Google release the software...erm we wait a few months, the wait a few months more. Then Samsung release the software....then we wait a few months for carriers to release the software.

It's pathetic really and it's pathetic Google have next really fixed the overall problem.

You can be waiting a whole year before you get the later Google, and by the time you get it, it's already outdated.


Now in terms of Samsung....the s6 and s6 edge are amazingly great phones, with hardware and quality on par/even better than the iPhone 6.

However they need to roll their heads a little bit. They are trying too be too like apple, however if people wanted phones like iPhones then they would buy an iPhone.

Sd card slots
Removable batteries
Water proofing

These are things that stand out against the iPhone , instead of getting rid of such features , embrace them!!

The speed you get the updates has nothing to do with Google, it is entirely down to the carriers and the phone manufacturers, Google release updates to them before Nexus devices, but the carriers and manufacturers then have to get their skins and bloatware tested with the updates and then decide which devices get it.
Sony for instance has been brilliant with its updates, not too far behind the Nexus device updates.


Samsung is also not going anywhere anytime soon, no one will be replacing them, but competition for them will come heavily from Sony and LG and Heuwai, Microsoft also have a shot if they can pursued people to buy their phones.
And let's not forget Nokia is returning and that brand name has a LOT of consumer power.

Joe consumer likes brand names and Nokia has more credence in the mobile market then Microsoft does.

 

[gotluck]

WRT Tizen vs. Windows Phone. The difference is that Samsung are not pushing an OS that still has few apps, they are being very patient and developing Tizen at their own pace and releasing sort of 'test the waters' type devices where apps are not that important e.g. TVs, Watches and very low end phones.

What I like is that they have proven how power efficient they can make it, it shows that they really need to get many more app devs. to Tizen, so that they may use it as their main OS.

I just don't really see the point in tizen. Other oems have already shown they can make efficient Android builds. The software aspect is imo Samsung's weakest point and asking them to maintain the entire OS sounds like too big of an ask to me. I just don't have faith, personally I would wait years before buying a flagship tizen device to see how it fleshes out

 

[FFR]

If Samsung releases Tizen it will fragment the android market. However, it will have no affect on iPhone market share.

 

[Robstevo]

Samsung are just wasting their money on tizen, The hard core users already love android for its customisable it , the average consumer already loves IOS for its simplicity , Windows is struggling but with Windows 10 all being in unity , Microsoft will have an angle to sell.

Who the hell is wanting or crying out for tizen?

Instead of spending all that money on another operating system, they should be developing touch whizz into the best android version their is.

 

[spinedoc77]

The speed you get the updates has nothing to do with Google, it is entirely down to the carriers and the phone manufacturers, Google release updates to them before Nexus devices, but the carriers and manufacturers then have to get their skins and bloatware tested with the updates and then decide which devices get it.
Sony for instance has been brilliant with its updates, not too far behind the Nexus device updates.


Samsung is also not going anywhere anytime soon, no one will be replacing them, but competition for them will come heavily from Sony and LG and Heuwai, Microsoft also have a shot if they can pursued people to buy their phones.
And let's not forget Nokia is returning and that brand name has a LOT of consumer power.

Joe consumer likes brand names and Nokia has more credence in the mobile market then Microsoft does.

I don't believe that at all. Google has the power to

I just don't really see the point in tizen. Other oems have already shown they can make efficient Android builds. The software aspect is imo Samsung's weakest point and asking them to maintain the entire OS sounds like too big of an ask to me. I just don't have faith, personally I would wait years before buying a flagship tizen device to see how it fleshes out

They would save on the licensing fees to MS, and probably help their wounded pride when sued and forced to pay. It's an odd decision as I can't see the licensing fee being more than nominal, and with manufacturing many of the parts themselves and the exorbitant prices some of their phones have.

You do have to consider the lower end, the cheap android phones which Samsung also makes. I suppose the licensing fee is probably the same for those, making it a significant cost. I'm assuming this is where they feel they will save money. Personally I don't think we'll see tizen on a Samsung flagship for some time, they will introduce it more and more on their cheaper offerings. With enough popularity they will move on to the flagships, or possibly not and just leave then Android.

 

[Michael Goff]

I don't believe that at all. Google has the power to


They would save on the licensing fees to MS, and probably help their wounded pride when sued and forced to pay. It's an odd decision as I can't see the licensing fee being more than nominal, and with manufacturing many of the parts themselves and the exorbitant prices some of their phones have.

You do have to consider the lower end, the cheap android phones which Samsung also makes. I suppose the licensing fee is probably the same for those, making it a significant cost. I'm assuming this is where they feel they will save money. Personally I don't think we'll see tizen on a Samsung flagship for some time, they will introduce it more and more on their cheaper offerings. With enough popularity they will move on to the flagships, or possibly not and just leave then Android.

I think you underestimate the carriers and overestimate Google. Google needs the carriers, but the carriers don't need Google.

 

[Robstevo]

The speed you get the updates has nothing to do with Google, it is entirely down to the carriers and the phone manufacturers, Google release updates to them before Nexus devices, but the carriers and manufacturers then have to get their skins and bloatware tested with the updates and then decide which devices get it.
Sony for instance has been brilliant with its updates, not too far behind the Nexus device updates.


Samsung is also not going anywhere anytime soon, no one will be replacing them, but competition for them will come heavily from Sony and LG and Heuwai, Microsoft also have a shot if they can pursued people to buy their phones.
And let's not forget Nokia is returning and that brand name has a LOT of consumer power.

Joe consumer likes brand names and Nokia has more credence in the mobile market then Microsoft does.

I think you underestimate the carriers and overestimate Google. Google needs the carriers, but the carriers don't need Google.

They need each other and I would say Google has by far the most influence in the mobile industry than any other player.

Google have as much power and influence as Apple, and Apple have managed to influence the carriers to make their software untouchable via the carriers. Google would have that power as well if they had a set of balls.

Without Google what would the carriers sell? Windows phones that no one is buying? Tizen which is dead on arrival? iPhones where they already have no influence on?.

 

[Michael Goff]

They need each other and I would say Google has by far the most influence in the mobile industry than any other player.

Google have as much power and influence as Apple, and Apple have managed to influence the carriers to make their software untouchable via the carriers. Google would have that power as well if they had a set of balls.

Without Google what would the carriers sell? Windows phones that no one is buying? Tizen which is dead on arrival? iPhones where they already have no influence on?.

No, Apple has their power because Steve Jobs got in before the smartphone craze and got a good deal. Then it slowly moved to each carrier with the same deal to make them not "that carrier without an iPhone". If either company was trying to get that power today, they'd fail.

Carriers could stop selling Android phones tomorrow and people would still need to go to those same carriers.

 

[gotluck]

Friends don't let friends buy carrier phones

 

[tbayrgs]

They need each other and I would say Google has by far the most influence in the mobile industry than any other player.

Google have as much power and influence as Apple, and Apple have managed to influence the carriers to make their software untouchable via the carriers. Google would have that power as well if they had a set of balls.

Without Google what would the carriers sell? Windows phones that no one is buying? Tizen which is dead on arrival? iPhones where they already have no influence on?.

Disagree as well...Google has no where near the power you describe in the mobile industry and nothing close to Apple, and they never will as long as Android is open source and available for anyone to use. To do what you're saying, they'd have to essentially mimic Apple's walled garden and lock down Android, which isn't going to happen. How else would they have any leverage over the carriers? They can't force an OEM to not do business with these carriers.

If anyone has even a fraction of the power Apple has over the carriers, it would be Samsung, not Google.

 

[Mihailo]

Sony is doing their job very well.


Michael

 

[jamezr]

Disagree as well...Google has no where near the power you describe in the mobile industry and nothing close to Apple, and they never will as long as Android is open source and available for anyone to use. To do what you're saying, they'd have to essentially mimic Apple's walled garden and lock down Android, which isn't going to happen. How else would they have any leverage over the carriers? They can't force an OEM to not do business with these carriers.

If anyone has even a fraction of the power Apple has over the carriers, it would be Samsung, not Google.

Have to agree with tbayrgs and gotluck here....Google doesn't have near the power people seem to think.
I think carriers have a LOT more power than is healthy for the mobile phone space.

Google had a chance to really control Android when they owned Motorola. If they were going to exert control or authority they would have so then. If they had the vision and intent they could have done some amazing things...but chose to go in a different direction. They make more money from services than hardware.

 

[thecurryman]

I vote the new rumored Blackberry Venice.

Rumored specs:

• 5.4-inch Curved Quad-HD display (1440p)
• 18 MP rear-camera w/ OIS
• 5 MP front-camera
• 1.8 GHz Hexa-core (Snapdragon 808 chipset) 64-bit
• 3 GB RAM
• 3000+ mAh battery
• Physical keyboard

What does any phone other phone offer thats that much better? Its rumored to have a MircoSD slot so at it at least has expandable storage. What does a Note 5 offer other than a pen? Or the S6 edge other than a curved screen (BB Venice has that as well), or the S6 with a fingerprint scanner? Or a Lg G4 with buttons on the back? You get the drift. Personally in a world of glass slabs, I think a phone that has good specs (which this is rumored to have) and something that makes it really different from everything else will sell well.
A lot of people miss the keyboard on their old BB, and having the option to have that on newer hardware (flagship quality) really hits that nostalgic sweet spot. I can't use a BB10 phone because of app compatibility (Ive tried) but having a high quality hardware keyboard phone along with android lets me do that.

Specs wise its a typical, run of the mill flagship 2015 device. Plus everyone knows what Blackberry is. Run commercials during primetime 6-7 days a week showing off how its got android (and all the apps that people want) with a fantastic keyboard, and people might be interested. Also BB sold a total of 1 million phones last quarter....all they have to do is sell double that and they've essentially become successful. Plus being available on all 4 carriers is a plus; theres no way all 4 would have decided to carry the phone if they didn't think it had potential. It also comes down to the reps selling the phone. Most people know the difference between android and iOS, apple vs samsung vs LG vs Motorola, but not many knew of BB10. Those that did were usually persuaded by the carrier reps to buy an android because of the large app gap. Well thats gone now so I think the large amount of ex-BB users might want a keyboard phone. BB is literally at rock bottom, they have no where else to go but up and the Venice gives them a decent shot at it.

Based on the comments Ive read on Reddit or Android central or other blogs, is that this thing has people excited and has potential. Its up to BB to use that to their advantage

TL;DR: Venice has good specs and keyboard + apps with android, BB has brand recognition, no where else to go but up

 

[mclld]

I used to love my bb's but I do not think most people would want to go back to a physical keyboard

 

[thecurryman]

I used to love my bb's but I do not think most people would want to go back to a physical keyboard

it still has a 5.4-inch display, so if you don't slide out the keyboard its large enough to use the on board one. All I know is that I love my iPhone and all but I miss that keyboard everyday

 

[mclld]

Oh I am sure plenty of people would like a keyboard, imo I just think a majority of people would not go back

 

[apolloa]

So....

Google has power, Apple has power, has NOTHING to do with updates. Apple handles ALL updates itself, no carrier does.

Google ONLY handles updates with it's own Nexus devices and I guess Play edition devices? Otherwise it sends the updates to the carriers or handset manufactures and it's up to them when to send them out, not forgetting Android is totally free to manufacturers.
Android is based on the entire idea of being customisable, carriers customise it. So Google lets them sensibly handle their own release patterns so they can test their customisations with the software first, that's not for Google to do as they don't make the skins etc.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Forget about performance I'm talking power efficiency and heat on the process node.

Just like the snapdragon 810 is a volcano.

The a72 cores will draw up to 40-60% less power

Consumers do care about specs its how the galaxy phones got to be the king of Android.they have always lead the market with the latest specs and even the freaking iPhone 6s is nothing more then a power boost spec upgrade of the iPhone 6

Let's see what the 6s is
2gb ram ddr4 hopefully
12mp camera
Higher resolution screen hopefully super amoled
Bigger battery
40% faster cpu
60% faster gpu
Looks exactly the same as the iPhone 6

So wtf is apple doing with the s models if people don't care about specs?

Ohh crap I almost forgot the iPhone has no removable battery and no sdcard!

The type of consumer who cares about specs tend to buy impressively spec'd Android phones in my experience. I don't think the general iPhone consumer buys one because of what processor it has etc. The iPhone draws attention because iOS is clean and simple to use and Apple is a cool brand to boot. It's a solid smartphone and remains hugely popular at the higher end of the market. Most people I dare say couldn't tell you the hardware specifications of the iPhone 6. I'll be honest, other than the size of my storage I don't really know, and it's really all I need to know IMO.

The iPhone 6S will catch all those people this year who's contract is ending and it'll be the latest iPhone. It will sell based on that. My mother has a 5S and will undoubtedly get the 6S because that is the cycle she is in. She wouldn't have a clue what powers the thing. If somebody wants an iPhone this year, all they need to know is the latest device is better than the previous. The comparison is rather shallow beyond that for many I think. There is no competition with iOS as the latest device is the only one in its category.

Android is a different beast altogether. Hardware is what is compared primarily and the market is busy. Samsung are the current kings of their market and like Apple they have the money for continued development. I can't see that changing in the near future. They have put themselves at a disadvantage by not releasing the new Note 5 in Europe and maybe the likes of LG and Motorola will attempt to capitalise on that? Apple will certainly sell more 6S Plus' as a result one would imagine.

 

[grkm3]

The type of consumer who cares about specs tend to buy impressively spec'd Android phones in my experience. I don't think the general iPhone consumer buys one because of what processor it has etc. The iPhone draws attention because iOS is clean and simple to use and Apple is a cool brand to boot. It's a solid smartphone and remains hugely popular at the higher end of the market. Most people I dare say couldn't tell you the hardware specifications of the iPhone 6. I'll be honest, other than the size of my storage I don't really know, and it's really all I need to know IMO.

The iPhone 6S will catch all those people this year who's contract is ending and it'll be the latest iPhone. It will sell based on that. My mother has a 5S and will undoubtedly get the 6S because that is the cycle she is in. She wouldn't have a clue what powers the thing. If somebody wants an iPhone this year, all they need to know is the latest device is better than the previous. The comparison is rather shallow beyond that for many I think. There is no competition with iOS as the latest device is the only one in its category.

Android is a different beast altogether. Hardware is what is compared primarily and the market is busy. Samsung are the current kings of their market and like Apple they have the money for continued development. I can't see that changing in the near future. They have put themselves at a disadvantage by not releasing the new Note 5 in Europe and maybe the likes of LG and Motorola will attempt to capitalise on that? Apple will certainly sell more 6S Plus' as a result one would imagine.

I think a lot of people are confusing profit and sales.Samsung is still the number one oem in sales.they even out sold apple last year and most definitely will this year.

The market and bloggers are riding Samsung's monster year when the gs3 hit the streets and apple didn't even have a lte phone out at the time.

Samsung will never hit those numbers again and they came close with the gs6.I think they are 8 or 12% off and somehow these bloggers that make ridiculous titles about Samsung to get page hits forget to mention Samsung still out sold everyone and made 6 billion in pure profit last quarter

 

[jamezr]

I think a lot of people are confusing profit and sales.Samsung is still the number one oem in sales.they even out sold apple last year and most definitely will this year.

The market and bloggers are riding Samsung's monster year when the gs3 hit the streets and apple didn't even have a lte phone out at the time.

Samsung will never hit those numbers again and they came close with the gs6.I think they are 8 or 12% off and somehow these bloggers that make ridiculous titles about Samsung to get page hits forget to mention Samsung still out sold everyone and made 6 billion in pure profit last quarter

Great point! But that type of fact reporting won't get the tech sites as many page hits. So they stick to creating controversy to get pages hits and AD revenue

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

I think a lot of people are confusing profit and sales.Samsung is still the number one oem in sales.they even out sold apple last year and most definitely will this year.

The market and bloggers are riding Samsung's monster year when the gs3 hit the streets and apple didn't even have a lte phone out at the time.

Samsung will never hit those numbers again and they came close with the gs6.I think they are 8 or 12% off and somehow these bloggers that make ridiculous titles about Samsung to get page hits forget to mention Samsung still out sold everyone and made 6 billion in pure profit last quarter

Did the S5 and Note 4 sell more than the iPhone's last year or are you referring to Samsung in its entirety across their entire range?

 

[grkm3]

Did the S5 and Note 4 sell more than the iPhone's last year or are you referring to Samsung in its entirety across their entire range?

Samsung nor apple doesn't break down individuals so we can only use entire range from both companies.