Phones Why Samsung's marketing fooled almost everyone

[Kariya]

Not really, I'm just correcting incorrect information. Samsung are kicking Apple's ass in smartphone sales right now.

Besides, what are you trying to do, diss Samsung for actually catering to all parts of the market and provide actual choice for their customers? As opposed to Apple which only provides the choice of buying either the iPhone 5 or their outdated models?

Except you're not. You have done no such thing.

I wasn't dissing Samsung, kudos to them for offering more options. I was pointing out that flooding the market means you naturally sell more overall. Considering Apple only have 6 models and still sell as much as they do is far more impressive.

 

[matttye]

Except you're not. You have done no such thing.

I wasn't dissing Samsung, kudos to them for offering more options. I was pointing out that flooding the market means you naturally sell more overall. Considering Apple only have 6 models and still sell as much as they do is far more impressive.

Especially when they only go for the high end market.

A Samsung Galaxy Ace costs £90 brand new and such phones would count towards Samsung's smartphone sales. The Ace is not the only cheap smartphone they produce either.

Samsung has something for everyone, while Apple only tackles the high end market. This only makes Apple more formidable, not less.

Imagine if Apple started selling cheap iPhones.

 

[0dev]

That might be what you MEANT, but that's not how your post came across. You said "By what measure is the iPhone the most popular smartphone?"

"iPhone" is singular.

If you were more clear about what you actually mean you wouldn't be constantly pulled up about things.

If I'd said "iPhone 5" specifically you would be right, but I didn't. I was talking about the iPhone line of products, not one specific model.

My initial point was not a mistake. My later post which said Samsung had the most popular smartphone was, because that was just a typo, and that I admitted to, but my actual point, which I shall reintegrate for you yet again, that Samsung sells more smartphones than Apple, is true.

 

[matttye]

If I'd said "iPhone 5" specifically you would be right, but I didn't. I was talking about the iPhone line of products, not one specific model.

My initial point was not a mistake. My later post which said Samsung had the most popular smartphone was, because that was just a typo, and that I admitted to, but my actual point, which I shall reintegrate for you yet again, that Samsung sells more smartphones than Apple, is true.

Your initial point WAS a mistake and you're trying to worm your way out of it.

I said that the Galaxy S3 was outsold by both the iPhone 5 and the iPhone 4S and your response to that was:

"That just depends on which analytics company you listen to, but it's two against one here."

In other words you said that what I said was potentially wrong, but you still haven't provided any information which backs up your claim.

Is it so difficult to accept that you made a mistake?

 

[0dev]

Your initial point WAS a mistake and you're trying to worm your way out of it.

I said that the Galaxy S3 was outsold by both the iPhone 5 and the iPhone 4S and your response to that was:

"That just depends on which analytics company you listen to, but it's two against one here."

In other words you said that what I said was potentially wrong, but you still haven't provided any information which backs up your claim.

Is it so difficult to accept that you made a mistake?

I did actually provide a link stating that the S3 was the best selling smartphone in the world, then reiterated that this wasn't even my main point. The post I originally replied to said the iPhone was the most popular smartphone and that's what I was disputing. The iPhone as a line of products is not better selling than Samsung's line of smartphones. But whatever man. I'm borrrred now.

 

[matttye]

I did actually provide a link stating that the S3 was the best selling smartphone in the world, then reiterated that this wasn't even my main point. The post I originally replied to said the iPhone was the most popular smartphone and that's what I was disputing. The iPhone as a line of products is not better selling than Samsung's line of smartphones. But whatever man. I'm borrrred now.

The S3 was the best selling smartphone in Q3 (right before a new iPhone release) and that's what the article you posted said. If I posted an article from 2009 when iOS commanded the most worldwide marketshare that doesn't make it correct today does it.

The iPhone IS the most popular smartphone. The iPhone 5 is an iPhone and was the most popular smartphone in Q4.

Samsung sells about ten times as many smartphone variants as Apple so it's no surprise they sell more smartphones in total

Okay I'm done

 

[DeathChill]

I did actually provide a link stating that the S3 was the best selling smartphone in the world, then reiterated that this wasn't even my main point. The post I originally replied to said the iPhone was the most popular smartphone and that's what I was disputing. The iPhone as a line of products is not better selling than Samsung's line of smartphones. But whatever man. I'm borrrred now.

You provided a link that had a click-bait title, "Is Apple iPhone the world's best selling smartphone? Researchers disagree." The actual contents of be article do indeed confirm that the iPhone 5 and 4S were the top-selling smartphones in Q4.

The second article you linked was about Q3, completely irrelevant to the discussion but still interesting.

It's obvious you believed the S3 was the top-selling smartphone in Q4, but rather than admit it you're trying to weasel out of it.

 

[marc11]

Yup. This was the most telling sign. Apple's never done this before for any competitor's announcements, as far as I know. Correct me if I'm wrong, anyone.

This and a bag of chips! I have never seen Apple act in a defensive mode like this. The timing of the ads, the emails, the website and the Marketing VP's comments all summed to make Apple look intimidated and concerned.

Where is the confident Apple we all know? What's next, price discounts? Come on Apple, Android and Samsung brought it to you, step up, bring something back!

 

[onthecouchagain]

This and a bag of chips! I have never seen Apple act in a defensive mode like this. The timing of the ads, the emails, the website and the Marketing VP's comments all summed to make Apple look intimidated and concerned.

Where is the confident Apple we all know? What's next, price discounts? Come on Apple, Android and Samsung brought it to you, step up, bring something back!

They recently lowered the price of their Retina Macbooks. I don't know if that's related, but I picked one up.

 

[marc11]

They recently lowered the price of their Retina Macbooks. I don't know if that's related, but I picked one up.

Yes I knew that, but considering the timing I do not think it was directly related. The marketing VP tweet and comments, the email spam push and the new website updates, all around the iPhone and iOS, timed just before and just after the Samsung launch was just way to transparent to be ignored.

 

[Essenar]

I'm sure Nokia outsold both in terms of total phone sales period. Doesn't make it a valid argument. What sold more, the Galaxy S3 or the iPhone 5?

It's not fair to convolute the point by saying irrelevant things like how many total smartphones were sold. Samsung has like Galaxy Blaze and Galaxy S2 McDonalds edition or whatever free phones come on contract.

And if its okay to include those, we should include iPhone 4S. And if we include iPhone 4S we should include the S2 and the iPhone 4. You know what lets just figure out who sold the most stuff, period. Who cares if we are talking about iPhones, televisions, laptops or toasters.

Lets just get the CEO's to meet up and throw down. Gotta find a nice empty parking lot. Where's RIM headquarters?

 

[thehustleman]

Well the iPad Mini to a lesser extent sure - they had always toted on about how there is no point to a 7" tablet market.

But there was also the whole issue of 'our phone's display size is perfect, because you can reach the whole display with one hand'. Then they start to see how much the big screen phones are in demand, and whaddaya know - the iPhone 5 has a bigger screen!

Then there was the interview where Tim Cook took a shot directly at Samsung, calling their OLED displays terrible.

And then only a few days ago there was Phil Schiller coming out and making wildly uninformed, ignorant comments to do with Android and Samsung:

"When you turn on an Android phone, you have to sign into 9 different accounts."

"Samsung's new phone will be shipping with a year old OS".

And then finally there's the 'Why you'll love an iPhone' web campaign that happens a few days after the S4 announcement.


In the Steve Jobs era, this sort of behaviour would have been unheard of. He would have orchestrated the product to speak for itself. Tim and Phil's attacks on their competitors reek of fear, and the fact that Apple are now doing things that follow in the footsteps of other OEM's is very telling.

This is all true, thing is though, the galaxy S III has a bigger screen and totally one handed friendly so no they aren't keeping the iphone small for that reason..

The Note is definitely hander, but not the s III.

Jobs told some lies himself. "we will never make a smaller tablet"

"3.5" us the perfect size for a phone screen "

Honestly the biggest truth he said was 10" is the perfect size for a tablet. Totally agree, but market calls for a smaller tab, go for it.

 

[Krimsonmyst]

This is all true, thing is though, the galaxy S III has a bigger screen and totally one handed friendly so no they aren't keeping the iphone small for that reason..

The Note is definitely hander, but not the s III.

Jobs told some lies himself. "we will never make a smaller tablet"

"3.5" us the perfect size for a phone screen "

Honestly the biggest truth he said was 10" is the perfect size for a tablet. Totally agree, but market calls for a smaller tab, go for it.

Either way, apple are still back pedalling on stuff they said they would never back pedal on, and are having to eat their words.

 

[sk1wbw]

Lol @ fooling people.

No, they just made a better phone

That's entirely purely subjective. And before you throw a 5th grade hissy fit, I'v owned a Samsung phone. It was a POS.

 

[rMBP13]

Finally, somebody who actually gets it! Especially if the rumor is true that the S4 is really only going to cost $579 in the US. Nobody will even consider HTC One or BB Z10 anymore!

 

[jrswizzle]

Right, but I never even disputed that. I just said the iPhone as a line of products is not the most popular brand of smartphone. Samsung would have that top spot if they did that Apple did and only make one model, but they don't, they provide actual choice for customers which Apple is too stubborn to do.

I'd say the only logical way to look at it would be to compare smartphone LINES (i.e. iPhone vs. Galaxy S)....

You take the three available for each (iPhone 4, 4S, 5 and Galaxy S, S2 and S3) - include the variants of the S models too.

The iPhone line has sold over 225 million iPhones since the release of the iPhone 4 (give or take - the number I pulled was 259.23 million since Q4 2010 which is late enough that it won't include too many 3G and 3Gs models, but I'll underestimate to be safe).

Meanwhile Samsung has sold 110 million Galaxy S line devices - throw in the Note sales (15 million for the 1 and 2) and you still come up WELL short....

So far, if we want to compare the latest iterations for each company:

Samsung Galaxy S3 has sold 50 million as of March 2013 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung_Galaxy_S_III). Since its release at the end of May (and rollout to the world in the following 2 months) it's sold on average 5 million smartphones per month 166,667 per day.

Apple iPhone 5 has sold 33.4 million as of January 2013 (no new figures for Apple yet - http://www.zdnet.com/apples-iphone-...est-selling-smartphone-in-q4-2012-7000011547/). Since its release at the end of September (and rollout to the world in the following 2 months) it's sold on average 11 million smartphones per month - 366,667 per day.

Obviously, these numbers are a bit wonky given I found more recent data for the GS3 and Apple's iPhone 5 sales will likely have weakened and their per month/per day numbers will drop.....

But take each phone's first 100 days for example:

Samsung sold 20 million GS3s in first 100 days: http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/06/samsung-galaxy-s-iii-20-million/

Apple sold 33.4 million iP5s in about the same timeframe (Sept. 21 - Dec. 31 2012)

Samsung is getting stronger - and going after their Android counterparts is definitely part of their strategy I'd imagine.....but let's temper the comments that Samsung has reached Apple's level - because they haven't. Period. Facts are facts.

----------

Either way, apple are still back pedalling on stuff they said they would never back pedal on, and are having to eat their words.

Jobs flip-flopped all the time....he even admitted the 7" tablet was more useful than he originally thought....

The fact is, Apple has a product pipeline likely at least 2 years ahead of the current products produced....if they made a mini last year, you can bet it was in the works back in 2010 (or earlier).

Apple is like any other company - their products are the best and offer the best user experience. If it's such crap, it should be easy to simply ignore.

I for one couldn't care less what they say about their devices....because they would never be critical to the public....that would be stupid. If Apple makes a larger iPhone it will have been in production for a few years - and it won't negate the simple fact that I can comfortably use my iPhone 5 (and each one before it) with one hand - and I have to shuffle my hand to reach to places on my N4.

People make too much of this. Hell, Samsung touts their devices as life-changing.....has anyone's life ever been changed by a Galaxy S3? I doubt it...it's all marketing - ALWAYS take it with a heaping pile of salt.

 

[matttye]

This is all true, thing is though, the galaxy S III has a bigger screen and totally one handed friendly so no they aren't keeping the iphone small for that reason..

The Note is definitely hander, but not the s III.

Jobs told some lies himself. "we will never make a smaller tablet"

"3.5" us the perfect size for a phone screen "

Honestly the biggest truth he said was 10" is the perfect size for a tablet. Totally agree, but market calls for a smaller tab, go for it.

Mostly one handed friendly, and it depends on hand size. I struggled to reach the top left hand corner without changing grip (I'm right handed).

 

[thehustleman]

That's entirely purely subjective. And before you throw a 5th grade hissy fit, I'v owned a Samsung phone. It was a POS.

I've owned samsung phones that were a POS as well, I used to hate them. Never thought I'd own a Samsung phone, but the galaxy S III proved to be anything but...

 

[jrswizzle]

I've owned samsung phones that were a POS as well, I used to hate them. Never thought I'd own a Samsung phone, but the galaxy S III proved to be anything but...

I'm in the whole "never think I'll own a Samsung phone/hate them" stage right now....

Thought I was going to be swayed by the GS4 launch (as I started to kinda like the GS3) but the somewhat "more of the same" approach they've taken and the ridiculously good-looking HTC One (love the design), I think I'll have to be pretty underwhelmed by everything else that comes out this year to go Samsung....

Likely stay with my iP5 and upgrade my Nexus 4 to an HTC One or Motorola X Phone - or upgrade my iP5 to a 5S and go with a Nexus 5 (given the pricing is still low).

 

[daveathall]

I'm in the whole "never think I'll own a Samsung phone/hate them" stage right now....

Thought I was going to be swayed by the GS4 launch (as I started to kinda like the GS3) but the somewhat "more of the same" approach they've taken and the ridiculously good-looking HTC One (love the design), I think I'll have to be pretty underwhelmed by everything else that comes out this year to go Samsung....

Likely stay with my iP5 and upgrade my Nexus 4 to an HTC One or Motorola X Phone - or upgrade my iP5 to a 5S and go with a Nexus 5 (given the pricing is still low).

To be honest JR, if I was like you and never had a SGS3, and are considering another Android, I would really be tempted with the SGS4.

Mind, the HTC is a looker, can't fault ya there.

 

[jrswizzle]

To be honest JR, if I was like you and never had a SGS3, and are considering another Android, I would really be tempted with the SGS4.

Mind, the HTC is a looker, can't fault ya there.

Its the Samsung philosophy I just can't get behind - plus I'm not a fan of their phone designs....

Regardless of impact on the function - the clusterf*** of features, to me, is an attempt to entice new customers by throwing everything they could think of into a phone and giving all those things a cool, futuristic name. I prefer a more level and efficient approach.

 

[daveathall]

Its the Samsung philosophy I just can't get behind - plus I'm not a fan of their phone designs....

Regardless of impact on the function - the clusterf*** of features, to me, is an attempt to entice new customers by throwing everything they could think of into a phone and giving all those things a cool, futuristic name. I prefer a more level and efficient approach.

Not wanting an argument but what makes you think that their approach isn't level or even efficient? Not trying to catch you out, just curious.

 

[jamojamo]

Pretty sad when Apple's fans have to grasp to a spelling error.

And when Android fanatics can't admit they made a mistake too. A spelling error, I doubt it.

When we have mistakes in Apple's favor, some in this sub-forum light up and slam the poster so I guess both sides are equally sad.

 

[Essenar]

Its the Samsung philosophy I just can't get behind - plus I'm not a fan of their phone designs....

Regardless of impact on the function - the clusterf*** of features, to me, is an attempt to entice new customers by throwing everything they could think of into a phone and giving all those things a cool, futuristic name. I prefer a more level and efficient approach.

lol... Okay man. You're just biased. It's okay to be biased. Just don't be surprised when you get called on it.

How are they clustered? Do they all pop up on the screen and explode at you whenever you unlock it? lol

Features are just that, features. If you don't like them don't use them. My friend's Lexus parallel parks itself. I would never use it and I see it shorting out at some point and not working properly. Does that make Lexus a bad car maker? The point of adding features is so that whenever someone does need them, they're there. If you had to download an app for everything you want to do, you start to clog up your OS. By having the features built in, people can choose whether or not to use them.

 

[jrswizzle]

Not wanting an argument but what makes you think that their approach isn't level or even efficient? Not trying to catch you out, just curious.

The "features for features sake" approach they seem to have. Everything they think of they put into the phone, without thinking if it really is useful or not.....sure anything can be useful to SOMEONE....I just prefer Apple's approach - they release new hardware/software when its both efficient enough to not negatively affect the device, and when it will actually be useful.

Not to say Apple does this perfectly all the time - there are features I wish they'd implement. I also am not a fan of Samsung's marketing strategy.....those idiotic posters listing features of the GS3 vs. the iPhone were completely misleading and flat out wrong (again, all those "fancy names" for features that were 95% of the time redundant).....and the ads mocking Apple fans were irritating as well.

I simply prefer the design of HTC and Apple phones as well - which may be small to some, but the outer design and display quality are two of my biggest areas of concern - both HTC and Apple use metal/glass (at least with the latest iterations) and both use LCD displays - which I vastly prefer over AMOLED.