This is the provocative title of a recent Fortune article by Michael Lev-Ram. After Apple’s dominating several markets in the early part of the 21st century (see this post, for example), 2013 promises to be a very competitive marketplace for all sorts of electronic devices. And many experts expect Korea’s Samsung, not Apple, to lead the charge.
As Lev-Ram reports:
“To understand how Samsung became America’s No. 1 mobile phone maker and thorn in Apple’s side, it’s helpful to rewind to last fall. On a mid-September morning, Apple CEO Tim Cook stepped onto a stage in San Francisco to unveil the iPhone 5. Several hundred miles away, a group of marketing executives from Samsung Electronics followed real-time reactions to Cook’s remarks. They huddled around tables mounted with laptops and TV screens, carefully tracking each new feature and monitoring the gush of online comments on the new device via blogs and social media sites.”
“Two hours later, when Cook stepped off the stage, the Samsung group was already drafting a series of print, digital, and TV ads. The following week — as the iPhone 5 went on sale — the company aired a TV ad mocking Apple “fanboys” queuing up for the new phone. The 90-second commercial went on to become the most popular tech ad of 2012, garnering more than 70 million views online. More important, in the weeks following the launch of Apple’s iPhone 5, Samsung sold a record-breaking number of its own signature smartphone, the Galaxy S III.”
Click the image to read Lev-Ram’s full story.
Photo by GUY CO
I may have bias because I’m highly interested in this industry, but there are specific expectations that are had concerning new tech products. The Internet allows the expectations to trickle down from the “experts” to the consumer rumor mill. Apple, who positions itself as an innovator, loses brand value when it loses innovation capability and other companies or brands better fulfill expectations.
I agree with the presumption that 2013 will be an extremely competitive marketplace, especially for Samsung and Apple. Having gone through several generations of Apple’s iPhone, I have become frustrated with the lack of innovation for their product. The hype for the next iPhone has become overrated, due to this lack of product variation. Samsung utilizes this weakness of Apple’s and has successfully campaigned their array of smart phones. They offer more variety, more affordable prices, and are using their new popularity to their advantage. Personally, I believe that the iPhone is falling flat, and I have become so bored with my product that I am even contemplating switching over.
I completely agree that Samsung it’s going to take the place of Apple very soon! The Galaxy phone is great! The competitive advantage that I find in their product is that the consumer has more flexibility. For example you can take out the battery and put on a new one. Consumers like having flexible options and not being bounded to the company’s sales strategies such as changing the charger of the iPhone 5 so that everyone needs to purchase new car charger, etc. I like Apple products very much but I really love about Samsung that it gives me more options to choose from.
I do think that the Apple market will soon start to fade. People were very disappointed with the iPhone 5 because its capabilities were not much greater then the previous iPhone 4, but much more expensive. I think Samsung is doing the smart thing to get around their competition by offering phones with great new features for cheaper then other products.
It’s nice to see that Samsung is contributing largely to the competition factor between the two companies. Apple is leading the market in innovation because they’ve delivered satisfactory/better products and also because many people still believe in the legend that Steve Jobs started. It will probably take some more time for the public to bandwagon over to Samsung’s side, it seems.
I very much can see how Apple is losing it’s value… everyone has an Apple product. Apple is known for their creativity and innovation. But most recently, people have been disappointed. The iPhone 5 is not very different from the 4S. While the iPhone has always looked separate from a regular cellphone it is not upgrading quick enough with other competitors, like Samsung. In response to the article – I do believe that Samsung will lead this marketplace in the upcoming years. However, is response to the last comment – Nickie, I very much agree that it may take a long time for consumers to switch from Apple to other products. It may take more time for consumers to stray away from the Apple image, even if there are better products out there.
I had to agree with all of the comments above. Apple is going to have a tough time dominating this market. Samsung has done a great job, not only at mocking Apple with their witty commercials, but by creating an innovative and competitive product. Not only do I look forward to see how 2013 plays out between Samsung and Apple within the smartphone arena, but also within the tablet marketplace. Apple has already created a iPad mini in an attempt to compete with the lower prices of the other tablet brands. I am not sure this is great for their brand image, but unless they can bring something else to the table they may not have a choice to lower prices. However, I do feel that Apple loyalty is strong and having a computer, iPad, and smartphone all under the same operating system is something many seek to maintain.
I also agree with the comments and article above. I believe that Apple is going to have a tough time in the future market. In fact, I had this conversation the other day, that Apple needs to start creating new products, instead of just slightly changing their current products, in order to compete in the market place. Samsung and other companies offer cheaper products that have better options than Apple has been in the recent past.
I completely agree with the previous comments. I feel like Apple keeps trying to sell products that are only slightly different than their previous model. Samsung is trying to step out of the box with new ideas that appeal to consumers. I personally have not been happy with the service Apple has provided me. I definitely think Samsung will continue to rise in popularity and I cannot wait to see what new ideas they come up with.
I have always been a fan of Samsung products. I’ve owned several of their phones and I’ve brought one or two for family memebers in the past. Their attention to detail and personlization is unlike any other in the market in my opinion. However, my iPhone is resting right on my lap as I type this post. Apple has turned flip phone useres, Blackberry users, and Samsung users into iPhone addicts over the years. But, all good things must come to an end and I think Apple is slowly but surely running out of ideas.I agree, 2013 will be an extremely competitive year for sales in the electronic industry. Samsung is fighting for their spot at the top with new, innovative devices while Apple is getting a little too relaxed. Just because they made the iPhone longer and the iPad smaller doesn’t change their content.
This has been a hot topic for years now. The constant battle between Apple and Samsung will never quiet down. Apple has become a trend-setting company that drives others out of business. However, Samsung has been coming out with products closely linked to any of Apple’s products. This tight competition is illustrated by stocks, total revenue, and consumer behavior. Agreed that Apple is 100% revolutionary yet Samsung is coming up close with their new products. Apple’s iPhone5 was great but it’s quite similar to the iPhone4. Experiencing both products, the iPhone5 had the opportunity to be Apple’s best iPhone yet putting Apple in front of Samsung. Technology is constantly changing and improving, which leaves consumers wondering what is to come.
Samsung has truely taken over. Apple’s iPhones weren’t always gonna stay on top. Apple really messed up with their realease for iPhone 5, it didn’t feature any new features that couldn’t have been fixed with software update. They made lot of customers hyped up, but than they were let down.
I was against the whole apple iPhone before I had one. I did not want to just be another person with and iPhone. But once I started shopping for smart phones I decided that the iPhone was the best choice for various reasons. That was a little over a year ago. Within that time Samsung has really stepped to the plate and taken Apple head on. I think that if Apple keeps on making their products so exclusive people will stop buying them and move to Samsung. For example with an iPhone you cannot even use is as a storage device, use any other media player but iTunes and you cannot even send files though Bluetooth or even expand the memory. Every time Apple comes out with the new product it is basically the same thing with a few minor changes and they over charge for the changes, in my opinion. But now that people have an option for a phone that might be as good or better compared to the iPhone, people might switch companies. Apple needs to start making their products more diverse to be able to stay in the game.
I have to admit that being a recent Apple iPhone buyer, I am not completely happy. My parents both have Samsung phones, and I think that Samsung has a lot more to offer than Apple does. However, I think because Apple has been dominating the market it is going to take a lot of persuasion and some time before society starts changing their products. But I think with the smart campaign ads, and new technology Apple has a big competitor and needs to produce something new and exciting in order to keep their customers.
from my own opinion, I think it is a great thing that Samsung get to compete with apple. People around me are all use apple products include myself. My first cell phone actually was a samsung phone, it worked very good and it last long time. I wasnt a Mac user either. I was kind follow the trend, everyone using Iphone and MAc now, so I tried. It worked very well, and I got myself locked into APPLE. Now Iphone 5 came out, I heard so many complain from customers, and most apple users have high expectation for all the new products, and Im sure a lot of them are very disappointed. If apple doesnt satisfy yourself anymore, why not trying something new and better?