Sales of the Galaxy S III rose following the unveiling of the iPhone 5
news.cnet.com
news.cnet.com
I bought an iPhone 5, but was definitely interested in the Lumia 920 announcement. If it was going to be announced a week after the iPhone, I certainly would have waited to see what it was. It makes sense that people would delay their purchase decision for a few weeks if they know a competitor is just about to announce something - if for no other reason than to confirm that the original device actually is the one they wanted.
What's far more common would be more or less uninformed people walked in to buy an iphone 5, and were told it was out of stock for weeks and the salesman (who gets a significantly better commission on Samsung phones) tries his best to sell them the GS3 and sometimes does. I know this is a common story because I've actually seen the exact scenario play out several times in the course of an hour I spent with my wife in the Sprint store activating her phone.
Both theories are probable enough that they likely happened in tandem - with some people waiting to see Apple's phone before pulling the trigger, others heading for Apple and being sold a Samsung. We could probably figure the quantity of each by comparing sales variations by brand and model.
When someone comes in the store asking for an iPhone 5, the salesperson is not going to push some cheap crap on them. They will push the best, most expensive alternative. As far as I can see the Galaxy S III is pretty much the only phone marketed on eye level with the iPhone by carriers.
Tangentially is Apple losing their acclaimed grip on the supply chain if they can't make enough iPhones but Samsung can make and sell double that after paying sales people more and still making 7.4B in profit?
Similarly, if Samsung had a press event a week after Apple introduced the iPhone, it would be prudent to wait and see if Samsung had something amazing that they were introducing.
The first theory assumes that some consumers will wait until both phone are available to make a choice. Obviously, some will choose iPhone and some S3.
The second theory says that some people will go to buy an iPhone, and instead get an S3 when no iPhones are in stock. Again, plausible. This comment has nothing to do with which phone is better.
Help me, what part of that doesn't follow?
Absolutely false. I merely point out that many people were looking for an iphone.
"Tangentially is Apple losing their acclaimed grip on the supply chain if they can't make enough iPhones"
No. New iPhones have always been supply constrained because of huge demand. Sprint may have some stock because Sprint's network is shit in many areas.
Stuff like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nf5-Prx19ZM
They've been showing that non-stop in the states.
So far the only ad I've seen for the SIII in the UK is this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsP-S2nETCc
With selling points such as "it understands you", "keeps track of loved ones", "recognises who you are", "follows your every move", "waits till you're asleep", it sounds like a commercial for a bloody serial killer.
I watched the ad you posted. It's bland.
It's too bad that they didn't have something edgier, especially with those quotes you mentioned. Maybe even something a bit more like this, from a few years ago?
http://crystaltips.typepad.com/wonderland/2006/02/new_psp_ad...
I would guess the copy wasn't written in English, and whatever message it was intended to convey was lost in translation.
It's not quite as bad as the bland multinational ads we get where they have the audacity to dub English over foreign vocals, but it's not far off...
Edit: A sample of the latter for the uninitiated: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IqMa7LOtgo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYP1Tjgt1Ao
Just joking. The Samsung ads are kinda funny
It's not very nice, but it definitely got a good belly laugh out of me.
> 'I was shocked by the numbers,' Kevin Packingham, chief product officer of Samsung's U.S. mobile arm, said. 'What the heck is going on here?'
> the company on Wednesday threw a splashy party for media, d-list celebrities, and select Samsung fans...
> Winning 'Phablet' fans
Alright, nice that Samsung is doing well, but come on--this article makes it sound like Samsung is a joke!
Buying an iPhone 5 involves either lots of waiting, or hard work to track one down.
Even if they were potential iPhone 5 buyers, they either said: "Meh, not that great" or "Not great enough to bother waiting... 2 weeks". I guess I see a 2 week wait for a 104 week contract to not be a big deal...
As for "Let alone if it's the iPhone that they want" Apple is the most recognizable brand and thus a higher portion of it's users are likely to be uninformed and persuadable.
I am thinking of getting a galaxy because of the nonsense. The main reasoning for not doing so is the loss of my apps. 4 years of app purchases are effectively going to be wasted.
The same would be true if iPhones were abundant and the Galaxy was out of stock, though Apple will always be at a disadvantage because there is only one "current" iPhone while there are any number of "new" Android phones the sales guy/gal could choose to push.
I don't know how they can make this conclusion. It could be that iPhone5 was sold out and since they were already at the store they bought another phone that could give them similar options. The difference is it has less to do by being impressed and more to do with iPhone actually brought customers to stores and helped sell the Galaxy.
As others have said, the average smartphone buyer is quite fickle, so just as easily as Apple can win them they can loose them, even if in effect the person will use the iPhone and s3 the do essentially the same things.
But then I am old enough that I learned how to use the original palm. Had a color Handspring for a while with a folding keyboard that I used for notes in business meeting. The more things change, the more things stay the same.
I also loved the promise of Siri but find the execution wothless at least 50% or the time. The android dictation seems to work better. Last but not least, I hated the old version of iPhone maps and he new version seems to be worse.
YMMV
It'd take something exceptional for me to consider an iPhone for those two reasons alone.
But I'm sure there's enough users who usually fall down on either side that are reasonably undecided enough that they might wait to see whether the "other camp" has something exceptional to offer before making their purchase decision when there's a new big launch around the corner.
I get the impression for acquaintances that there was a lot of people who don't exactly agree with Apples opinionated design but got a iPhone 4 because it was the best thing on the market at the time. Now that there are viable alternatives they are happy to switch.
I haven't tried the iPhone 5 yet as it hasn't been launched in Korea yet, but I seriously doubt that the iPhone 5 is an inferior product to the S III. There are some nice customizations you can do with Android phones, but if you want a phone that just "works", go with an iPhone.
You'll get used to the SIII and when you use a friend's iPhone, it will feel inaccurate and you will miss-touch all the links. I know I do when I use my wife's iPhone 5. It's worst when going from a SIII to an iPhone than the other way around because of the iPhone's small screen.
It should be expected.
People wait to see what is available.
Of course there will be a flood of Amazon/Apple/Android sales.
This does not tell us which one got the most sales.
Regardless, Apple may of got the bigger profit.
That seems like a much bigger reason for their increase in sales than anything else.