I think Samsung is in trouble

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Gator352

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People, this isn't about the removable battery or sd card. It is however, about the removal of features that made the galaxy line stand out from the rest, sans LG. Samsung has made great strides in the hardware department and for that i give kudos but thats it. There's nothing else.

See, the phone is premium. It is. But they removed features Then upped the price. For what? More onboard storage? Bull malarkey. They did it to be like mike....er....apple. people have said that sammy is getting squeezed by cheap chinese crap. They are. But thats sammys fault. They were on par with other manufacturers on price to an extent, then with the s6 that changed.

Point is, they removed what made them different, upped the price, and now expect to be like apple. People flocking to it's doorstep. Not going to happen. If i can buy a sub 300 dollar off contract phone that will do 3/4 of what a 900 to 1000 dollar phone can do, that's a no brainer, I'm going too. Premium materials? Whatever. Its going in a case anyways.

Samsung needs to differentiate, lower prices, and listen to real world people and not analytics to make decisions on what people may want in a flagship phone. Until then, sammy will continue to lose market share and profits.

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BOSSY TEXAS CHICK

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...This is only one gal's opinion, and i am a diehard Sammy fan, (if Sammy makes it, i buy it, and ask questions LATER) but man o man, this time Sammy, ol' pal, ol' bud, you missed the mark (by about a country mile : (

BTC


in ways you can't imagine!! :)

My first reply to this topic was a little flip, but having given this subject more thought, i am certain there are a multitude reasons for Sammy's demise, and here are some i came up with...

Even tho i at first felt "removing hardware features" added to the disappointment felt around the globe at Samsungs Aug 13 unveiling, i'd have to say this: I just don't see hardware feature removal or build materials as the problem....sure, it makes us die hard phone junkies and tech bloggers, "ooh & ahh", but honestly I have yet to come across a friend, co worker, family member stranger or anyone or i can think of that TRULY even knows half of what their phone can do or if it even has a removable sd card/ battery/ what the screen resolution is or what BLOATWARE even is"....

Wayyyy cheaper, well built phones are DEFINITELY a major contributing factor to Sammy's decline, and i am certain it added to Sony's, HTC's woes & certainly has LG on the ropes FOR SURE. If Sammy had taken a marketing cue from the smaller guys & downsized their advertising budget, (what with there being a Samsung Dept in every Best Buy & even some Office Depot's, are massive advertising campaigns even necessary?!) they could EASILY have knocked 25% - 35% off of costs and still deliver a premium phone..

Another i would cite is Sammy's "sneaky way" of naming EVERYTHING they produced after they had a success with their Galaxy S line, a "Galaxy S" device... Huge FAIL in my opinion...fooling many ppl into thinking they were buying (& paying a premium price) for devices that lacked the features & performance of the devices that DID deliver the hype. I know i certainly became distrustful of them when i started noticing that UNLESS u "disected each model BEFORE purchasing" you could wind up pretty burned...

Also, even tho they probably DID do massive research and polled the public, "would they embrace a bigger version of S6 Edge that didn't include an S Pen??!!", and probably received very positive feedback and a slew of unequivocal "yesssssss's"...i imagine they failed to ask the, "burning" follow up question: "Ok, NOW, would you pay $750.00 - $900.00 for it??!!

BUT i am citing #1 contributing factor is the design, plain & simple. If from a few inches away you CANNOT tell the difference from a Note 4 to a Note 5, and software wise you have ONLY minimally improved it. When the world has been watching & waiting for 6 months what you will do since Apple stepped up their game and u are no longer capable of wooing the ppl away with ur "bigger screen"...Since these days, any phone over 300 bucks can seemingly give the average consumer great performance.... Their double Edge design is nice, but its been out 5 months, they shouldn't have just brought "more of the same"...

In future if they want to stay competitive, they should focus on DESIGN, & PRICE" factor... Imagine Samsung introducing a flagship for about $500 bucks with all the bells & whistles with a new clean but elegant design? It could easily be done if they weren't so greedy & their marketing budget put under control...

Even i, who have NEVER cared for onscreen buttons think its time for that oval button to hit the skids, even a capacitive series of buttons like on the ZTE Axon would be preferred, , trash the "glass sandwich" design, and if you MUST design a keyboard for a phone (still scratching my head over THAT one- Does ANYONE need any further proof how "out of touch" Sammy has become?! A crappy scrunched together plastic keyboards for our beautiful phones? In 2015??!! ) At least have it be the length of the phone that opens from a smart cover case, like the Surface tablet....those are just a few ideas off the top of my head, its 6 am here!

But if Sammy wants to replicate their success of 3 years ago, NOT GONNA HAPPEN they should just "throw in the towel now".... The time of sitting on the edge of our seats WAITING for a "decent & powerful device has come & gone. Market is flooded... But that's not to say with some restructure and LESS HYPE about devices that are just "dang good & not try to present themselves as offering something u can't get up the street" is a BIG MISTAKE....

Lets not forget Apple is in a class by themselves, if someone wants an Iphone, they go to Apple, PERIOD. If someone wants an Android phone, Lord help them with the voluminous & abundant choice that are out there, almost MAKES u wanna run to Apple for the "simplicity of choice it offers!"

Not saying they can't EASILY bounce back, look how just 2 years ago ppl were saying Apple had become complacent and stubborn....They gve the ppl the 6 & 6+, updated IOS, added some flexibility & "voila! BACK TO THE TOP!"

BTC

(Gawwwwd, BTC, what a rant!! Thats what ya get when i'm up at 5:30 on a Sunday morning & everyone else still asleep...lol)
 
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johnmcd348

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But Samsung is still the best company in Android world, if not LG g4 had already taken Samsung's place, but it didn't happen. But I don't think I will buy Samsung's phones next year, I preordered note5 and I didn't feel excited.

Posted via the Android Central App

That's pretty much how I feel. I skipped the Note 3 because my Note2 still did everything I wanted without any issues. I held off on the Note 4 because the Note2 as still doing well enough but beginning to lag a bit and by the time I started thinking about upgrading, I knew the Note 5 would be coming out in a few months so I held off.

When the specs for the S6 came out, I was talking with a lot of people at work who are also tech fans and we all speculated that: "There's NO WAY the Note wouldn't come with a SD card. For a phone that does so much more than the S-lines of phone, you really kind of need that extra storage for your "Notes" and what not.

To say I was saddened by the release and actual specs of the Note5 would be an understatement but I'm going to give it a try. I'm really not looking forward to using it like I did when I first bought my Note2. There's no excitement right now for it.
 

RN50

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Personally I think the Note 5 looks great, it would have got better press if they had a 128GB version at launch and didn't get rid of the IR blaster. SD cards and Removable batteries don't really bother me infact I had the SD feature and would rather have bigger internal storage.

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Bodzm

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IMHO, I think one big reason why Samsung's profits are heading towards the red is because of all the new wave of smartphones that pack in a lot of punch for not much money at all.

Phones like the ASUS Zenfone 2 ZE551ML 64GB, the "phone-that-we-love" 2015 Moto X Pure, and even the OnePlus Two are good examples of phone that pack in flagship-grade hardware with a much more affordable MSRP. Let's not forget phones like the Xiaomi Mi4, Huawei P8 and other phones from Chinese OEMs that look great, feel great, pack in nice hardware while keeping an affordable MSRP.

Given that these phones offer a similar experience to the S6, it's harder to justify paying $700 for an S6 now.

IMO, Samsung's only way of staying relevant is to reduce the prices on their devices. They've been in decline before the Note 4 came out, so I highly doubt that the downward trend has anything to do with the removal of an SD card slot.

These phones only appeal to tech geeks on forums like this. Read this list to a bunch of normal people and they will be puzzled and I doubt they'll know what you're talking about. These phones aren't a major threat yet, but soon could be. They have no mainstream appeal and that's where there money is.

I don't know what the solution or issue to Samsung's woes are or I'd be an executive, but I do know the experience on Samsung phones is not pretty. They are a disjointed mess with bugs and flaws. They don't feel like cohesive devices, just a bunch of components put together. Samsung are kings of components and hardware but the package with software isn't compelling. All Android OEM's have this issue to an extent since they're never quite optimised for Android. I consider HTC phones amongst the best to use - smoothest and prettiest to use. Samsung just throw a bunch of specs and numbers and expect to wow consumers. They don't deliver the punch to back that up. Look at the S6 - poor battery, buggy and laggy software despite monster specs. It's clearly not designed to last a year let alone 2 years. You reap what you sow.

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BobB67

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Got about 15 minutes of hands on with Note 5 yesterday. Preface, we were going to BBY to upgarde my wife's S5 to an S6. She spent 5 minutes with Note 5, new S-Pen, etc.. Sold. I am a Nexus fan but the Note 5 is the best feeling (in hand) large phone I've ever touched. This thing is a winner.

Additionally, cloud storage FTW.
 

Kazi Faisal

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People are tired buying almost same things over and over again specially at consecutive years. I have checked out sgs6 recently and quite surprised by the beautification of the handset. It's gorgeous, elegant and beautiful. It's expensive too. It's the most exclusive design by far from Samsung. They deserve a huge round of applause for this movement. Now the market feels immense pressure from Chinese manufacturers. I am not saying that the competition is bad for consumers, rather it is good for us. Now we are able to get the experience of Android with modest cost. But for that reason we might be losing some of the best manufacturers in this business whom we admired for long like htc. Hope things will get well and we can get good and quality handsets from these top manufacturers at reasonable prices..

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Ry

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...This is only one gal's opinion, and i am a diehard Sammy fan, (if Sammy makes it, i buy it, and ask questions LATER) but man o man, this time Sammy, ol' pal, ol' bud, you missed the mark (by about a country mile : (

BTC




My first reply to this topic was a little flip, but having given this subject more thought, i am certain there are a multitude reasons for Sammy's demise, and here are some i came up with...

Even tho i at first felt "removing hardware features" added to the disappointment felt around the globe at Samsungs Aug 13 unveiling, i'd have to say this: I just don't see hardware feature removal or build materials as the problem....sure, it makes us die hard phone junkies and tech bloggers, "ooh & ahh", but honestly I have yet to come across a friend, co worker, family member stranger or anyone or i can think of that TRULY even knows half of what their phone can do or if it even has a removable sd card/ battery/ what the screen resolution is or what BLOATWARE even is"....

Wayyyy cheaper, well built phones are DEFINITELY a major contributing factor to Sammy's decline, and i am certain it added to Sony's, HTC's woes & certainly has LG on the ropes FOR SURE. If Sammy had taken a marketing cue from the smaller guys & downsized their advertising budget, (what with there being a Samsung Dept in every Best Buy & even some Office Depot's, are massive advertising campaigns even necessary?!) they could EASILY have knocked 25% - 35% off of costs and still deliver a premium phone..

Another i would cite is Sammy's "sneaky way" of naming EVERYTHING they produced after they had a success with their Galaxy S line, a "Galaxy S" device... Huge FAIL in my opinion...fooling many ppl into thinking they were buying (& paying a premium price) for devices that lacked the features & performance of the devices that DID deliver the hype. I know i certainly became distrustful of them when i started noticing that UNLESS u "disected each model BEFORE purchasing" you could wind up pretty burned...

Also, even tho they probably DID do massive research and polled the public, "would they embrace a bigger version of S6 Edge that didn't include an S Pen??!!", and probably received very positive feedback and a slew of unequivocal "yesssssss's"...i imagine they failed to ask the, "burning" follow up question: "Ok, NOW, would you pay $750.00 - $900.00 for it??!!

BUT i am citing #1 contributing factor is the design, plain & simple. If from a few inches away you CANNOT tell the difference from a Note 4 to a Note 5, and software wise you have ONLY minimally improved it. When the world has been watching & waiting for 6 months what you will do since Apple stepped up their game and u are no longer capable of wooing the ppl away with ur "bigger screen"...Since these days, any phone over 300 bucks can seemingly give the average consumer great performance.... Their double Edge design is nice, but its been out 5 months, they shouldn't have just brought "more of the same"...

In future if they want to stay competitive, they should focus on DESIGN, & PRICE" factor... Imagine Samsung introducing a flagship for about $500 bucks with all the bells & whistles with a new clean but elegant design? It could easily be done if they weren't so greedy & their marketing budget put under control...

Even i, who have NEVER cared for onscreen buttons think its time for that oval button to hit the skids, even a capacitive series of buttons like on the ZTE Axon would be preferred, , trash the "glass sandwich" design, and if you MUST design a keyboard for a phone (still scratching my head over THAT one- Does ANYONE need any further proof how "out of touch" Sammy has become?! A crappy scrunched together plastic keyboards for our beautiful phones? In 2015??!! ) At least have it be the length of the phone that opens from a smart cover case, like the Surface tablet....those are just a few ideas off the top of my head, its 6 am here!

But if Sammy wants to replicate their success of 3 years ago, NOT GONNA HAPPEN they should just "throw in the towel now".... The time of sitting on the edge of our seats WAITING for a "decent & powerful device has come & gone. Market is flooded... But that's not to say with some restructure and LESS HYPE about devices that are just "dang good & not try to present themselves as offering something u can't get up the street" is a BIG MISTAKE....

Lets not forget Apple is in a class by themselves, if someone wants an Iphone, they go to Apple, PERIOD. If someone wants an Android phone, Lord help them with the voluminous & abundant choice that are out there, almost MAKES u wanna run to Apple for the "simplicity of choice it offers!"

Not saying they can't EASILY bounce back, look how just 2 years ago ppl were saying Apple had become complacent and stubborn....They gve the ppl the 6 & 6+, updated IOS, added some flexibility & "voila! BACK TO THE TOP!"

BTC

(Gawwwwd, BTC, what a rant!! Thats what ya get when i'm up at 5:30 on a Sunday morning & everyone else still asleep...lol)

But Samsung and LG aren't "on the ropes".

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calicocat2010

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Not everyone wants simplicity in a phone. They want to customize the heck out of it to make it their own. With IPhone(s) you really can't do much. I dislike the Iphone screen display with all the icons hiding or getting in the way of your favorite wallpaper).Can you put widgets on the home screen to show like your calendar, music player or to do list? I don't think so. (Yes, there's the notification for all that, but it's one step more to get what you need). I like widgets And customization.
 

recDNA

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90% of users buy cases so why should anyone care what phone is made of? I'm sorry but if you spend $700 on a phone and don't either insure it nor buy a case you're either rich or well you fill in the alternatives. ..
 

recDNA

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Very true. And how do they sell?
Most people don't have the time or don't have the brains or don't care about customizing their phones. Many just want the hippest phone. Those are iPhone users.

I do have the time, brains, and inclination to customize my phones but google and Samsung diminish my enthusiasm with each generation of phones that do less cost more and diminish the Android experience by limiting customization. I never thought I would buy an iPhone but s6, note 5, HTC that never changes, and LG weird back buttons have me considering it.
 

calicocat2010

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Very true. And how do they sell?

They sell because they are Simple and easy to use. Plain and Simple. They are NOT complicated to the extent that they scratch their head wondering how in the world Android users use their type of phone . Android comes up with the advanced technology and innovation. Their motto, "The Next Big Thing Is Here" . That's who they are. APPLE does it their ways and it works because that is their motto. I tried the IPhone 5 for two days and took it back to get the Note 3 months after it came out. I Need customization, I need theme launchers, I need a decent File Management, i need to be able to send More than one file or from different mediums, LED indicator, etc; OH and not to mention More than ONE way to get damn music files off the pc to a phone without using only Itunes. (This drove me insane as i had to be chained to my pc to transfer files. I rather drag and drop then be on my way). IPhone doesn't have all of that. They are Slowly adding some of those features, but it's too slow for me.
 

Ry

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They sell because they are Simple and easy to use. Plain and Simple. They are NOT complicated to the extent that they scratch their head wondering how in the world Android users use their type of phone . Android comes up with the advanced technology and innovation. Their motto, "The Next Big Thing Is Here" . That's who they are. APPLE does it their ways and it works because that is their motto. I tried the IPhone 5 for two days and took it back to get the Note 3 months after it came out. I Need customization, I need theme launchers, I need a decent File Management, i need to be able to send More than one file or from different mediums, LED indicator, etc; OH and not to mention More than ONE way to get damn music files off the pc to a phone without using only Itunes. (This drove me insane as i had to be chained to my pc to transfer files. I rather drag and drop then be on my way). IPhone doesn't have all of that. They are Slowly adding some of those features, but it's too slow for me.

Marketing works.

That's how Apple became the juggernaut that it is today.

And that's also how Samsung caught up.

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BOSSY TEXAS CHICK

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But Samsung and LG aren't "on the ropes".

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if they aren't now, they are about to be... Just watch those closings of their Samsung counters in Best Buy... One by one, you'll see....And as for LG, they once had their sights set on surpassing Samsung's success, aimed a little too high in my opinion, but if they can be content with being #3 or 4 and they continue to make quality handsets at a reasonable price they'll be ok... and even if i'm wrong, from where I sit its how I sees it :p

BTC
 

Ry

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if they aren't now, they are about to be... Just watch those closings of their Samsung counters in Best Buy... One by one, you'll see....And as for LG, they once had their sights set on surpassing Samsung's success, aimed a little too high in my opinion, but if they can be content with being #3 or 4 and they continue to make quality handsets at a reasonable price they'll be ok... and even if i'm wrong, from where I sit its how I sees it :p

BTC

What timeframe are you expecting for Samsung to pull their product displays out of Best Buy?

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dsignori

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Most people don't have the time or don't have the brains or don't care about customizing their phones. Many just want the hippest phone. Those are iPhone users.

I do have the time, brains, and inclination to customize my phones but google and Samsung diminish my enthusiasm with each generation of phones that do less cost more and diminish the Android experience by limiting customization. I never thought I would buy an iPhone but s6, note 5, HTC that never changes, and LG weird back buttons have me considering it.

Well, I am like you and want to customize everything. Most people are not like us though. I think that is the repeated, repeated, repeated message around here that isn't sinking in to some. There just aren't enough folks like us to warrant building phones to. I love my Note 4. I am getting the Note 5, because the removal battery and sd slot aren't essential to me, and the rest of the Note 5 seems awesome to me. I understand , and sympathize with, those who those who have different views.

p.s. We can still customize the hell out of Android phones, and my enthusiasm for Android has never been higher. Perhaps you are referencing the battery and SD card with the "customization" point. If so, I don't understand the point.
 

Ry

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Most people don't have the time or don't have the brains or don't care about customizing their phones. Many just want the hippest phone. Those are iPhone users.

I do have the time, brains, and inclination to customize my phones but google and Samsung diminish my enthusiasm with each generation of phones that do less cost more and diminish the Android experience by limiting customization. I never thought I would buy an iPhone but s6, note 5, HTC that never changes, and LG weird back buttons have me considering it.

Not sure if you realized it or not, but Samsung Galaxy S and Note phones are in the "hip phone" category too.

Posted via Android Central App (Moto X)
 
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