Forbes calls S6 sales so far "Disastrous"

[blujay40]

Having been a Samsung "family" for quite a few years now, I for one believe there may be some truth to this article.

From tablets to phones to even TV's, we purchased the Samsung line of products because of the "features" they offered vs. their competitors. But at this point, we have not only refrained from jumping on the S6 bandwagon but are now looking at other manufacturers once again solely because it appears that Samsung is becoming a "follower" instead of a "leader", at least in regards to the "substance" of their products. Removable batteries, SD cards, high res displays, S pen, etc. are a few parts of what I refer to as "flexible functionality" and was what made Samsung products "stand out in a crowd" for us. They were the MAIN reason we bought Samsung in the first place. But I guess we are more and more in the minority in this line of thinking because glass cases and curved screens, even with their TV's, which are all flash, no substance, and gimmicky at most, are what they seem to believe will sell their products nowdays, or will it? I always seemed to read about how the plastic backs on the Samsung phones made them "look" cheap when anyone that owned one knew the real truth. I guess as a previous poster noted, what the press "thinks" is much more important than what the end user "needs".

Sadly, the changes to the S6, including the "edge", did not in our opinion help Samsung "stand out in the crowd" but rather "blend in" and become just another "pretty face" that hides whatever "substance" may actually lie within. What does all the "flash" really do if as a user, I just cover it all up with a case as most people seem to do and do I want to pay a premium price for reduced functionality? If the Note 5 follows this path as well, then at least for us, it will be VERY difficult to not look elsewhere.

 

[stevelam]

Re: Forbes calls S6 sales so far "Disastrous"

Frankly I'm not surprised. I've had my s6 since April 18 after having been on mainly iphones before that. I still don't know a single person that has gotten an s6.

So far I haven't been really impressed by anything on it to consider it a keeper and will most likely go back to Apple once the next iteration comes out. The s6 physically looks great but I miss the app quality on iOS the most.

Sent from my Samsung S6 using Tapatalk

 

[Bodzm]

Samsung have repositioned themselves. It will take time to find that premium image they seek in the market! It won't happen overnight.

I think they've made a very good step in the right direction to differentiate themselves. Samsung have always had the top-notch internals ahead of any manufacturer, and now they have the design and hardware materials to match. The one thing they are lacking, which is really important today, is that the UI is not very good. It's clunky, it's not enjoyable to use - it's functional. "Functional" is not good enough anymore. And that's the achilles heel of this phone - the Edge looks gorgeous, but you switch it on and it looks and feels very much like a Samsung phone of yesteryear.

It will take time but I think they are absolutely going in the right direction. The user interface needs an entire overhaul though. Make it smoother, more intuitive, add some thoughtful additions that add value to the experience. I still can't understand why such an astronomically large company like Samsung can't make good software. HTC did it it and they were originally a hardware vendor. Samsung always went with "our strength is in hardware components and that's what we're gonna do to beat the iPhone" but they kinda neglected the user interface. Even if you like Touchwiz, you have to admit it's not class leading in any way. It's beige. I had an iPhone 6 recently which I gave to my nephew, but like my M7, it just feels nice to use. I like picking the devices up, checking my notifications and browsing through apps. Samsung devices feel clunky. The software team and hardware team are world's apart in the organisation. Use those bucks and buy a software company Samsung.

 

[Charles Collins]

It's always so cute to see the "experts" tell us that you must do this, that, and the other to achieve great battery life. I say to you "experts", BS! This lovely device doesn't have great battery life, there many if any Androids that do. I'm not going to disable this and turn down that, eff it. Carry a battery pack, enjoy your wonderful GS6 and run everything as you wish. Amazon had the Aukey QC 2.0 pack in stock for $30 right now, suddenly it doesn't matter that my GS6 had poor battery life.

Posted via Gold 64GB Galaxy S6

 

[Charles Collins]

The article's author, replied to me below regarding this.

Posted via Gold 64GB Galaxy S6

 

[Nreeldeep]

I don't understand the philosophy of sacrificing the big advantages you have over your opponent in order to look like your opponent instead. Who decided that was a smart strategy? What will the Samsung vs iphone commercials look like now? Samsung ended up with an iPhoneesque S6 with poor battery life. How does Samsung differentiate the S6 from the iPhone to the masses now?
Based on current sales results, doesn't look like they were successful.
Ironically, the replaceable battery/expandable memory were present in last year's very poorly received Samsung S5. This year's all metal/glass Samsung iphone S6 is also selling poorly. And it's pretty.
Sounds like Samsung's problems go deeper than build materials and replaceable batteries.

 

[craigrn16]

I don't understand the philosophy of sacrificing the big advantages you have over your opponent in order to look like your opponent instead. Who decided that was a smart strategy? What will the Samsung vs iphone commercials look like now? Samsung ended up with an iPhoneesque S6 with poor battery life. How does Samsung differentiate the S6 from the iPhone to the masses now?
Based on current sales results, doesn't look like they were successful.
Ironically, the replaceable battery/expandable memory were present in last year's very poorly received Samsung S5. This year's all metal/glass Samsung iphone S6 is also selling poorly. And it's pretty.
Sounds like Samsung's problems go deeper than build materials and replaceable batteries.

Big advantages are quick charging, wireless charging, better camera, more customization options, Google now(yes it's a lot better than Siri), easier to set your own ring tones, send a file and get music from multiple sources.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[berdinkerdickle]

I wouldn't give articles that aren't pro-samsung much credit. Just stick with favorable reviews.

 

[anon(5630457)]

Ah. The excuses are abound.

The bigger question is this: why should anyone upgrade their device from, say, the S5 to the S6? What can the S6 do the S5 can't do? The S6 has 8 cores for processing. So what? No phone needs 8 cores. The S6's battery is smaller. The S5's battery lasts longer. The S5 is waterproof/dustproof. There is absolutely no need for anyone to "upgrade" to the S6, unless pretty phones are your thing. But everyone slaps on a 2" thick plastic case anyways.

 

[Airstream25]

The S6 is a nice phone but here is what I think hurts sales;
1. Eliminating the SD card AND charging $100 more for the 64GB vs. the 32GB.
2. Eliminating the removable battery AND using an undersized battery.
3. Sealing the case but NOT providing water resistance.
4. Not enabling WiFi calling
5. Bloatware

 

[t11rmh]

Having been a Samsung "family" for quite a few years now, I for one believe there may be some truth to this article.

From tablets to phones to even TV's, we purchased the Samsung line of products because of the "features" they offered vs. their competitors. But at this point, we have not only refrained from jumping on the S6 bandwagon but are now looking at other manufacturers once again solely because it appears that Samsung is becoming a "follower" instead of a "leader", at least in regards to the "substance" of their products. Removable batteries, SD cards, high res displays, S pen, etc. are a few parts of what I refer to as "flexible functionality" and was what made Samsung products "stand out in a crowd" for us. They were the MAIN reason we bought Samsung in the first place. But I guess we are more and more in the minority in this line of thinking because glass cases and curved screens, even with their TV's, which are all flash, no substance, and gimmicky at most, are what they seem to believe will sell their products nowdays, or will it? I always seemed to read about how the plastic backs on the Samsung phones made them "look" cheap when anyone that owned one knew the real truth. I guess as a previous poster noted, what the press "thinks" is much more important than what the end user "needs".

Sadly, the changes to the S6, including the "edge", did not in our opinion help Samsung "stand out in the crowd" but rather "blend in" and become just another "pretty face" that hides whatever "substance" may actually lie within. What does all the "flash" really do if as a user, I just cover it all up with a case as most people seem to do and do I want to pay a premium price for reduced functionality? If the Note 5 follows this path as well, then at least for us, it will be VERY difficult to not look elsewhere.

Could not agree more. People on this forum and the mobile phone press keep on telling us that removable batteries and expandable storage don't matter to most consumers. Maybe enough to make a large difference in sales.

Keep it up....

Posted via a kicking Note4 on Lollipop.

 

[t11rmh]

The S6 is a nice phone but here is what I think hurts sales;
1. Eliminating the SD card AND charging $100 more for the 64GB vs. the 32GB.
2. Eliminating the removable battery AND using an undersized battery.
3. Sealing the case but NOT providing water resistance.
4. Not enabling WiFi calling
5. Bloatware

But the S6 fan club will tell you that these things don't matter to the masses. It must just be me and you then......

Posted via a kicking Note4 on Lollipop.

 

[atishc]

Ah. The excuses are abound.

The bigger question is this: why should anyone upgrade their device from, say, the S5 to the S6? What can the S6 do the S5 can't do? The S6 has 8 cores for processing. So what? No phone needs 8 cores. The S6's battery is smaller. The S5's battery lasts longer. The S5 is waterproof/dustproof. There is absolutely no need for anyone to "upgrade" to the S6, unless pretty phones are your thing. But everyone slaps on a 2" thick plastic case anyways.

Some of this is related to the Lollipop update, but the S6 is noticeably faster to use than the S5, particularly in task switching. My battery life is also better than on the S5. My phone is my primary camera, so the better low light performance is a huge deal with me. The narrower build makes it easier to hold and reach across, and the fingerprint scanner is probably the thing that most makes the day to day usability much more pleasant. I am here and there on the SD card issue (I had one where I stored all my media, but appreciate the faster read write speeds on local storage), but if I designed it from scratch I would have tried to keep the same size battery and waterproofing. Again, as I mentioned above, Samsung sales globally are much more related to market forces than the phone itself. I doubt including any of the features listed in this thread would have made a huge difference. Rather, building a phone that the tech press loved at least built up the hype train in the US for early adopters.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Zoostation]

But the S6 fan club will tell you that these things don't matter to the masses. It must just be me and you then......

Posted via a kicking Note4 on Lollipop.

There's going to be bloatware on anything non Apple unfortunately. The lack of SD and removable battery may be hurting them in emerging markets, but in in the US and Europe the vast majority of people don't pay attention to that. In Japan, Samsung has struggled for years and has an perception problem. People their perceive the iPhone to be the most hip and cool device to be seen with. It doesn't matter if the S6 is a better phone or not, they will still buy an iPhone to be hip. Here in the states (and this is not to bash all iPhone users, but it's the experience I have had with friends, family and coworkers who use them) many iPhone users are simply just a herd of iSheep. Nearly every iPhone user I know is iOS for life, they're mostly on their second and third iOS device and won't even consider what anyone else has to offer - don't even want to know because to them just by being an iPhone automatically makes it better. Gotta love the circular logic or lack thereof. I also have friends tell me that not using micro usb for charging makes the phone better. That being said, my family are all first time Samsung buyers. Two white 64 and one black 32. Heck, we even converted my sister from iOS and outside of the forums I've yet to see that amongst anyone I know.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[berdinkerdickle]

Yep, market research has shown these issues aren't concerns of everyone who doesn't frequent these forums.

 

[Climb14er]

As many of us know, and many still have no clue...

It's marketing AND advertising that gets the message through to the potential buyers.

Now with the internet and forums, these contribute much to the educational and sales process.

Samsung took the marketing approach two years ago to differentiate themselves from Apple with their removable battery commercials and NOT being tied into the wall outlets at airports as Apple buyers have to do.

OK... well and good. But the S5 in the eyes of Samsung executives didn't meet their expectations in sales volume that they were looking for.

They then redesigned the S6 to basically COPY Apple and while the verdict is still out, I can honestly say that out of ALL my friends and associates in the corporate and in the independent business worlds...

I have NOT seen a single S6 in anyone's possession... while virtually everyone is running older S5's and S4's or Apple phones!

And of the newest phones purchased, ALL of them appear to be Apple 6's and 6+'s.

Real world time usage does NOT lie! Maybe on this forum people like and want to like their S6. However, perhaps the marketing by Samsung has NOT worked well AGAIN!

Apple phones appear to be dominating the new phone marketplace. And this from a guy who has NEVER owned an Apple phone, has had the same cell number for 22 years and who has a UDP from VZ and who WANTED an S6... but who definitely sees that Samsung has lost its MARKETING way with the S6.

Currently on the S4 under a no deductible VZ extended warranty!

 

[CharlesCC2]

I still think one problem is just complacency with Apple, and it being omnipresent and therefore something people don't want to leave. I think people are oblivious and/or intimidated when it comes to Android. People have iPhones, they know it "works", and are happy with sticking with it. My aunt got the S5 and hates it because she thinks there's too many options for what she can do. Yes, too many options is a bad thing for her, and I suspect this can be the case for many casuals. At the same time I can understand S6 sales suffering as a result of the Android user base being turned off by the doing away of the removable battery and expandable memory.

And battery life is definitely not just a concern for people working with the S6 out of the box. I am extremely annoyed by the battery life I get and I've made many tweaks. I recently went with turning off location services when I am not in present need of it, but I feel that the amount of changes that I have to make is becoming borderline absurd. This is my first Android phone and I suppose I still have some things to learn, but for my first experience on the operating system I am definitely a little annoyed by the battery life.

 

[jcp007]

What's more disastrous is that we are all weighing before the facts are in and using this thread to vent issues and regrets. We can question the wisdom of Samsung design choices all day and it won't make a difference. Samsung smartphone revenue regardless of the number of variants and models is greater than most of their completion combined. So what if the GS506 sells fewer than the competition or it's predecessors, in the long run, it will pay off. Greater the risk, the greater the reward.

Just my opinion and not meant to sarcastic or judgmental or offensive in any way for those who are wondering. I am also not an attorney or paid spokesperson for Samsung. If Samsung makes some bad missteps like HTC, I will be the first to call them on it.

 

[Techno-guy]

People their perceive the iPhone to be the most hip and cool device to be seen with. It doesn't matter if the S6 is a better phone or not, they will still buy an iPhone to be hip. Here in the states (and this is not to bash all iPhone users, but it's the experience I have had with friends, family and coworkers who use them) many iPhone users are simply just a herd of iSheep. Nearly every iPhone user I know is iOS for life, they're mostly on their second and third iOS device and won't even consider what anyone else has to offer - don't even want to know because to them just by being an iPhone automatically makes it better. Gotta love the circular logic or lack thereof.

Funny, but I actually think my S6 edge is the way cooler device over my iPhone. But that said, you can't be too dismissive of Apple's massive (and growing) following. Those numbers in the reports are just stunning and can't be so easily dismissed.

The vast majority of consumers just want a phone that works - that they don't have to tinker with all the time, worry about battery life constantly, deal with lag, get quick updates to revolve problems, receive world-class customer experiences from the manufacturer and run fantastic, smooth Apps.

Like it or not, Apple delivers on all of these which is why their fan base is so loyal and why they are now receiving 93% of all cell phone industry profits as of last Quarter and selling over 70 million phones during the holiday season and 50-60 million in other Quarters. It's not just good press or "iSheep" blindly following them, Apple delivers an exceptional phone ownership experience and, sadly for Samsung, sales (and profits) are really showing it at this point.

Honestly, as an S6 edge owner that paid out of pocket nearly $1,000.00 for my 128GB, Samsung and Google could learn a lot from Apple.

 

[Zoostation]

I'm not saying they don't make a good device. Most of the iPhone users I know had a very good experience with their first iPhone, and because the initial experience was good, they will now blindly follow Apple for life. First impressions can be make or break. Earlier iPhones were much smoother and easier to use than Androids. Just like a lot of people I know won't buy a domestic (US/Canada) vehicle ever again, because their first experience was poor. It doesn't matter how good one may be today, the damage was already done.

Posted via the Android Central App