Galaxy S5: Huge disappointment, Samsung TOTALLY dropped the ball!

[Soundtrack to Chaos]

Maybe below their expectations, but that doesn't mean it was a sales flop. It was the best selling smartphone of all time until the 5S I believe.

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.2

I'm not sure about all time, but it was the best selling phone until the 5s came out


Sent from my Apple iPad Air using Tapatalk

 

[Haalcyon]

Maybe below their expectations, but that doesn't mean it was a sales flop. It was the best selling smartphone of all time until the 5S I believe.

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.2

No certainly not a sales flop but I'd certainly be looking at why sales expectations were not met and what the competition is doing and how to make my product better on all fronts. I don't believe using actual metal or leather accents would could profits that much. Did the HTC One not do markedly well because of build materials? Now, I've certainly done no market study so perhaps the majority of the potential Samsung customers really couldn't care less about plastic vs. metal in design. Regardless, they'll sell a lot of S5 phones and that's their goal. Those of us that want "premium" materials or a different design language do have other options in LG, HTC, and Apple and perhaps that's the attitude that Samsung is taking.


Sent from my liberated Titanium iPad Air LTE 

 

[UJ95x]

No certainly not a sales flop but I'd certainly be looking at why sales expectations were not met and what the competition is doing and how to make my product better on all fronts. I don't believe using actual metal or leather accents would could profits that much. Did the HTC One not do markedly well because of build materials? Now, I've certainly done no market study so perhaps the majority of the potential Samsung customers really couldn't care less about plastic vs. metal in design. Regardless, they'll sell a lot of S5 phones and that's their goal. Those of us that want "premium" materials or a different design language do have other options in LG, HTC, and Apple and perhaps that's the attitude that Samsung is taking.


Sent from my liberated Titanium iPad Air LTE 

Don't think it had anything to do with the build quality of their products. Like you said, most Samsung owners couldn't care less about the material used (I didn't when I bough the S4, but even now, it doesn't bother me too much). The reason it didn't reach their expectations is because they set them unreasonably high. How could you not be satisfied with breaking sales records?

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.2

 

[Farish]

I think all this premium material talk is so overrated.


If it was really an issue you could go over to a company like Goldgenie and pickup a modified S4 for 2500 dollars. Cover in real gold.

But lets keep real, most of these people complaining were never ballin in the first place.

 

[Haalcyon]

I think all this premium material talk is so overrated.


If it was really an issue you could go over to a company like Goldgenie and pickup a modified S4 for 2500 dollars. Cover in real gold.

But lets keep real, most of these people complaining were never ballin in the first place.

Or you could buy a G Pro 2, M8, or G2/3.


Sent from my liberated plutonium 5s 64

 

[Farish]

Or you could buy a G Pro 2, M8, or G2/3.


Sent from my liberated plutonium 5s 64

These phones are being released with Gold or Platinum?


Gold HTC One | 24 CT | Goldgenie USA



Going to need one to match my grill.

 

[eggantom]

I think all this premium material talk is so overrated.

Totaly agree with you. Tech is tech, not jewlry.

 

[dsignori]

Don't think it had anything to do with the build quality of their products. Like you said, most Samsung owners couldn't care less about the material used (I didn't when I bough the S4, but even now, it doesn't bother me too much). The reason it didn't reach their expectations is because they set them unreasonably high. How could you not be satisfied with breaking sales records?

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.2

This. Exactly this.

 

[Haalcyon]

These phones are being released with Gold or Platinum?

I'm sorry, I don't have the energy right now but here goes. No my suggestion wasn't because they'll be released in gold but because they are or are likely to be examples of what a lot of people believe to be premium feeling devices.





Sent from my liberated plutonium 5s 64

 

[Farish]

I'm sorry, I don't have the energy right now but here goes. No my suggestion wasn't because they'll be released in gold but because they are or are likely to be examples of what a lot of people believe to be premium feeling devices.



Sent from my liberated plutonium 5s 64

Feeling is not the same as reality.

Price of aluminum per pound is .79 cents.

Price of polycarbonate material used on the back of the S4 per pound. 1.50

Price of Gasoline per Gallon. 3.50-4 dollars.

Price of Printer Ink per Gallon. 5000-8000 dollars.


Premium cars should be running on Printer Ink for that premium feeling.

 

[Kevin OQuinn]

Totaly agree with you. Tech is tech, not jewlry.

Jewelry sells. In other words, looks sell. It's a marketing fact.

Feeling is not the same as reality.

Price of aluminum per pound is .79 cents.

Price of polycarbonate material used on the back of the S4 per pound. 1.50

Price of Gasoline per Gallon. 3.50-4 dollars.

Price of Printer Ink per Gallon. 5000-8000 dollars.


Premium cars should be running on Printer Ink for that premium feeling.

Feeling is reality. To deny that is inaccurate. Having a premium feel is important, because it sells stuff. People like things that look pretty and feel nice when they hold it. It's something that can't be easily quantified, but it's there, and it makes a difference.

Price != premium feel. The One X was polycarbonate, but many think it had a premium feel to it. The majority of Lumia devices are the same way. It's not necessarily the actual material that's used, it's how that material is being used that makes the difference. The S4 is polycarbonate, but many think it feels cheap because of the way Samsung implemented it.

 

[dmmarck]

Jewelry sells. In other words, looks sell. It's a marketing fact.



Feeling is reality. To deny that is inaccurate. Having a premium feel is important, because it sells stuff. People like things that look pretty and feel nice when they hold it. It's something that can't be easily quantified, but it's there, and it makes a difference.

Price != premium feel. The One X was polycarbonate, but many think it had a premium feel to it. The majority of Lumia devices are the same way. It's not necessarily the actual material that's used, it's how that material is being used that makes the difference. The S4 is polycarbonate, but many think it feels cheap because of the way Samsung implemented it.

Samsung's tacky "metal" band and faux leather doesn't really help, either.

 

[Farish]

Feeling is reality. To deny that is inaccurate. Having a premium feel is important, because it sells stuff.

When premium becomes a factor there are associated costs involved in it. A lot of that has to do with rarity, supply and demand, and materials cost.

We can induce feelings at any time, it does't mean there is any real basis to it. Ever find a cut on yourself you never felt but later on discover it was there?

Your feelings can trick you.

Now on to the one philosophical/business point.

Call this a case study.

Louis Vuitton has had stagnant growth over the last few years. New growth has come from emerging markets.

They were stuck with idea of how do they increase sales without becoming a mass market retailer. They saw problems with other luxury brands that were more expensive doing better than them.

They decided to take a new approach to increase growth. In fact in Q4 of 2013, they increase their growth by 7 percent and beat Wall Street estimates between 50-60 percent.

How did they go about to achieve this?

They raised their prices.

Wait these overprice handbags raised their prices?

Yes, they felt that their low end was to available.

To easy to get and too cheap for their standards.

They started pushing higher end bags and the better materials they used.


So the point is.
If you want be the company that makes a premium device, they make a real one.

Not some illusion of aluminum over plastic because it feels better.

If HTC really had a premium phone, their sales should have reflected the same. It didn't.

 

[Haalcyon]

Many preferred and purchased the One because of its build materials. I didn't purchase it because as I didn't care for the design but many loved its use of aluminum.


Sent from my liberated plutonium 5s 64

 

[Kevin OQuinn]

When premium becomes a factor there are associated costs involved in it. A lot of that has to do with rarity, supply and demand, and materials cost.

We can induce feelings at any time, it does't mean there is any real basis to it. Ever find a cut on yourself you never felt but later on discover it was there?

Your feelings can trick you.

Now on to the one philosophical/business point.

Call this a case study.

Louis Vuitton has had stagnant growth over the last few years. New growth has come from emerging markets.

They were stuck with idea of how do they increase sales without becoming a mass market retailer. They saw problems with other luxury brands that were more expensive doing better than them.

They decided to take a new approach to increase growth. In fact in Q4 of 2013, they increase their growth by 7 percent and beat Wall Street estimates between 50-60 percent.

How did they go about to achieve this?

They raised their prices.

Wait these overprice handbags raised their prices?

Yes, they felt that their low end was to available.

To easy to get and too cheap for their standards.

They started pushing higher end bags and the better materials they used.


So the point is.
If you want be the company that makes a premium device, they make a real one.

Not some illusion of aluminum over plastic because it feels better.

If HTC really had a premium phone, their sales should have reflected the same. It didn't.

They did have a premium phone. But the device and all of it's premium feeling features don't exist in a vacuum. If you can't get the message out about your product, or get so overwhelmed by the message of a competitor then it doesn't matter how good it is. It can be twice as good, but if you can't get it in front of the people that buy it then it doesn't matter.

The first part of your post about inducing feelings is spot on. Inducing a positive feeling or a feeling of "I want that" can be done using any material if it's used properly and designed well. There are people way smarter than me that get paid to figure these things out, so I couldn't begin to explain how/why they make the decisions they do to cause that to happen. I just know that it worked with the One. I've yet to find anyone in the real world that "hates" the way it looks or feels.

 

[dmmarck]

When premium becomes a factor there are associated costs involved in it. A lot of that has to do with rarity, supply and demand, and materials cost.

We can induce feelings at any time, it does't mean there is any real basis to it. Ever find a cut on yourself you never felt but later on discover it was there?

Your feelings can trick you.

Now on to the one philosophical/business point.

Call this a case study.

Louis Vuitton has had stagnant growth over the last few years. New growth has come from emerging markets.

They were stuck with idea of how do they increase sales without becoming a mass market retailer. They saw problems with other luxury brands that were more expensive doing better than them.

They decided to take a new approach to increase growth. In fact in Q4 of 2013, they increase their growth by 7 percent and beat Wall Street estimates between 50-60 percent.

How did they go about to achieve this?

They raised their prices.

Wait these overprice handbags raised their prices?

Yes, they felt that their low end was to available.

To easy to get and too cheap for their standards.

They started pushing higher end bags and the better materials they used.


So the point is.
If you want be the company that makes a premium device, they make a real one.

Not some illusion of aluminum over plastic because it feels better.

If HTC really had a premium phone, their sales should have reflected the same. It didn't.

What? I believe premium is a feeling elicited by a litany of factors. Take, for example, automatic watches. The really expensive watches are rarely "worth" their weight in materials, yet are sold for tens of thousands of dollars (if not hundreds of thousands of dollars). They sell, not necessarily because of value (keep in mind the watch market is completely unrelated to the rather fixed cost market of mobile devices), but because you feel something. I can look at an IWC Portuguese Chrono and feel something that a Pebble or a Casio simply does not evoke. Yet, a cheap quartz watch will often outperform these premium watches.

Similarly, I can pick up a variety of devices and get a variety of emotions. Not once did a Samsung device ever elicit a "premium" emotion like the One or Xperia lines did. But, that's subjective preference, which really is what it's all about. Unfortunately your above "logic" seems to completely discount that and boil it down to some inapplicable economic situation due to the fixed nature of the mobile device market as opposed to the luxury goods market. (See, e.g., the watch analogy above.)

 

[Farish]

Many preferred and purchased the One because of its build materials. I didn't purchase it because as I didn't care for the design but many loved its use of aluminum.


Sent from my liberated plutonium 5s 64

They did have a premium phone. But the device and all of it's premium feeling features don't exist in a vacuum. If you can't get the message out about your product, or get so overwhelmed by the message of a competitor then it doesn't matter how good it is. It can be twice as good, but if you can't get it in front of the people that buy it then it doesn't matter.

The first part of your post about inducing feelings is spot on. Inducing a positive feeling or a feeling of "I want that" can be done using any material if it's used properly and designed well. There are people way smarter than me that get paid to figure these things out, so I couldn't begin to explain how/why they make the decisions they do to cause that to happen. I just know that it worked with the One. I've yet to find anyone in the real world that "hates" the way it looks or feels.

Sometimes a stronger feeling can override that premium feel.

Button placement for example.

UX design as an industry has increase greatly. Because no matter how great that device is or how premium it can be, if a person isn't comfortable using it they aren't going to buy it.

Or they may buy it but decide against the next one because of that sort of undesirable experience.

 

[Kevin OQuinn]

What? I believe premium is a feeling elicited by a litany of factors. Take, for example, automatic watches. The really expensive watches are rarely "worth" their weight in materials, yet are sold for tens of thousands of dollars (if not hundreds of thousands of dollars). They sell, not necessarily because of value (keep in mind the watch market is completely unrelated to the rather fixed cost market of mobile devices), but because you feel something. I can look at an IWC Portuguese Chrono and feel something that a Pebble or a Casio simply does not evoke. Yet, a cheap quartz watch will often outperform these premium watches.

Similarly, I can pick up a variety of devices and get a variety of emotions. Not once did a Samsung device ever elicit a "premium" emotion like the One or Xperia lines did. But, that's subjective preference, which really is what it's all about. Unfortunately your above "logic" seems to completely discount that and boil it down to some inapplicable situation due to the fixed nature of the mobile device market as opposed to the luxury goods market. (See, e.g., the watch analogy above.)

The problem is that people want to be able to assign a quantitative number to "feel". Like it can be mathematically defined. It can't, and it's not always an easy concept to try and explain.

 

[Kevin OQuinn]

Sometimes a stronger feeling can override that premium feel.

Button placement for example.

UX design as an industry has increase greatly. Because no matter how great that device is or how premium it can be, if a person isn't comfortable using it they aren't going to buy it.

Or they may buy it but decide against the next one because of that sort of undesirable experience.

I'm not sure I implied that that isn't the case. Of course a premium feel or design isn't going to override an otherwise poor or undesirable experience. It's but one factor, but it carries more weight than a lot of people want to give it credit for.

 

[Farish]

What? I believe premium is a feeling elicited by a litany of factors. Take, for example, automatic watches. The really expensive watches are rarely "worth" their weight in materials, yet are sold for tens of thousands of dollars (if not hundreds of thousands of dollars). They sell, not necessarily because of value (keep in mind the watch market is completely unrelated to the rather fixed cost market of mobile devices), but because you feel something. I can look at an IWC Portuguese Chrono and feel something that a Pebble or a Casio simply does not evoke. Yet, a cheap quartz watch will often outperform these premium watches.

Similarly, I can pick up a variety of devices and get a variety of emotions. Not once did a Samsung device ever elicit a "premium" emotion like the One or Xperia lines did. But, that's subjective preference, which really is what it's all about. Unfortunately your above "logic" seems to completely discount that and boil it down to some inapplicable economic situation due to the fixed nature of the mobile device market as opposed to the luxury goods market. (See, e.g., the watch analogy above.)

I think part of it is, is the mobile market is about utility right now. We haven't reached a point were a luxury phone is truly desired yet.

Once market saturation really hits and it hasn't yet. Companies will look for ways to differentiate themselves.

I haven't bought a smart watch yet because I haven't found one with all the features I want or like.

But I keep eyeing this swatch because I love the looks of it.



Do I think it is premium vs another watch. Not really, but it has dials and it is blue, two of my favorite things.

And that is how smartphones right now should be looked at because the truth is, none of them are really premium.