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What companies should learn from Samsung & Apple

Struggling in business doesn’t immediately equate to bad products. In fact, many believe that certain manufacturers are more innovative than the others, regardless of their standing. They might even have better products. But why do very few companies top the charts? What does the competition need to do to capture the crowd?

We really have to give it to Apple & Samsung when it comes to generating sales, capturing market & generating income – but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they have the best technologies. Some companies have been struggling very hard to heighten their position in the competition. They include HTC, Nokia, BlackBerry & more.

samdroid apple2

Love it or hate it, it’s all eyes on Samsung & Apple. It’s not even Android vs iOS anymore – to most people at least. Fans from each side enjoy fighting with repetitive arguments. From an angle, it’s a bad thing, but if you look at it from a different perspective, these companies have to be doing something right to gain so much loyal fans — what is it that they are doing that other companies aren’t?

A Flagship Series of Products

This is one of the most important ones. People like having the best of the best – and the reason why people flock to Samsung or Apple is because they think it’s the best. They have distinct product lines that immediately strike as high-end: Samsung Galaxy S, iPhone, iPad. If you have observed, Samsung’s tablet line is quite on the low as well, all because they have so many selections and it’s hard to tell what is the one to buy (7.0, 7.7, 8.9, 10.1, Note 10.1).

Above all else, this kind of marketing hints that people enjoy succession – Samsung Galaxy S, S2, S3 & iPhone, 3G, 4, 5. At least with Nokia, they have several clues; they have ‘9s’ or ‘8s’ in their naming scheme (N95, N9, Lumia 920, N8, PureView 808, Lumia 820) whereas with companies like HTC, we have none of that. We had from them the Desire, the Desire HD, the Sensation, the One X and so on.

Optimus G2

HTC should make use of their new-found naming scheme wisely and add true successors. Adding an X or letters like S/V could be a start for them, so let’s see if this goes well in the future with phones like the One X, the rumored HTC M7, the Windows Phone 8X and many more. LG may have gotten this clue already, as we are hearing of successors to the LG Optimus G – the Optimus G2.

Timely Product Introductions

Well, a lot of people enjoy having their new devices – but more often times than not, the company takes away this enjoyment from them by releasing a better device a few months later. Companies should take this seriously as the satisfaction of the customer is one of the most important aspects in business. A year is probably enough to release a successor for a certain product. This is one of the reasons why people are holding back on buying new devices – and it’s quite sad.

Take a look at the 4th generation iPad; in fact many people don’t even know that there is an iPad 4. These small details even went as far as many saying that Apple is losing its touch.

Fewer Devices

By this, we mean something deeper. For example, the Samsung Galaxy S2 is a single product, but when it arrived on U.S. shores, the carriers adopted different form factors. It looks like it doesn’t affect us much, but when you think about it, that means more accessories to produce for many more devices. As a result, we saw very few cases for the S2 compared to the iPhone.

iphone

Samsung learned, and with the S3, they had a single device internationally – and look at what we have now. Cases & accessories for the Galaxy S3 is quite comparable now to Apple’s products. That just means more customer satisfaction.

Software Support

We totally understand if a company does not release a software update for a 2-year-old device – but for at least 1 year, we hope they do for the sake of the customer. If the consumer didn’t get support, why would that person go buy from the same company again? It’s pretty much the same story with frequent product refreshes.

SGS software

Of course, more important than software support is software itself. Windows Phone needs apps. BlackBerry needs apps. iOS needs to stop being stale. Android needs more quality apps. Samsung’s Nature UX skin may not appeal to many of us geeks out there but it is totally user-friendly like iOS – and like we said, above all else, customer satisfaction is important.

“Good Artists Copy, Great Artists Steal”

Good old Picasso says you just need to be influenced – you don’t necessarily need to copy the whole thing. You know what they say: “Imitation is the highest form of flattery.” but to some people like Molko, we shouldn’t kill individuality.

htc 2x

It’s good that companies we mentioned are making quality products, but they should really step up their game and take a hint from other manufacturers and tinker with certain marketing elements. It may not be our business, but they do provide us quality products – and if they don’t do something about it, we might see them no more – or worse, there could be a monopoly.

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Avatar for Bob Freking

Bob Freking occasionally contributes articles to the website. He is a UST Graduate of Commerce & Business Administration, Major in Marketing Management, and a full-time Sith Lord with three dragons.

28 Responses

  1. Avatar for Susan Agcopra Llagas Susan Agcopra Llagas says:

    I have my nokia 701 but the thing is according to the nokia care technician it is not compatible with sun network. how come the nokia company is selling their units without warning that a certain nokia 701 is nothing to do with my sun postpaid. very disgusting. i bought it last july 2012 yet, i right away use it for my sunsim and just this very moment of february 15 it was no longer be used for my sunsim. pls help me to solve this predicament since i am a nokia user since two decades now and recently i am not satisfied with their deal. i am sorry for myself, anyway my nokia 701 is still in the hands of nokia care service center limketkai, cagayan de oro city. i would rather did not buy this model if only to know that it is not compatible with sunsim in fact the unit is an open line. according to nokia care office cagayan de oro city it is in sun’s software in order hte unit to be compatible. I went to sun center robinsons cagayan de oro told me that what kind of software that nokia would like to put that the defect of 701 is the contacts number do not appear in the nokia 701. Therefore, it is not so technical that the problem of my unit would not be solved. Please help me, i bought the 701 for 14,995 pesos in cold cash last july,2012 in manila robinsons forum mandaluyong.

  2. Avatar for Iyan Sommerset Iyan Sommerset says:

    Spot-on on the naming. With properly-numbered products, the public can easily gauge which devices are “more powerful” or “newer”. I mean, just look at the fiasco with the iPad “3” – most of the consumerist-public need that number to tell them that their new toy is better than the perfectly-good one they just ditched.

  3. Avatar for noknok noknok says:

    Commenters here are just a bunch of idiots. The article actually makes sense. The author is not saying Samsung and Apple are the best and that the others are ‘crap’. He’s just saying that Samsung and Apple are both doing something that make them stand out. Other companies are also good ones but they’re handling their business poorly. Good example would be HTC. You can’t tell which phone is their flagship, which should reflect as their best phone. It started with the HTC Sensation where they released a bunch of Sensations differing the names with XL, XE, etc. So given that, which one’s the best? Samsung and Apple made it simple, increment the numbers. Highest being the best. Nokia with ‘9’ series as the top of the line…it’s kinda simple and yet other manufacturers don’t get it. Do check out Sony’s phone lineup and determine what is their flagship phone…I’m sure you’ll have a bit of a hard time. People always want the ‘best’.

  4. Avatar for goodha goodha says:

    On another note, napupurga na nga ako sa multitude of accessories (especially casings,jellies at leather covers) ng samsung at apple products sa mga bangketa sa tabi tabi.

    • Avatar for goodha goodha says:

      Pahabol.

      @bob freking
      Awaiting your article entitled “What (branded) cellphones could learn from (re-branded) cellphones?” hehehe.

      branded – sammy, nokie, apple, lg, bb, sony,htc
      re-branded – myphone, cherry mobile, starmobile, O+, torque

  5. Avatar for EJ12 EJ12 says:

    guys chill lang! tama naman yung sinabi ni @bob eh. Kung mapapansin niyo naman mabentang mabenta ang mga products ng Samsung at Apple. He was just observing what is the current “gadget situation” here in the Philippines. Napapansin niyo ba na maraming nagamit ng Samsung Galaxy Y? Kasi sinasabi nila na yun ang pinakamurang android phone that time and up to now marami pa ring nabili niyan. Kaya nga nabuo tong yugatech para makita natin ang iba pang alternatives na mas maganda sa mga madalas nating nakikitang ads. To those who are being negative about this post because the author is a dork or boycott the author, try being an author here. Or baka naman kaya panay hate comments yung mga tao dito dahil panay apple or samsung ang gadgets nila.

  6. Avatar for Observer Observer says:

    A little opinion thrown in from time to time is the privilege of those who run a blog. And we cannot deny the fact that AT THE PRESENT TIME, AND IN TERMS OF SALES, Samsung and Apple investors surely have the biggest and happiest smile among the bunch.

    Ang hirap naman sa ibang fanboy dyan, di lang mapasama sa pinupuri yung manok nila, sobra na kung makareact. Wala naman sa context ng pinaguusapan yung sinasabi nila.

    @bob – As long as Abe is letting you, just do your thing kid. (It was 20 years ago when I was in college, so I hope you wouldn’t mind me calling you kid. Hehehe)

  7. Avatar for tmcr7 tmcr7 says:

    Give the writer a break, guys. His observations are valid.

  8. Avatar for six in tagalog is six in tagalog is says:

    sana may “like” button sa comments dito!

  9. Avatar for koki_motok koki_motok says:

    Whatever happened to yugatech??? Sir abe, God forbid don’t hand ur blog to these so-called writers!!

  10. Avatar for di di says:

    Being a Nokia fanboy, I hate this article because it looks like Apple and Samsung are the only good companies out there. So you’re saying that Nokia, HTC, LG, Motorola, BB and others are not good enough? Sa tingin ko na totoo naman talaga yung series phones na mas pumapatok pero it doesn’t mean na mas maganda to sa predecessor nito. It might have better specs but it doesn’t mean it will have better performance. May nagsabi bang walang pumapansin sa mga products ng iba? Meron naman eh, mas marami lang talaga ang mga loyal fanboys ng Apple at Samsung.

    • Avatar for Bob Freking Bob Freking says:

      I’m not saying that they’re the only good ones out there, but I’m saying their strategies are working well. I wouldn’t want a Samsung or an Apple phone as of the moment because of the bandwagon thing, but it really sucks to see that these two companies nalang ang titinitignan ng tao.

      I recall one time when I had friends na non-geeks then they were hating on a phone that wasn’t a Galaxy or an iPhone. As much as this article sounds biased towards Samsung & Apple, I’m not.

    • Avatar for lolwut lolwut says:

      @BobFreking

      If you claim to be unbiased with the companies then why make your article such as this? Just to claim your hate for the companies that are on top of the food chain? Be ready for criticisms next time and take everything as constructive. Do not defend your opinion to others ‘coz everyone has their own and will always defend their beliefs. I hope to see better articles from you in the future.

    • Avatar for Bob-o nga Bob-o nga says:

      “I hope to see better articles from you in the future.”

      Hahahahahahaha! I doubt. Dork is dork. Sila yung mga tipong hindi nagpapatalo sa mga arguments. Lol.

      Keep it up on doing articles like this, and we will not support this site anymore. Lol! :)))

    • Avatar for really? really? says:

      i smell butthurt here. either frustrated writer itong si bob-o or frustrated yugatech contributor kaya ganito na lang galit kay freking. masyado kang nagbababad sa mga articles nya para mang bash.

      why don’t you start your own blog so you can show to the world what a better writer you are compared to freking. unless you are all talk here and no balls to spare. and please for pete’s sake don’t generalize and collectively use the word WE in your statement

      “Keep it up on doing articles like this, and WE will not support this site anymore. Lol! :)))”

      you definitely don’t represent the majority here. at the end of the day you are just one frustrated and bitter anonymous commenter who has nothing better to do than judging other’s work without presenting your own.

    • Avatar for Diorarat Diorarat says:

      There is nothing bias about the article. It’s nicely written and i don’t think you get his point. I have an htc one which is better than anything samsung or apple could throw at. But fact is, it isn’t doing that great compared to apple and samsung. The author is trying to point out that they are doing something right that’s why they make cash. It isn’t saying that Samsung and Apple is the only decent phone but rather they are only ones making big bucks. Give the author credit he deserves.

  11. Avatar for imbaskie imbaskie says:

    nadala lang kayo sa advertisements ng samsung at apple. tinadtadan kayo ng ads. then boom lupet na ng phone. lol

  12. Avatar for Andrew Mercado Andrew Mercado says:

    Here’s the thing: Inside the Galaxy S, the Galaxy S II, Galaxy S III, Notes 1 & 2 are various hardware components manufactured directly by Samsung. The company makes its own chips to power phones, Super Amoled handset displays, and flash memory for internal storage.

    Apple controls its iPhone hardware as well but not directly: It designs the chips for iOS devices, for example, which someone else builds, and it often invests billions of dollars in component manufacturing plants in return for higher pricing. In this case, Samsung has competitive advantage in reducing manufacturing cost and instead, they can afford to spend millions on advertisements.

    Another thing, Samsung has more manufacturing plants than Apple worldwide that’s why they can produce millions of smartphones so quickly to cope with demands.

  13. Avatar for jerome jerome says:

    Ang labo naman ng author na ito..san ba patungo sinulat nya? It also sounds outdated..

  14. Avatar for fotolocco fotolocco says:

    The writer has been very myopic in his reviews. Typical college student, as his profile above suggests, style of reviewing.

    First of all, even if Nokia lost the leadership to Samsung, its business model is proven to be efficient. The fact that Nokia is number two in terms of sales of both smartphones and non smartphones means Apple never really overtook them in the mobile phone business. If that is so then the claim that it is just between Samsung and Apple is already fallacious.

    Sa Pinas lang ang pakiramdam nyo Samsung at Apple lang ang naglalaban. Pero definitely each company can learn from the others. Kaya sana yung title ay could learn not should learn.

    • Avatar for reviews? reviews? says:

      actually, opinion articles ito, hindi reviews. kung ako may ari ng yugatech, i would rather focus on reviews and news. opinion — kelangan maraming alam. kung college student ka, kakaunti pa lang ang alam mo.

    • Avatar for Leave a Reply Leave a Reply says:

      Brading, it is not about the market share. It is about the profits. Apple has 30% market share but profit share is 80% of the market. mwahahahhaha panis ka!

  15. Avatar for don don says:

    you forgot to mention one thing, “sue each other to get the public’s attention”

  16. Avatar for daniel daniel says:

    lahat ng sinabi sa article na to was playing in my mind! hahahha!

    para sa mga taong igranorante sa technology… pagka ang bagong gamit ay pataas ng pataas… feeling nila mas maganda na… SGS, SGS2, SGS3, iPhone4,5 etc. kaya dapat i-adapt mo un naming ng products dahil hindi madaling baguhin ang mindset ng taong hindi naman technically-inclined.

    at saka fewer choices makes your products really famous! ok un sa galaxy phones… pero ung tablet nila… pati ako nalilito eh hahahah… galaxy tab, galaxy tab 7.0, galaxy tab 7.7 galaxy tab 7.0 2, galaxy tab 7.7 2, galaxy tab 10.1 2 etc wahahahahah

  17. Avatar for Bob-o nga Bob-o nga says:

    Ano po ba problema ng author na to? Iboycott na yan!!

    • Avatar for Totoo! Totoo! says:

      oo nga! nung nakita ko itong article na ito, ang una kong ginawa ay tignan ang author. nung nakita ko kung sino, hindi ko na binasa! comment na kaagad! hahahaha.

    • Avatar for kaiser kaiser says:

      his observations are valid, why so much hate for the author? just because he is younger? para naman sa mga normal at hindi techie, ascending numbers most likely means the best and latest(pentium series, nvidia and amd video cards, kahit normal na appliances e.g. samsung hdtv series 7/8/9)

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