Gotta love the bitterness and the denial that's oozing out around here.
Like it or not, people are buying these phones. You guys can keep on bleating the same tired, old "Shipped vs sold" talking point. It still doesn't stop the rally we've seen Samsung making even during the recession. You guys will probably still be rehashing that line during q2, q3, and q4 of 2012 and on as Samsung's fortunes continue to rise.
Let's try to have some logic in the way we approach this issue. Samsung can't "pad" retain channels by (somehow) forcing retail stores to just buy their phones several consecutive years. Never mind there's no "force" involved! Retail stores will only accept phones they expect to sell. Judging from the number of years they've been selling dumbphones and smartphones worldwide and garnering market share, I'd say those B&M stores have had high expectations of selling those phones, and they're repeat customers.
You don't need to be an MBA to figure this out.





