Samsung offers 'Test Drive' participants cash, Google Play credit for switching from iPhone
People participating in Samsung's "Ultimate Test Drive" program -- allowing iPhone owners to try a Galaxy S6, S6 Edge+, or Galaxy Note 5 for 30 days -- are being offered up to $200 in perks if they actually switch.
After buying one of the phones, switchers must then head to a special promotion webpage, Android Central noted. There people must enter the email they used for the Test Drive, answer survey questions, and provide purchase details including a photo of a receipt.
Doing so earns $100 in Google Play credit, usable for apps, books, video, and music. People who also took the step of trading in their previous phone with a carrier or retailer will be mailed a check for $100.
To qualify for the rewards, people must buy one of the named phones by Dec. 31, and submit their information by Jan. 1.
Samsung enjoys a large share of the world's smartphone market, but has lost ground in the past year in part because of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus -- Apple's first phones with large screens comparable to Android rivals. And though the device has been favorably reviewed, Samsung also botched the launch of the Galaxy S6, producing too many regular S6 units while underestimating demand for the curved S6 Edge. The Note 5 and S6 Edge+ were introduced earlier this month.
The Ultimate Test Drive was announced last week, and may be a way for Samsung to counter some of the consumer interest Apple is bound to draw with new iPhones anticipated at a Sept. 9 press event. There the company is expected to reveal an iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, with features like Force Touch, A9 processors, and enhanced front and rear cameras.
After buying one of the phones, switchers must then head to a special promotion webpage, Android Central noted. There people must enter the email they used for the Test Drive, answer survey questions, and provide purchase details including a photo of a receipt.
Doing so earns $100 in Google Play credit, usable for apps, books, video, and music. People who also took the step of trading in their previous phone with a carrier or retailer will be mailed a check for $100.
To qualify for the rewards, people must buy one of the named phones by Dec. 31, and submit their information by Jan. 1.
Samsung enjoys a large share of the world's smartphone market, but has lost ground in the past year in part because of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus -- Apple's first phones with large screens comparable to Android rivals. And though the device has been favorably reviewed, Samsung also botched the launch of the Galaxy S6, producing too many regular S6 units while underestimating demand for the curved S6 Edge. The Note 5 and S6 Edge+ were introduced earlier this month.
The Ultimate Test Drive was announced last week, and may be a way for Samsung to counter some of the consumer interest Apple is bound to draw with new iPhones anticipated at a Sept. 9 press event. There the company is expected to reveal an iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, with features like Force Touch, A9 processors, and enhanced front and rear cameras.
Comments
What a joke.
" src="http://forums-files.appleinsider.com/images/smilies//lol.gif" />
I can see how they might be discovering they need more incentives...
Bribes for a crappy product, way to go Samsung. lol
If you ask me, Samsung's problems are two-fold -- wedding to the crappy Android system, and two not innovating enough on hardware, doing too much "me too" of what Apple is doing. I think if they would have bought WebOS, they could have been doing much better, assuming they did not let it languish...
Don't they still have to buy the phone to get the perks? They should get a free phone, all costs associated with the switch covered by Samsung and $200 in a visa or MasterCard to use anywhere. And no credit check for those switchers. Lol.
This is their way of lowering the price without lowering the price. The costs will hit the marketing budget rather than the profit per phone.
Samsung lucked into the fact that a lot of people want huge smart phones, and they cashed in on that for a long time. Unfortunately for them, Apple now has huge phones, and now they lost their primary advantage over iPhones. When people are paying a lot for a phone, they want something that's high quality, and the crapware on Samsung phones is enough to make it feel lower quality than an iPhone %u2014 never mind the horrible customer support that Samsung has if anything goes wrong.
So if I understand this correctly, it's not really a "test drive" - it's a switch.
And I only get Google Play credits? Who cares?
If they want to get rid of phones to build market share, they should simply give them away with a purchase of a Samsung TV or other major appliance.
Hardly desperate. It is normal for any top market brand to offer money to get people to switch from the second place competitor. Haven't you ever heard of the Coca-Cola Challenge? Coke compares itself to Pepsi, and then offers Pepsi drinkers cash if they switch to Coke and answer a bunch of marketing study questions about why they switched, so they can use the results of this study to understand how to better market to Pepsi drinkers to get them to switch to Coke.
Oh wait, that didn't happen? But but but Samsung is number one!
Does this Samsung Test Drive apply to only 6 and 6+ phones?
Getting a $100 back in trade is a lousy deal since you can get between $300-$700 if you sell it out right - even for parts 6s go for $300+.
If they want to get rid of phones to build market share, they should simply give them away with a purchase of a Samsung TV or other major appliance.
Wait for it.
Hi! We're Samsung, and we're not desperate at all!
You know, I went to the Samsung website. At 15 phones per page, there are 12 pages of phones. I decided to click on one of the "dumb" phones about three pages in (set to 30 phones per page) and read some reviews. I was very confused at first because (naturally) the reviews were set to "highest first". Set to most recent and one begins to see the real nitty-gritty, like this gem:
What really bugs me about this phone however is that when you get it there are banners that pop up. They seem like advertisements but actually it's random trivia you probably don't care at all about. To disable this you have to launch some weird app that is installed which you'd think would give you data charges but doesn't and disable them.
This phone also has a really nice unlock system that keeps it from pocket dialing you. Once any key has been pressed you have to then hit the OK key and then the Right key... the problem is this sequence is rendered irrelevant by the fact that simply holding down the 0 key unlocks the phone too no matter what. So, like if you accidentally bump your phone against something in your pocket for a second and the zero key is pressed, now your phone is unlocked in your pocket and this is a problem. You will probably "pocket dial" someone or make "pocket contacts."
The phone also has a tendency to occasionally ignore the fact that it is on vibrate and just play the ringtone anyway without vibrating. Upon investigating the volume setting... yep, it's still in vibrate. A restart fixes this issue.
Incidentally my brother just got a new one of these phones in the mail today to replace his old one. This is good. He'll finally be able to hear me when I call him! Yeah... his old one inexplicably stopped receiving the audio in calls or the speaker got disconnected or something. It was a problem.
It's actually becoming impossible to find a good well designed phone for someone like me who can't afford the data plan associated with a smart phone. (I have an iPod Touch for that.) The sad truth is that this phone, as horrible as I'm making it out to be, is on par with most phones available that are not smart phones. It's really frustrating and although I can't recommend this phone, it isn't the worst thing out there.
As more and more
customers begin expecting their products to not completely suck, I wonder how long Samsung can continue to hawk this complete and utter rubbish. If they really do give up on the high end, they're going to have to improve quality on the low end, at least a little. I just don't see Samsung having the... whatever it is... to exit the high-end of the market. Too much pride.
I also have to question a lot of the positive reviews... A lot of them reference "realistic color" whatever that means, as one of the "pros"...
EDIT: I see this one also mentions "realistic color". wtf does that even mean?
Props to you Samsung, you finally outdid yourselves.
Don't put the stylus in the Note the wrong way or it won't come out without breaking the phone. Bad design, insufficient testing.
The media would have a field day!
Wait, there's actual Pepsi drinkers? I only drink Pepsi when Coke is sold out.
D-E-S-P-E-R-A-T-E
About 12 months ago on this site I predicted that Samsung would exit the high end smartphone game in 2-3 years. Many here laughed at me.
Its happenning.
Samsung will NOT exit the high end smartphone game. Period.
The primary reason is that this is the only part of the market that makes profit.
Samsung is the only smartphone manufacturer other than Apple that makes profit.
Samsung's recent mistake was in not making enough of its HIGH END model, causing it to lose income because the lower end model did not sell.
So the lesson is to keep targeting the top end of the market.
Marketting gimmicks like this are NOT a sign of desperation. They are a sign of continued competition.
For example, Apple does Back-To-School sales with discounted headphones to compete for family computer dollars.
TRUE SIGNS OF DESPERATION:
1. PERMANENTLY LOWERING PRICES to attract more customers.
2. MAKING MORE LOW END MODELS to compete in volume while sacrificing profit