Such desperation. IMO people might try it, realise what a nightmare Android is, then abandon it, incredulous.
You forget that some people will be trapped into using Android for the next 2 years because they had to trade their iPhone in for the new Samsung model.
If they can come up just a little bit more, I might be willing to trade in my wife's iPhone 1, or at least take a test drive. Not making any promises, though.
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
It is a sign of desperation, most high end anything don't do these kind of things for a reason. There's also a reason why Samsung has not done before. If you spend zillions on marketing (and this is just a variant of this) and still losing market share like crazy, that's a pretty bad sign.
My dad is a perfect example of who buys into shit like this. All he cares about is money and cheap. He got a new phone thrust upon him by AT&T, so he chose the android phone over a simple phone because "it has more features and is free". He's the epitome of "can't understand technology". Instead of choosing an iPhone he'd have to put money into, he chose crap for free. I checked out the phone to figure out why he wasn't getting the message I left him. The GUI is cluttered and nonsensical while trying to take conventions from everywhere, none of which go together or are implemented well. He's the ideal person for a pre-iOS 7 iPhone and yet he chose android junk because "FREE!" I think it's an HTC. Not sure.
Such desperation. IMO people might try it, realise what a nightmare Android is, then abandon it, incredulous.
Developers have long known this.
The only people who buy and "like" Android are:
1. Linux zealots (read slashdot.org if you want to see what that's like)
2. People who place no value on the device, eg it was free from the carrier despite being locked into a 2 or 3 year contract. So the wireless carrier made a killing on that.
3. People who don't like smartphones and use them as little more than a phone / text-messaging device.
4. Software pirates
5. Malware developers
Compared to the Apple iOS ecosystem
1. Apple fanbois
2. People who bought the phone outright/unlocked without the carrier subsidy so they can take it to any carrier/around the world.
3. People who realize it's a luxury brand (ala Louis Vuitton)
Like the entire reason I hadn't bought an iPhone (I'm planning to this year provided Canadian Banks roll out Apple Pay) to date was because certain tech hurdles need to be hit before I could justify it. I bought the Retina iPad because it met all the hurdles that I felt were reasonable. LTE support, Retina screen, reasonable camera, reasonable capacity.
The iPhone has two extra hurdles, Apple Pay (NFC payments) and Domestic support for adding Canadian banking cards to it. Like I'm willing to buy the next iPhone with this assumption happening, but I'll be disappointed if I can only use my American cards with it.
1. Linux zealots (read slashdot.org if you want to see what that's like)
2. People who place no value on the device, eg it was free from the carrier despite being locked into a 2 or 3 year contract. So the wireless carrier made a killing on that.
3. People who don't like smartphones and use them as little more than a phone / text-messaging device.
4. Software pirates
5. Malware developers
6. People who don't know any better and get sucked in by "specs" like "better camera" that's all they want to hear and so they get it i.e. my sister.
Comments
Such desperation. IMO people might try it, realise what a nightmare Android is, then abandon it, incredulous.
You forget that some people will be trapped into using Android for the next 2 years because they had to trade their iPhone in for the new Samsung model.
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
It is a sign of desperation, most high end anything don't do these kind of things for a reason. There's also a reason why Samsung has not done before. If you spend zillions on marketing (and this is just a variant of this) and still losing market share like crazy, that's a pretty bad sign.
Anybody falling for this promotion doesn't deserve to own an iPhone.
Developers have long known this.
The only people who buy and "like" Android are:
1. Linux zealots (read slashdot.org if you want to see what that's like)
2. People who place no value on the device, eg it was free from the carrier despite being locked into a 2 or 3 year contract. So the wireless carrier made a killing on that.
3. People who don't like smartphones and use them as little more than a phone / text-messaging device.
4. Software pirates
5. Malware developers
Compared to the Apple iOS ecosystem
1. Apple fanbois
2. People who bought the phone outright/unlocked without the carrier subsidy so they can take it to any carrier/around the world.
3. People who realize it's a luxury brand (ala Louis Vuitton)
Like the entire reason I hadn't bought an iPhone (I'm planning to this year provided Canadian Banks roll out Apple Pay) to date was because certain tech hurdles need to be hit before I could justify it. I bought the Retina iPad because it met all the hurdles that I felt were reasonable. LTE support, Retina screen, reasonable camera, reasonable capacity.
The iPhone has two extra hurdles, Apple Pay (NFC payments) and Domestic support for adding Canadian banking cards to it. Like I'm willing to buy the next iPhone with this assumption happening, but I'll be disappointed if I can only use my American cards with it.
Developers have long known this.
The only people who buy and "like" Android are:
1. Linux zealots (read slashdot.org if you want to see what that's like)
2. People who place no value on the device, eg it was free from the carrier despite being locked into a 2 or 3 year contract. So the wireless carrier made a killing on that.
3. People who don't like smartphones and use them as little more than a phone / text-messaging device.
4. Software pirates
5. Malware developers
6. People who don't know any better and get sucked in by "specs" like "better camera" that's all they want to hear and so they get it i.e. my sister.
Added one
Seems like the experience is going well for some people ...
http://consumerist.com/2015/09/02/i-signed-up-for-samsungs-ultimate-test-drive-and-all-i-got-was-a-defective-phone-with-no-way-to-return-it/