4 ms·

Very short-sighted indeed. It seems Samsung believes more in next-quarter revenues than in life-long customer value.

untog 15y ago
Well, it might work for them. They'd lose the HN crowd and other "techiphiles", but Mr. Average Joe going into the phone store will still pick up a Samsung if the price is right. Not saying I agree with it, but there is a possible logic in there. A dangerous game, though, and it's not like Samsung is teetering on bankruptcy- I don't see what would warrant them to behave this way.
- chc 15y ago
  I suppose that's why Macs have been violently losing marketshare for the past decade, the iPhone was such a flop when it first came out at roughly five times the cost of a normal cell phone and the iPad is getting murdered by the Nook Color. Because reputation doesn't matter, only price. It's true that there is a subset of people who just buy the cheapest thing available — but there's also a pretty sizable segment of the population who might not be able to evaluate for themselves whether or not a phone is a good buy, but who do know that their "techie" nephew told them Samsungs are bad. (I'm confused why this is fluctuating so wildly in the votes. Is it really so controversial that some products succeed on the strength of their brand rather than just price?)
  - untog 15y ago
    Well if you want to take that argument, examine the difference in sales between Android and iPhone. Android phones are far, far more popular and I'm quite sure that the lower price of the average Android handset has a lot to do with that. It's true that there is a subset of people who just buy the cheapest thing available — but there's also a pretty sizable segment of the population who might not be able to evaluate for themselves whether or not a phone is a good buy Absolutely. But the latter are the minority.
    - chc 15y ago
      That's neither here nor there. The point isn't that Samsung's sales will drop to zero — just that there is a lot of value in a good reputation. Apple has built its success on people loving it. If you piss people off and your competitor doesn't, you will lose customers to them, and they might very well make more money than you even though you have more plastic on the streets (which is the case with Apple vs. most Android manufacturers).
  - eazee 15y ago
    First of all get your facts straight android troll. The nook color is not and will not sell as much as iphone or the ipad. Second it's the kindle fire that's the second best selling device... Which tons of people kept returning because of its limitations. We live in america did you forget that you get what you pay for? That crappy honda that you might have isn't worth what a mercedes or bmw will. Technology works the same way. Get off androids nuts. It's rugged. You also forget the fact that apple is their only competitor. Android is turning into windows in tablets and cell phones. Yes there's a variety how many pieces of crap computers are out there with windows. Plenty... How many tablets and cellphones have android and are crap? PLENTY! It's called common sense... Next time get your facts straight.
    - hub_ 15y ago
      Somebody forgot to enable the sarcasm detector. Really.
    - chc 15y ago
      First off, welcome to Hacker News. Since you're probably wondering why you got downvoted, here's a quick crash course on how this site works: Unlike a lot of communities you might have visited, Hacker News tries very hard to keep the debate intelligent and civil, which requires a lot of self-policing. Your comment was a little more brusque than most people here prefer. Here are a few tips: • Please make your points politely. You don't have to tiptoe around with your pinky out, but just try not to be rude. Saying things like "First of all, get your facts straight, Android troll" and "Get off Android's nuts" will get you downvoted even if everything you say is correct. (I didn't downvote you, by the way — we can't downvote responses to our own comments, for fairly obvious reasons.) • If something seems ridiculous, give it a second look and try to find a way that it might make sense. For example, in this particular instance, the first sentence of my comment was a pretty transparent joke. I expected anyone reading a nerdy site like Hacker News to realize that nothing in that sentence was true. The second half of the comment dropped the joke and stated my point directly: A good reputation can pay huge dividends. • If I had in fact been trolling, this kind of angry response would be precisely the wrong thing to do. Please don't continue unproductive conversations — if you suspect someone is trolling, just leave it be. In fact, even if they're not trolling but just stubbornly wrong, leave it be. Let that thread die. Accept that sometimes people are wrong on the Internet. Fanning the flames will only drag the signal-to-noise ratio even lower than it already is.
  - megablast 15y ago
    Yes, but is the iPhone popular just because of the updates, or is it everything else.
    - chc 15y ago
      I'm not trying to suggest that the iPhone is more popular because of the updates. I'm suggesting that the iPhone is popular because Apple tries to make it a really nice experience for most people. Offering updates for a reasonable period of time is part of this. Abandoning your customers as soon as the money has exchanged hands is the antithesis of this philosophy.

untog 15y ago

Well, it might work for them. They'd lose the HN crowd and other "techiphiles", but Mr. Average Joe going into the phone store will still pick up a Samsung if the price is right. Not saying I agree with it, but there is a possible logic in there. A dangerous game, though, and it's not like Samsung is teetering on bankruptcy- I don't see what would warrant them to behave this way.

chc 15y ago
I suppose that's why Macs have been violently losing marketshare for the past decade, the iPhone was such a flop when it first came out at roughly five times the cost of a normal cell phone and the iPad is getting murdered by the Nook Color. Because reputation doesn't matter, only price. It's true that there is a subset of people who just buy the cheapest thing available — but there's also a pretty sizable segment of the population who might not be able to evaluate for themselves whether or not a phone is a good buy, but who do know that their "techie" nephew told them Samsungs are bad. (I'm confused why this is fluctuating so wildly in the votes. Is it really so controversial that some products succeed on the strength of their brand rather than just price?)
- untog 15y ago
  Well if you want to take that argument, examine the difference in sales between Android and iPhone. Android phones are far, far more popular and I'm quite sure that the lower price of the average Android handset has a lot to do with that. It's true that there is a subset of people who just buy the cheapest thing available — but there's also a pretty sizable segment of the population who might not be able to evaluate for themselves whether or not a phone is a good buy Absolutely. But the latter are the minority.
  - chc 15y ago
    That's neither here nor there. The point isn't that Samsung's sales will drop to zero — just that there is a lot of value in a good reputation. Apple has built its success on people loving it. If you piss people off and your competitor doesn't, you will lose customers to them, and they might very well make more money than you even though you have more plastic on the streets (which is the case with Apple vs. most Android manufacturers).
- eazee 15y ago
  First of all get your facts straight android troll. The nook color is not and will not sell as much as iphone or the ipad. Second it's the kindle fire that's the second best selling device... Which tons of people kept returning because of its limitations. We live in america did you forget that you get what you pay for? That crappy honda that you might have isn't worth what a mercedes or bmw will. Technology works the same way. Get off androids nuts. It's rugged. You also forget the fact that apple is their only competitor. Android is turning into windows in tablets and cell phones. Yes there's a variety how many pieces of crap computers are out there with windows. Plenty... How many tablets and cellphones have android and are crap? PLENTY! It's called common sense... Next time get your facts straight.
  - hub_ 15y ago
    Somebody forgot to enable the sarcasm detector. Really.
  - chc 15y ago
    First off, welcome to Hacker News. Since you're probably wondering why you got downvoted, here's a quick crash course on how this site works: Unlike a lot of communities you might have visited, Hacker News tries very hard to keep the debate intelligent and civil, which requires a lot of self-policing. Your comment was a little more brusque than most people here prefer. Here are a few tips: • Please make your points politely. You don't have to tiptoe around with your pinky out, but just try not to be rude. Saying things like "First of all, get your facts straight, Android troll" and "Get off Android's nuts" will get you downvoted even if everything you say is correct. (I didn't downvote you, by the way — we can't downvote responses to our own comments, for fairly obvious reasons.) • If something seems ridiculous, give it a second look and try to find a way that it might make sense. For example, in this particular instance, the first sentence of my comment was a pretty transparent joke. I expected anyone reading a nerdy site like Hacker News to realize that nothing in that sentence was true. The second half of the comment dropped the joke and stated my point directly: A good reputation can pay huge dividends. • If I had in fact been trolling, this kind of angry response would be precisely the wrong thing to do. Please don't continue unproductive conversations — if you suspect someone is trolling, just leave it be. In fact, even if they're not trolling but just stubbornly wrong, leave it be. Let that thread die. Accept that sometimes people are wrong on the Internet. Fanning the flames will only drag the signal-to-noise ratio even lower than it already is.
- megablast 15y ago
  Yes, but is the iPhone popular just because of the updates, or is it everything else.
  - chc 15y ago
    I'm not trying to suggest that the iPhone is more popular because of the updates. I'm suggesting that the iPhone is popular because Apple tries to make it a really nice experience for most people. Offering updates for a reasonable period of time is part of this. Abandoning your customers as soon as the money has exchanged hands is the antithesis of this philosophy.