Friday, September 20, 2013

Samsung sends spies to uncover Apple's iPhone line phenom, curious about why Apple buyers will sit in line for eons for the device.


Samsung sends spies to uncover Apple's iPhone line phenom

The Korean electronics giant may use ads to mock fanboys waiting for the iPhone, but that doesn't mean it's not curious about why Apple buyers will sit in line for eons for the device.
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An Apple videographer cheers with Brian Ceballo, the first person to get his hands on the iPhone 5S at Apple's Fifth Avenue store in New York.
(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)
NEW YORK -- You can't have an ad campaign mocking people waiting in line for the iPhone and then wish you had the same lines. Or can you?
Apparently Samsung thinks it can. Along with the hundreds of consumers, reporters, and app promoters converging Friday on Apple's flagship store on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue for theiPhone 5S/5C launch were employees from the Korean giant.

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Smartphone companies often check out the competition, either quietly or in a very public way. During Samsung's Galaxy S4 event inMarch in New York, for example, HTC hired people to promote its brand outside the venue. Woman decked out in HTC gear touted the benefits of that company's devices over those from Samsung while handing out snacks to reporters waiting in line.
In the case of the iPhone launch Friday,however, Samsung kept its presence pretty clandestine. It didn't hand out fliers or post advertising or display anything identifying itself as Samsung. It didn't even talk to anyone in line. Rather, a Korean video and photography crew documented the scene and interviewed reporters to figure out why Apple has such a rabid following.
The videographers asked questions such as, "Is the line shorter or longer this year than last?" and "Is the crowd more excited or less than previous years?" All questions revolved around whether Apple seemed to be losing a bit of its cool factor or if the company's fans remained as loyal as ever.
"Other companies release new phones, but there's not as much passion and heat [from buyers]," a Korea-based producer from Samsung Broadcasting Center/Cheil Worldwide, who asked not to be named, told CNET at the iPhone launch. "It's only Apple. Why? We're curious."
Hundreds of people await the iPhone 5S and 5C launch at Apple's Fifth Avenue store in Manhattan.
(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)
The video group appeared to come from the Samsung Broadcasting Center/Cheil Worldwide, not from the electronics arm. Samsung is best known for its phones and TVs, but its parent company -- Samsung Group -- also owns operations in everything from shipbuilding to clothing. Cheil is a Korea-based Samsung Group company focused on marketing and communications. It works with Samsung Electronics on campaigns from time the time, but it's unclear who organized the study and what the information will be used for.
The producer noted that the information would only be distributed internally and that Samsung specifically chose the Fifth Avenue store in Manhattan because of its size and the amount of hype surrounding the store. The person said Samsung wasn't doing studies at any other stores.
A US-based Samsung representative declined to comment.
When it comes to smartphones, Apple and Samsung are the only two companies that make any money. Together, they ship more than 40 percent of the world's smartphones, and they generate the vast majority of the buzz. Their rivalry has been fierce in the market and in the courtroom, with Apple and Samsung clashing over everything from patents to phones. Apple may have popularized the touchscreen smartphone category, but Samsung now dominates the segment, shipping more than double the numbers of devices as Apple.
Even though Samsung sells more devices than Apple, it doesn't generate the same lines at its product launches. Its Unpacked event to unveil the Galaxy S4 in March drew thousands of people, but lines didn't stretch around the block to actually buy the device in stores. As the company tries to become a bigger brand and control an even larger chunk of the market, it's important for Samsung to develop a loyal user base like that of Apple.
Samsung has been building more buzz around its brand by releasing ads mocking Apple fanboys, particularly those who wait in line for the newest devices. One TV ad, released around the time of last year's iPhone 5 launch, made fun of Apple's earliest adopters who wait in line for hours.
The tag line for that campaign was "the next big thing is already here."

iPhone 5C and 5S hit the streets worldwide (pictures)

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craftytony9
LMAO....Samsung Logic: Make fun of people waiting in line for an amazing product that gives the user an unsurpassed software and hardware experience.
Then, send a production crew trying to figure out why everyone loves the iphone.
Note to Samsung: Make a better product and stop filling your phones to the brim with gimmicks and gee-whiz features!
GooseFrabaa
I think this is Great. Checking out the factors that pull in people towards Apple and learn a lesson from it.
ToxicKitty
"Other companies release new phones, but there's not as much passion and heat [from buyers]," a Korea-based producer from Samsung Broadcasting Center/Cheil Worldwide, who asked not to be named, told CNET at the iPhone launch. "It's only Apple. Why? We're curious."
Duh.....could it be that Apple makes a better product and that people like it more? It's no great mystery. 
drewnusser
@ToxicKitty Or it's because the iPhone is a status symbol and people want to be seen in line just to show everyone how cool and devoted they are.  Everyone in that line could easily preorder the phone and wait at home for it to arrive on launch day.  That's just too logical though.  Instead, they want to show the world that they spent all day waiting for their new best friend.  If the iPhone really were that much better, they'd still sell more than anyone else.
blotto5
@ToxicKitty Whether they make a better product is highly debatable. They haven't introduced one new feature that wasn't already in Android phones for months other than that fingerprint reader novelty, it's still missing features that other phones have had for years like NFC, battery life is unimproved and lags behind many of its competitors, and it's limited to 64GB with no expansion options while some other phones allow expansion with a 64GB Microsd card on top of its internal storage. That's not even mentioning how the screen hasn't gotten any bigger, and by today's standards is absolutely tiny, even after they increased it for the 5. They're no longer innovating, now they're just playing catch-up.
donds
How long would you wait for an Iphone 5s just to sell it on ebay for a profit?
On ebay the bidding for the 5s is around 750.00 and up and an unlock 5s is over 1000.00
jotajota
Get over it Samsung. As much as it is funny and of course you mockingly portray it in your adverts, you wish you had zombies lined up for blocks like Apple does.
J__Campbell
@jotajotaSamsung shipped 2.4 times more phones than Apple in Q2 2013, do you really think Samsung cares about a few line ups of the blindly faithful fanboys that'll be gone tomorrow?  #FactsHelp
Billy_Razzle
Yes, they do. They want to increase profits. Apple makes way more profit than Samsung. They want to know how to increase profits like Apple does. Seems simple to me.
drewnusser
@Billy_Razzle You increase profits by dropping the value of the components in the phone.  Unfortunately the components in the iPhone wouldn't have a prayer at running Samsung's version of Android though.  But yeah, who wouldn't want the devotion that Apple has?
becool773
This article lost its credibility with this line "The video group APPEARED  to come from the Samsung Broadcasting Center/Cheil Worldwide, not from the electronics arm" Maybe NSA knows who those guys were
Dedgeton
CNnet, we know, you have a bro-mance for apple... but seriously, this is bad journalism. You call them "spies" when the article only seems to mention that they are doing market research, which is not spying at all. Be Objective, and stop making a story where there isn't one.
sj0808080808
HERE IS THE SUMMARY OF MARKETING RESEARCH WHICH SAMSUNG, HTC, LG AND ALL OTHER PHONE MANUFACTUERES SHOULD LOOK AT:
kirko77 5ptsFeatured23 hours ago
One shocking experience I witnessed.
When iPhone5 came out, I happened to be at a local mall and there was a huge line of people in line at the Apple store (I guess it's "normal").
Well, right around the corner (where the line wrapped around), there was RadioShack and the store manager/clerk was outside with a loud speaker telling everyone that they have iPhone in stock and no line (the store was basally deserted). These brainwashed folks in line to Apple store had this eerie blank look on their faces (literally looking at the guy with loud speaker) and NO ONE!!!!! Not a single person went to RadioShack to buy the phone w/out waiting in line. I found it very interesting.... .kinda like a science experience on brainwashing.
13 likes
'nuff said.
rorosdad
That is because it is an event like a movie premier showing at the Apple store. Yes you can get in and out of the Radio Shack store but that isn't the point. The point waiting in line is to be a part of the experience and that is something that few companies do well. 
I don't wait in line anymore just like I don't go shopping for deals on Thanksgiving night but I do understand why people do, it isn't the deals, it is the event. 
Don't hate. 

sj0808080808
@rorosdad @sj0808080808 wow.. there must be something that i really cannot understand. btw, I've owned iphone 4 and ipad 2. so don't judge me by saying i'm a fandroid.
Combat_Wombat
@sj0808080808 @rorosdad

Me neither. I pre-ordered my iPad 3. Delivered to my house. I don't see why anyone rational would brave the crowds (or the cold/heat), stay in line for hours and have to deal with malls and their parking when they can simply just ring up their computer, order and wait for it to arrive the same day everyone else gets it, but in the convenience of their homes. 
Darthmullet
@rorosdad @sj0808080808 Exactly, it isn't about the product it is about the social / popular culture around the brand. I have used Apple, Google, and Samsung products and there really is not a large amount of difference. I personally don't care for Apple due to their more restrictive software. People like @ToxicKitty up there preach like there is only one viable brand and anything else is garbage. People just care how they look and think Apple devices make them "cool."
sj0808080808
how is this spying????? isn't this more of "marketing research"?????
Apple must be really happy about CNET as this article clearly sucks Apple's XXX
cappysw10
@sj0808080808 only this article? Every article today is about iPhone or iOS7
Mike050
I spend under $20 a month on my $186 refurbished Epic Touch 4G 2 with Ting and I love my 4.5 inch screen and all the data I get from free wifi at home and work. Go ahead anyone who pays 50-70 bucks a month, tell me which one of us is better off. 
Adrayven
@Mike050 Thats simple, the person who doesn't feel obligated to post and mock others and is just happy with their purchase.
Mike050
How much you guys wanna bet if Apple employees went outside and said whoever throws the most cash at me gets THIS iPHONE RIGHT NOW, at least a few dozen would empty their wallets? The only thing I can't stand more than dumb people who think their opinion has any value, is how dumb people spend their money. And you know most of these kids don't make enough to logically go spend another 600 bucks on a iphone or $200 bucks and a new contract. 
roar500
Do you fall into the "dumb people who think there opinion has any value" category? Or is there something special about you that makes other people care what you think about how they spend there money?
Billy_Razzle
The part that never made sense to me was that the market Samsung was trying to persuade was the same people they were insulting in those ads.
Mike050
@Billy_Razzle If you're dumb enough to wait 8 hours in line for a phone, you're dumb enough to not get that irony. 
bobmarleyisalive
It is safe to assume Shamsung corporate would LOVE to have so many "dumb" consumers wanting their product offerings and waiting countess hours to make a purchase.
J__Campbell
@bobmarleyisalive Huh?  Samsung shipped 2.4 times more phones than Apple in Q2 2013... I don't thing they care about line ups. #FactsHelp
bobmarleyisalive
Don't you think it is because the S4 was launched in Q2 and competing against the iPhone 5? Do you really think the S4 will outsell the iPhone 5S this quarter?
And if they didn't care about lineups, why are they there in the first place?
Believe me......they care.
agonzo1123
@Billy_Razzle
They are not trying to persuade anyone, read the article.
Billy_Razzle
I was talking about in the ads mocking those who line up for Apples products. Those ads were referenced in the article. Maybe you should read it.
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