It is no secret that Samsung wants to be number one, and who can blame them; that is their “job.” Worldwide, they dominate the smartphone market, so now they are turning their attention to taking the number one tablet spot away from their arch rival, Apple. ETnews says that Samsung believes they can do this because Apple refuses to part ways with their strategy of one iPad and one iPad Mini per year, with nothing in between and no range in pricing.
Samsung’s philosophy has always been to build devices in multiple sizes and prices – as evidenced by their smartphones. They will build a couple flagship devices, such as their Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Note 3 series, but also make cheaper models for the emerging nations, prepaid devices, or those customers that simply cannot afford a flagship device. Although it is a wonder to me that they can produce so many different devices – it seems that the logistics of parts and manufacturing so many models would be a nightmare – they seem to make it work, as evidenced by their $9.6 billion profit last quarter!
Samsung Electronics President Shin Jong-gyu for IM Division said:
Tablet PC market is forecast to grow more than laptop PC market and the market for 10″ or larger sizes will grow more than tablet PC market as a whole. We will actively respond to the various market demands and gradually increase our strengths with thin bezel and pen functions.
Using the same strategy for tablets as they use with smartphones seems to be working for Samsung as they are slowly taking over the tablet field from Apple, as well. According to an IDC study, Apple and Samsung were rank first and second place with 29.6-percent and 20.4-percent in market share, respectively, in the third quarter. However, Samsung has decreased their gap from Apple’s 40.2-percent and Samsung’s 12.4-percent from a year ago during the same quarter – that gap decreased from 27.8-percent to 9.2-percent in only a year’s time.
It looks as though if Samsung continues to follow the overall strategy they used with smartphones with their tablets, they will soon take over the tablet market from Apple. The dominance of the Android operating system is certainly in Samsung’s favor. Once thought of as rather crude, Google’s Android has blossomed into a force to be reckoned with – now smooth, fast, flexible, customizable, yet still a stable and elegant operating system. Apple has remained hell-bent on thinner and lighter, but no longer seems to care about innovating, even as Android continues to consume them.
Let us know in the comments or on Google+ what you think about Samsung’s marketing strategy vs Apples.