Galaxy S III

Samsung’s Galaxy S3 ‘marginally higher’ than Apple’s iPhone 5 in ACSI customer satisfaction

Imagine if you received a recommendation proclaiming you were marginally better than your competitors. Well, that's the case with Samsung, which has two smartphones that scored "marginally higher" than the iPhone 4S and the iPhone 5 in a new customer sat survey, to use Tim Cook's jargon talk.

Samsung's 14-month-old Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note II each scored 84 out of 100 - a full two points better than the nearly year-old iPhone 5 and the almost two-year-old iPhone 4S. Before you get too carried away with chants of 'yeah two points!'

Let's get to the details...

Samsung reportedly cutting Galaxy S4 production, S3 going in early retirement

The unstoppable advance of Samsung may have hit a bump in the road. A report from South Korean claims the Apple smartphone rival plans to reduce production of its just-released Galaxy S4 by 10-15 percent, while sending the S3 to an early retirement.

The South Korean-based firm also believes the flagship Galaxy S4 won't be able to increase its share of the smartphone market alone, requiring a range of new models to do the job, the Thursday report claimed...

iPhone and Galaxy owners are not that different

While iPhone and Galaxy S3 owners are often viewed as fans of rival teams, the two groups have more in common than Apple or Samsung would care to admit.

A new report finds owners of the two smartphones follow the same usage patterns, while maintaining some distance on hardware and carrier choices.

Based on surveys conducted in January and February, both iPhone and G3 owners follow a trend away from voice calls and emails to texting. Before anyone thinks the two will for a mutual admiration society anytime soon, there are some striking differences, as well...

For Samsung, even March 2014 is too early for Galaxy S3 suit

After Apple last September filed a motion to add the then a few months old Galaxy S III to its ongoing patent lawsuit against Samsung, and six more Galaxies on Black Friday, it was reported that a trial in that patent infringement case had been scheduled for March 2014. Needless to say, by the time this suit wraps up, Samsung will have sold plenty of flagship devices included in the suit.

Indeed, the Galaxy S III was introduced in May 2012. Samsung is now set to unveil its successor at New York City's Radio City Music Hall as early as next week. But apparently even March 2014 is too early for Samsung as it now knows the hearings are postponed until it has a chance to exhaust appeals related to the $1.05 August 2012 verdict...

Apple beats Samsung in U.S. smartphone sales

Here's some good news: research firm comScore Wednesday announced that during a three-month average ending January 2013 Apple crushed Samsung in United States smartphone sales. Specifically, the iPhone maker was the top US smartphone vendor with a 37.8 percent market share in January 2013, which was up 3.5 percentage points from October 2012. Samsung was second with a notably lower market share of 21.4 percent, a slight 1.9 percentage point increase from October 2012. All told, Apple's 3.5 percentage point gain was Android's loss as we see Google's mobile operating system dropping for the first time. So much about the supposedly "weaker than expected" iPhone 5 demand...

Galaxy S III named Best Smartphone of 2012 at Mobile World Congress

The world of smartphones can essentially be divided into two camps: iPhone and Android. Sure there are some BlackBerry and Windows Phone users out there, but Apple and Google handsets make up most of the market.

And as in any situation where there are two dominant players, each platform has their own army of loyal fans. And I'm sure both sides have plenty to say about Samsung's Galaxy S III being named the Best Smartphone of 2012...

3 out of 4 phones in enterprise bear the Apple logo

Remember the days when corporate IT departments looked at the iPhone as some kookie West Coast toy bound to mess up their networks? You know, when RIM - that is, BlackBerry - had a lock on big biz. Those days are definitely gone. Today, more than three out of four mobile phones in enterprises bear the Apple logo.

What's more, Android's presence in business has fallen to the point where Microsoft is nibbling at its heels. During the fourth quarter of 2012, Apple's corporate presence rose to 77 percent of mobile device, up from 71 percent during the same period in 2011, according to Good Technology. Even better for Apple executives, the iPhone and iPad took five of the top five mobile devices in businesses...

Apple’s iPhone push in India: wider distribution, new marketing and installment plans

After describing India as having less potential than China, Apple is increasing efforts to compete in the world's second-largest cellphone market. The iPhone maker is now hoping installment payments, coupled with increased marketing can turn single-digit market penetration into a weapon against low-cost Androids.

In full-page ads in the Times of India, Apple calls its unsubsidized $840 iPhone 5 "your dream phone" available for a $93 first payment. Why the big push? The nation's smartphone market is expected to grow five-fold by 2016, setting the stage for the next battle between Apple and Google's free mobile software...

Kantar: discounts help Android pass iOS in US smartphone sales

Oh, what a difference a month makes. That could be the message from new research giving Android the lead in U.S. smartphone sales during the three-month period ending in January 2012.

Apple's iOS had held the U.S. smartphones sales lead up through December. The new data gives Android 49.9 percent of domestic smartphone sales, with iOS taking second place with 45.9 percent.

The new standings means Google's mobile software added 6.4 percent of U.S. sales, compared to a year ago. Meanwhile, the lock on U.S. smartphone sales fell 4.7 percent from the same period in 2011. The flip-flop on the No. 1 and No. 2 spots was linked to a Sprint price cut for Samsung's Galaxy S3 during the final three months of 2012...

Strategy Analytics: iPhone 5/4S are world’s two most popular smartphones

Just as investors are (again) punishing the Apple stock on talk of Foxconn freezing recruitment in China amid weakening iPhone 5 demand (or perhaps because the iPhone 5S is entering production in March?) comes a new survey of the smartphone market by research firm Strategy Analytics. And the numbers look good: the iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S each outsold Samsung's Galaxy S III during the all-important 2012 holiday quarter.

This makes the iPhone 5 the world's bestselling smartphone, but what's really eyebrow-raising is that the 16-month old (and now discounted) iPhone 4S also overtook Samsung's flagship device...

How Samsung came up with iPhone-mocking ads

When it comes to Samsung's Galaxy devices and competition with Apple, you could say its advertising approach is overly abrasive.

It doesn't shy away from likening Apple fans to iSheep, poking fun of those who'd wait in line for an iPhone and targeting the latest iPhone 5 in print, on Facebook and Super Bowl.

The South Korean firm buys expensive ad slots to spoof Apple on prime time TV, with a simple goal: isolate Apple fans from the 'others' by painting them as brainwashed drones who happily swallow whatever Apple happens to shovel down their throat.

As far as general public is concerned, Samsung's negative campaign has put it on par with Apple as people started talking more about its products. If you ever wondered how they came up with the risky iPhone-mocking idea in the first place, here's your answer...

New Samsung ad says iPhones are not for work, blasts BlackBerry

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fcUf4d-Y3s

You can't blame Samsung for amping up its anti-everyone advertising as it's worked out so well for them thus far. In this new commercial aired during tonight's NFC championship game and subsequently published on Samsung's YouTube channel, a bunch of hipsters working for a mobile games developer are depicted using Galaxy smartphones and tablets. In one instance, the clip highlights multitasking capabilities of these gadgets where you can set the video to play while continuing to browse the web or sort through your email.

Then the focus turns (mark 0:40) to one of the old guards who tells a young office chick that she won't "consolidate" her phones because she has "a system": her BlackBerry with its clickety-clack keyboard is for work and an iPhone with an ugly case is for home. The lady abruptly cuts off the younger colleague after her attempt to explain the benefits of the Galaxy S III: "Allie, please respect my system".

The commercial is a bit weird and primarily targets the struggling BlackBerry (talk about beating the dead horse). There are more jabs at RIM and Apple in an apparent shift of strategy as Samsung takes aim at enterprise market. Oh, and what's up with the unicorns and that guy from 30 Rock?