Can Samsung keep customers loyal?

Samsung has a great thing going right now. The three Samsung LED TV's in my house are awesome, my S3 is the perfect phone imo and it has a ton of services included. Plus the world sided with Samsung after they lost the big case with Apple.
 
I've said this many many times. Samsung must get over the hardware hurdle. They have been very weak on the software side ... and on content they are nowhere. They will have to buy companies (or outsource) that can bring the missing parts to them as it will take way too long to build the capacity in-house.
 
Bryn26 said:
Samsung has a great thing going right now. The three Samsung LED TV's in my house are awesome, my S3 is the perfect phone imo and it has a ton of services included. Plus the world sided with Samsung after they lost the big case with Apple.
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negative. (1) that's debatable, and (2) you missed the point entirely.
it's not whether Samsung have a better product or not, it's about loyalty. (in the long run)

Apple have built up a nice loyal user-base that own all the accessories, the speakers, clock radios, etc, etc...
In the rest of the world people even have iTunes accounts (I know its hard to believe) loaded with albums and even other media like movies/series and so forth, not forgetting their ever increasing App/Game collection.

so, in the end, even if the S3 is technically a better phone, most apple users would still go for the latest iPhone.
That's loyalty...now if you think they are all stupid, dumb users, fair enough - but that's besides the point. (And, they might have good reasons keeping in the "Apple ecosystem", as listed above)


Now the question is, if Microsoft made a better phone than the next Samsung Galaxy.... would Samsung keep their user-base like Apple does, or would they move on to greener pastures?
 
“They need to move out of that mentality of just selling people a device,”
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Wrong, they need to move INTO that mentality. As long as they have the most powerful phones on the market when it's time for an upgrade, they'll have my "loyalty". I'd prefer it if they didn't shove all their bloatware crap on us in fact. S Suggest, S Apps, S other random bull**** just wastes space on my Galaxy. Chaton is the worst because it can't be deleted... Cram the most performance you can into a little mobile device while keeping reasonable battery life, and let me worry about what I run on it. Leave software to the software guys.

Edit: Of course not just Samsung are doing this, htc, Sony and Motorolla are also guilty of trying to push their own stuff, it's just that these days everyone pretends like Samsung is the only manufacturer to make Androids.
 
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Keeper said:
negative. (1) that's debatable, and (2) you missed the point entirely.
it's not whether Samsung have a better product or not, it's about loyalty. (in the long run)

Apple have built up a nice loyal user-base that own all the accessories, the speakers, clock radios, etc, etc...
In the rest of the world people even have iTunes accounts (I know its hard to believe) loaded with albums and even other media like movies/series and so forth, not forgetting their ever increasing App/Game collection.

so, in the end, even if the S3 is technically a better phone, most apple users would still go for the latest iPhone.
That's loyalty...now if you think they are all stupid, dumb users, fair enough - but that's besides the point. (And, they might have good reasons keeping in the "Apple ecosystem", as listed above)


Now the question is, if Microsoft made a better phone than the next Samsung Galaxy.... would Samsung keep their user-base like Apple does, or would they move on to greener pastures?
Click to expand...

Partially agree... If someone has spent hundreds of rands at the iStore they aren't about to jump ship to another phone supplier (ie android/winmo) but If someone invests heavy in android apps on their samsung they can easily get an HTC as their next phone and keep their apps. Jumping from OS to OS is a massive waste of money because you'd have to pay for the app 3 times.
 
Bryn26 said:
Samsung has a great thing going right now. The three Samsung LED TV's in my house are awesome, my S3 is the perfect phone imo and it has a ton of services included. Plus the world sided with Samsung after they lost the big case with Apple.
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I am not sure that is a correct statement. People in the iOS space won't move away in a hurry.
iHaters wouldn't buy Apple full stop.

The rest will make a decision at buy time.

The one undeniable stat is that iPhone users are more likely to buy another iPhone than any other brand.
It's over 80%
The others all have churn

Not saying which is better but if people make a decision over big boys fighting in courts (they all do it) then the problem is closer to the individual
 
Ya so I have just had an opportunity or three to be impressed with Samsungs after sale service and have been totally let down.

First Galaxy S3 lasted me just over a week before screen started going green at the bottom - then, after ALOT of fuss, i got it back only to discover the battery decided its going to de charge at 7% per hour - while sleeping and with the WIFI and SYNC off. They swop it out.
New phone - same screen problems, excpet tint is now a deepish pink at the bottom and green in the middle. I am still waiting, 47 days later for a phone that works 100%.

Samsung could have impressed me and kept me loyal if they wanted (they clearly dont), they had so many opportunities - they are swopping this one out again but I have no confidence in the quality of either the product or the after sales service. Many people around me have witnessed this battle / opportunity and have lost faith too.

In any case - the phone is awesome, but I am considering switching brands to one that can deliver the cutting edge tech as well and great service & quality. Its crazy because the same thing happened with a laptop i bought from them` earlier this year. Two strikes and two lengthy battles, to get a product (I paid excellent money for) working, just doesnt seem worth it to me.
 
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Samsung has an Ecosystem that is not publisised a lot, but owners of samsung products will become aware that their newer devices are able to talk to each other. In the near future you will be able to control/query your washing machine, aircon, fridge etc from your phone.
 
Just trying to think of ways I would want to control my fridge from my phone. Long as it's cold I'm pretty much ok.
 
In order for Samsung to build the brand loyalty sought it actually needs to operate a platform and take more initiative than it does. Currently Samsung is a mimic in every field of somebody else - Sony in TVs, Apple on the current generation of smart phones, Nokia on the previous generation of smart phones. Their continued dependence on Microsoft platforms and the possibility that they will focus on WP instead of Android continues to haunt the possibility of Samsung as a dependable consumer loyalty brand. (I am not saying that Samsung has decided to boot Android or move into WP particularly aggressively, rather that the possibility not only exists but is known to exist within the company and its thinking; my money is on Samsung having a long-term strategy involving Tizen).
 
I know plenty of people that jumped ship from Apple. I myself had an iPhone when it was still the best phone, but then the S2 came along and I saw the Apple hype for what it is.

Not everyone drinks the cool-aid all of the time.
 
cerebus said:
Just trying to think of ways I would want to control my fridge from my phone. Long as it's cold I'm pretty much ok.
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Would be nice if the fringe reported drastic temprature changes, or allowed you to view the content of the fridge via camera, while in the supermarket. The point is owning a family of devices that interact could be a way of ensuring loyalty, as it would influence your brand of appliances. Lets not forget that samsung is much more then a just a cellphone producer.
 
Let them just produce some decent software first. A workable Android skin would be a good start.
 
vaughanmcshane said:
/snip
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Could I suggest handling sensitive electronic equipment sensitively? I had a SGSII since January and only replaced it with the SGSIII two months ago and I have yet to have any problems with it.

The survey about brand loyalty was done in the USA which is a huge market but globally speaking they account for about 7% of total sales if I'm not mistaken. At the moment I am loving my phone but I am open to other manufacturers as well as long as they offer me a better user experience as well as superior hardware and software. I would love to get my hands on one of the new Lumias and may switch over to the WP camp if they get it right.
 
HBee said:
How many Apple users would buy an S3 if iOS ran on it ?
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Probably a lot. Which rather proves the point of this article. Once you invest into a system it's hard to leave because you've built up a collection and something of an identity and you have to then go and relearn something else and buy all over again. iTunes has a massive amount of lock-in through that. Hey I dont want to change my Gmail address even though I hate it, because there's just too much buy-in there.
 
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