Pour Yourself Some Scotch, Samsung. I Wanna Talk.
Samsung, its been a while since we’ve last caught up. At last glance I was getting ready to write up a glaring critique of your mishandling of you mobile division. And I was about three clicks away from blasting you on the design of your new flagship smartphones (the Galaxy S6(Edge)). But at this point I’ve been following you long enough (since my senior year of high-school in 2009/2010) to know that your workings as a company are way more complex than a reactionist post can properly frame. So I’ve waited.
As the reviews of your Galaxy S6, and its more premium brother the Galaxy S6 Edge, have been published I must say that for the first time in years you’ve caught me off-guard. With a well received smartphone that is a direct manifestation of all the lessons learned after years of becoming complacent as the market leader. This is an age in which you’ve managed to decimate your competition globally and even managing to threaten Googles hold on the very idea of Android. Yet beyond the behemoth that you’ve built lies trouble as your competition retools and rebuilds into something that, for the first time in four years, threatens your hegemony. The Galaxy S6 and the Edge stand as your product that needs to shore up and expand upon your ideas that you are trying to sell to the consumer.
The Galaxy S6 (Edge) feel like the phone(s) we should’ve seen last year with a design that does wonders to correct the band-aid look that came to be a running joke in some circles. Replacing the stopgap that was known as the Galaxy S5.
Causing me to lose myself in thought wondering what the outcome of last year would’ve been had we seen this (Galaxy S6) labeled “Galaxy S5”. Because in all honesty fiscal 2014 wasn’t kind. Your smartphone division faced unparalleled competition amongst shifting trends that caused a near collapse in your most important markets. Causing a chain reaction within the free-fall that led to you playing defensive for the first time since WebOS was still a thing. Right now, off the top of my head, there are three things that stood out to me from the previous year that led you to this point.
- Apple released two larger smartphones: The iPhone 6 (Plus) were Apple responding to the demands of the market. After years of claiming that the consumer space didn’t need or want larger phones they finally caved. Cashing out in the process with unseen sales and preorders. As it stands that happened to be the area where you were strongest with your battles early on, Samsung, by listening to the desires of the smartphone adopters with your Note line. Taking the risks to think beyond the proven sizes and redefine what was possible with proper research. Proving first and foremost that big screens, on phone, were/are awesome for doing mobile things. But at the same time a lot of people wanted a larger phone from Apple. Not you. Which means that a lot of consumers held out. And this came at a point of saturation/maturation within the Western markets. Leading to……
- The end of the Smartphone boom: Is this a real thing? I think so. Because early on in the smartphone wars everyone aside from Apple spent the better half of two years flooding the markets with phones that had no grand vision aside from a stopgap for something better that ended up being released six months after the last best thing was released. With many Americans being tied to two-year contracts and Europe in a recession (but hey, at least they don’t have two-year contracts) the only thing sustaining those levels of growth were the affordable costs provided by a highly competitive market space. And it came to an end in 2014 as consumers, after two years of confusion and impulse, realized what they needed in a smartphone: stability, reliability, quality and support. After being burned by the boom many simply looked to higher quality products like Apple (who is still supporting the iPhone 4s) and your Galaxy line that gave the promise of a device above the petty smartphone squabbles. This shift left many smartphone companies teetering on the verge of bankruptcy, being sold for scraps or getting by on “minimal” profit because after two years of racing to the bottom they couldn’t afford to rise to the top. Forcing those that survived the bloodshed to look beyond the horizons of The West to new markets that happened to be heating up under their noses.
- The rise of Xiaomi: When I say Xiaomi is a threat, I really shouldn’t say a threat to your global ambitions (due to various laws imposed by Governments), but rather the more lethal kind. A competitor that’s more localized and nimble tapping into an untapped market that it “gets”. Through simply knowing the “ins” and “outs” of the region and able to expand itself alongside its brand on a more nationalistic front. Much like cars to Americans in the 20th century, for many in the East the development of local smartphone manufacturers is becoming a source of pride. Giving the consumers in the region(s) an investment in their identity as something they can showcase with enthusiasm against the backdrop of foreign goods. It’s pretty awesome to see from a development standpoint but a problem when that market, in this case China, happens to be one of the largest growing economies in the world. Enriching the lives of hundreds of millions with money that can be used to purchase goods. It’s what has made Xiaomi such a threat to the established hegemony despite having almost no presence outside China.
While there are probably more factors involved I can’t help but feel, that knowing your history, those are the big three that have shaped your recent actions to finally address all your shortcomings to your premium smartphone lineup. Because you’ve done wonders in course correction with the Galaxy S6 that finally make you a player in the premium marketplace. And, as much of a downer as this may sound, there is something about the refinement of your Galaxy line that makes it stand out even less than it has in previous generations.
Here.
Below are four flagship smartphones.
And, what the hell? I’ll include this fella.
Four flagship phones. All with nearly the same…..
- Shape
- Screen size
- Pixel density
- Bezel width
- Functionality
Never mind that aside from the iPhone all run Android in some variant. What I’m trying to get at is that in 2015 the smartphone marketplace looks nearly the same with such small tweaks to the underlying phones that at this point in time you’d just be picking hairs to make a truly compelling case between any four of the smartphones because all will do what you need.
It’s the reality of the current market that you’re walking into Samsung. As much as I’m going to sound like a hypocrite I can’t help but wish that your design of the Galaxy S6 had done a little more unconventional instead of caving to the conventional demands that have erroded any sense of playful exploration of what a smartphone should be. You held out for ages on removable memory, swappable batteries and I’m sure other less important things; but those parts came to gave you an identity as the industry was gentrifying.
And when I’m walking through a store, as I often do when I need something to take my mind off of life, I see a wave of screens flickering like the dim lights in a hallway. Nearly indistinguishable as they all form a universal appeal.
Why can’t yours standout?
