

Why Samsung is about to become the smartphone king - vetler
http://gigaom.com/mobile/why-samsung-is-about-to-become-the-smartphone-king/

======
doublerebel
Samsung is combining the true openness of Android with Apple-grade hardware,
and keeping it affordable. No one else can compete currently at this level.

 _The Software Advantage:_

Samsung sent a Galaxy S II and sources to the CyanogenMod developers. They are
learning very fast -- the home mod community made very significant
improvements to the original Galaxy S, and in direct contrast to Apple (and
Apple's hate-and-steal technique of 'innovation': denying feature importance
and then stealing said feature from jailbreak devs), Samsung is involving
those talented devs directly, at practically no cost to Samsung.

With this move they have cemented sales among several thousand android
devs/enthusiasts -- a small percentage of total sales, but more importantly
Samsung is gaining invaluable software improvements and beta testers at the
cost of a device or two. It also means they're avoiding the bad press that
many Android handset manufacturers (HTC, Motorola in particular) have gotten
in the past for staying locked-down and not releasing sources.

 _The Hardware Advantage_

There is a very important detail the article skims over:

    
    
      "We’ll bring the chips, thank you. Unlike Nokia, Samsung 
      designs its own smartphone processors, just as Apple began 
      to do with the A4 chip it brought to the iPhone 3GS."
    

Samsung manufactures that A4 iPhone core chip and the Galaxy's Cortex-A8 is
its brother. If anything, the A4 is a _stripped-down_ version of Samsung's S5
[1]. Samsung again gets to learn and implement tech improvements (this time
from Apple) at little or no cost. The Galaxy Tab shares tech with the iPad,
and the Series 9 (Macbook Air competitor) mentioned in another comment here
[2] is the next example.

Also not mentioned is the breadth of Samsung's display advantages. Now that
the screen is the most obvious selling (or dick-measuring) point for
smartphones, imho their AMOLED is the one to beat. They have such a long
advantage in this field [3] it is almost impossible for competitors to compete
on price for display tech.

They have solid worldwide distribution and can basically sell the same handset
in every market. My hope right now is this continues as long as possible! I'm
already lamenting the sale of Samsung's HDD division to Seagate.

[1] [http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4200451/Apple-
s-A4-d...](http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4200451/Apple-
s-A4-dissected-discussed--and-tantalizing?pageNumber=1)

[2] <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2656958>

[3] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_light-
emitting_diode#Sa...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_light-
emitting_diode#Samsung_applications)

~~~
Steko
I find this entire comment dubious.

"the true openness of Android"

Which part of the 'true openness' of Android killed Samsung's deal with
Skyhook? Was it the part when Android boss Andy Rubin said Samsung couldn't
ship if they used Skyhook?

edit: confused "stop ship" of Motorola with Samsung. Same idea for both deals
though. Don't get me wrong Android much more open then iOS but it's farm from
the promised land google fanboys claim it is.

"Apple-grade hardware, and keeping it affordable.."

In case you didn't notice, Apple's iPad has been somewhat competitive on price
and phones too. Apple and HTC are both more profitable unitwise then Samsung,
I don't know where you get off saying "no one else can compete at this level"

Your Software Advantage is "cemented sales among several thousand android
devs/enthusiasts." Is that seriously their software advantage? I think Apple,
Microsoft and other companies that actually sell software by the billions
might take issue with Samsung having an advantage here.

Your Hardware Advantage is that they make their own chips. Which are
apparently so awesome they're running NVIDIA chips in their flagship tablet.

Their screens are excellent but there is plenty of competition. Google "best
smartphone display" and a bunch of iphone 4 links pop up.

~~~
nl
_Which part of the 'true openness' of Android killed Samsung's deal with
Skyhook?_

No - that was great PR on behalf of Skyhook, but don't fall for it. Google had
no problem with Samsung (or Motorola) shipping Skyhook. The problem was that
_Skyhook_ demanded _exclusive_ access to the WiFi access point data (ie, if
they shipped Skyhook they couldn't let Google get the same data).

 _Among those other issues was the provision limiting data collection to
Skyhook. Motorola asked Skyhook to waive that restriction, so as to enable
Motorola to comply with its obligations to Google with respect to GMS. Skyhook
refused to do so, proposing instead that Motorola disable the data collection
functions of GMS on its devices, which Skyhook contended would not affect
performance of other functions of GMS. Motorola responded that it could not
proceed in that manner without violating its obligations to Google and its
carriers, and that it was therefore absolved of its obligations under the
Skyhook contract._ [1]

To quote Wikipedia:

 _In December 2010 a judge denied Skyhook's motion for preliminary injunction,
saying that Google had not closed off the possibility of accepting a revised
version of Skyhook's XPS service, and that Motorola had terminated their
contract with Skyhook because Skyhook wanted to disable Google's location data
collection functions on Motorola's devices, which would have violated
Motorola's obligations to Google and its carriers._ [2]

[1]
[http://www.socialaw.com/slip.htm?cid=20416&sid=121](http://www.socialaw.com/slip.htm?cid=20416&sid=121)

[2]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(operating_system)#Lice...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_\(operating_system\)#Licensing)

~~~
Steko
"Google had no problem with Samsung (or Motorola) shipping Skyhook."

You can put as many footnotes as you like, no one will take you seriously if
you make claims like this.

~~~
nl
_no one will take you seriously if you make claims like this_

Why?

Google has a huge problem with _missing out_ on the location data (ie, Skyhook
having an _exclusive_ deal).

But Google very plainly _doesn't_ have a problem with other people getting
that data as well. There are numerous apps in the Android Market that do
similar things, and many manufactures ship apps that dial home with location
data (eg, anything that includes ads).

~~~
Steko
"Why?"

Because of the numerous direct quotes from internal Google emails talking
about what a disaster it would be and how they quickly sabotaged the skyhook
deals with their compatibility club. It's impossible even on a cursory read of
what happened to takeaway that Google didn't have a problem with handset
makers shipping Skyhook.

~~~
nl
Read those emails again.

They talk about what a disaster it would be for Google to miss out on the
data, _not_ that it would be bad for Skyhook to get the data.

If you have "numerous direct quotes" then please provide them. In their
absence I'd direct you to the footnotes I provided earlier.

(Also, I'd note that the quote _compatibility club_ was from an email
referring to shipping LogMeIn, _not_ Skyhook, although Skyhook included in
their case documents)

~~~
Steko
Quotes aren't hard to find.

"This feels like a disaster :("

"I'll setup sometime this week so we can figure out a good battle plan"

"That would be awful for Google"

"I cannot stress how important Google’s Wi-Fi location database is to our
Android and mobile product strategy"

"It's sad to see"

~~~
nl
All those support exactly what I'm saying: Google wanted to make sure their
service was included!

None support your claim that Google tried to stop Skyhook being shipped as
well.

~~~
Steko
Given:

(1) Skyhook wanted it's service to ship.

(2) Samsung wanted Skyhook's service to ship.

(3) Motorola wanted Skyhook's service to ship.

According to you:

(4) Google didn't care

Observe:

(5) Skyhook's service did NOT ship.

It's pretty clear that (4) is the non sequitur. What mystical forces do you
suggest stopped this from shipping if not Google?

~~~
nl
You are misunderstanding the situation. Google cared deeply about their
service being missing from the phones. The exclusivity clause in Skyhook's
contract was what was stopping that.

Skyhook didn't ship because their contract with Motorola (and I assume
Samsung) required exclusivity. Google cared deeply about that, and Motorola
notified Skyhook that their contract was invalid because of that exclusivity
clause.

Skyhook didn't ship because they no longer had a contract. If they had found a
way to get a new contract then they could have shipped it. Unfortunately for
Skyhook, Google managed to prove that their service gave just as good results
as Skyhook, and Skyhook couldn't show any additional value so manufactures
were no longer interested.

(It's worth noting that apparently the manufactures were _paying_ for Skyhook,
but didn't have to pay for Google's service.)

------
christoph
I must say, i'm fully converted from the iPhone club to my Galaxy S2. I can't
imagine at the moment what else I could possibly want from a handset, other
than slightly better battery life.

I've yet to really find anything I can't do with the handset. It's a light,
fast, open, beautiful piece of hardware. I'm already seeing a lot of other
people converting over after they see the difference that openness can bring.
Want to play a random video file? Just drop it onto the phone and hit play.

~~~
wccrawford
While I love my Galaxy S, I wish things wouldn't change quite so fast. It
seems like every time I get a gadget, the new version comes out 3 months later
and tempts me to spend more money.

Thankfully, my Galaxy S is still doing everything I want, so it's not -too-
tempting.

~~~
suking
I have a Galaxy S and find Android to be very buggy and slow. This is my first
touch screen phone so maybe I'm just not used to how they are, but my old
blackberry rarely had these issues.

~~~
clark-kent
Are you running Android 2.1? You need at least 2.2 to really enjoy Android.

------
iaskwhy
Samsung has been learning a lot from Apple, not only on their smartphones but
also on their laptops (with the release of the Macbook Air sort of clone,
Samsung Series 9) and on their tablets (even though they have different sizes,
they are all under the same name, Galaxy Tab). They are now focusing on having
less choices but better ones. I really like this new approach.

~~~
chopsueyar
I just checked out this Samsung Series 9 ($1618):

[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004NF3Z82/ref=as_li_ss_tl?...](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004NF3Z82/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=littdidd-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399373&creativeASIN=B004NF3Z82)

This one has 13.3" LED display, 128GB SSD, sandy-bridge dual core 1.4 GHz i5,
4GB ram, WiMax 4G support, and a USB 3.0 port.

It is 2.88 lbs and .62 inches thick.

The MacBook Air 13" model has a 1.86Ghz processor, but a Core 2 Duo, and with
4GB ram and a 128GB SSD, it is $1399.

[http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_mac/family/macboo...](http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_mac/family/macbook_air?mco=MTM3NjY1OTU)

It weighs more at 2.9lbs and is .68 inches thick at the hinge area. The front
is only .11 inches thick.

Minus the ability to develop for iOS, the $200 difference seems pretty fair.

~~~
keeperofdakeys
I bought one of these in Australia, ridiculously overpriced ($2500), but I got
it on sale for close to US RRP. although I'm mostly happy with it, I think I
would have waited or bought something else if I had the chance. It has some
strange quirks, like the system not registering holding down the power button
during a kernel panic. The solution seems to be putting a paper clip in a
pinhole on the bottom while it is unplugged (otherwise it stays on). Then it
will turn off and refuse to boot until you plug it back into the power. In all
other circumstances holding down the power button works perfectly. The fact
that they put the pinhole there seems to infer it was intentional or that they
knew about it long before the design work was finished.

There has also been a lot of talk about how the broadcom wireless has bad
performance, both in linux and windows. It is a half-size mini pcie card, and
I have yet to find a good one to replace it.

~~~
rburhum
Am I the only one tat disagrees with this? I really wanted to like the Galaxy
Tab that I got from Google I/O and at first glance it was awesome, but after
actually _using_ it during a complete day I noticed several, extremely
annoying software-related problems; The gmail app stopped accepting scrolling
events, I had to reboot the tablet several times and the OpenGL drivers were,
let me say this, pure crap. As far as the Samsung Series 9, a pure spec to
spec comparisson without seeing the system from a holistic point of view
(software + hardware) is a must in this consumer market. We are not in 1997
anymore, having to put a paperclip through a pinhole to make the power
management work should be considered a FAIL for the entire system, sorry.

~~~
ben1040
Have you upgraded the tablet to 3.1 yet? The upgrade became available for I/O
tablets as of last Friday. I had the same issues you talk about with mine,
specifically the Gmail scrolling issues and some really infuriating rendering
& touch event bugs in the browser.

But that seems to be an issue with whatever cobbled together version of
Android 3.0 that was on the pre-release devices. The difference under 3.1 is
like night and day in terms of stability. I find the device extremely usable
now and I enjoy it more than I do my iPad.

~~~
rburhum
It has been sitting on my shelve after two weeks of honestly trying to like
it. I will upgrade it to 3.1 and see if it gets better...

------
GregBuchholz
Here's my Samsung story, some of the details might not be 100% accurate, on
account of how long ago it happened. One summer, I was working at a computer
repair shop as a technician. I was in college, so this was about 1995. A
customer brought a Samsung laptop in, and it was suffering symptoms of bad
CMOS battery (RTC was resetting or somesuch). Anyway, I was having trouble
trying to figure out how to locate the battery to order a replacement. As a
last resort I decided to call the support hot-line printed on the bottom of
the laptop. I was dreading this step, because I had become very accustomed to
having to wait upwards of an hour whenever I called a tech support number. I
was absolutely blown away when the phone range like twice, and a guy answered
the phone (i.e. no 10 level deep phone tree; no please-press-1-for-sales...).
Anyway, I start to tell my story, hoping that this receptionist will point me
to someone who knows something, instead of just shunting me off onto hold,
waiting for me to give up and hang up. We'll lo and behold, this wasn't a
receptionist, it was a technician, who appeared to know something. I gave him
the model number of the laptop, and he knew what to do, without even having to
look anything up in the computer. He directed me to the place where I had to
stick a paper clip to pop off the keyboard, and I was done within 60 seconds,
They were shipping me a replacement battery next day. That has been the best
example of customer service that I have ever experienced. I remember it 16
years later, and I have been a happy Samsung owner with many different
appliances since. And I've never had to call tech-support for any of the
hardware I've owned over the years.

------
batiudrami
I work for a telco, and have never seen interest in a prerealease phone like
that for the Galaxy S 2, other than for the iPhone obviously. They made an
excellent name with the original Galaxy S, and are following it up strongly.

------
forgottenpaswrd
Yesterday my mother wanted to buy a LED TV, so I looked for the reviews at the
consumers organization magazine and found the best ones in all categories to
be Samsung.

They also bought liquavista and have very good OLED screens for the future 5
years.

Given that Nokia is years away from launching a phone and they have to start
over from scratch, it is going to be hard from them to get market share.

~~~
recoiledsnake
>Given that Nokia is years away from launching a phone and they have to start
over from scratch, it is going to be hard from them to get market share.

Aren't they releasing a new Windows Phone this year?

~~~
ttalola
Yes, but in the last years the shipping of many Nokia smartphones has been
delayed by months. So it's questionable whether Windows Phones will be
available by the end of this year.

------
mahmud
My Galaxy Tab replaced my laptop at home. It's a ten inch ipad killer, open as
your mother's arms, and makes phone calls. It's both wifi AND 3G. Costs
sub-$300 in Australia. Fits snuggly in my jacket pocket and plays flash (when
i absolutely need it)

~~~
Steko
"ten inch ipad killer"

Too bad it's competing against the iPad 2, which destroys it in btty,
benchmarks, media and app ecosystem.

"Costs sub-$300"

With a 1 year contract at $39 a month. $729 off contract.

------
jjm
Well, competition is always very good.

There are so many metrics to measure with concerning product standing (you've
got raw volume measurement, usability, trend factor, and on and on). To me
both Apple and Samsung have probably honed in on the few metrics that matter
(to consumers) which surprise, give both companies a better bottom line! Oh
yeah, and consumers benefit too by having good gear that works.

My question is when will it become the data plans which start to limit this
'hand-held device revolution' and when will we do something about it?

------
SwellJoe
So, Samsung "Bada" devices have outsold Windows Phone 7 devices. I'd never
even _heard of_ Bada before reading this article. Windows Phone 7 is even
worse off than I'd realized (and I already thought it was a market failure).

~~~
te_chris
You would think so, but I guess MS are trying to play a long game. I was
talking to some friends who work in corp./enterprise IT the other day; they
were saying that the sysadmins and CIO's that they talk to are all very
excited to be able to roll out WP7 within companies that are already using MS
infrastructure as an iPhone/BB replacement.

MS may be late to the consumer party, but they could still take the board room
- or if the execs won't give up their iPhones, the rest of the company.

~~~
boyter
I think this is what everyone is forgetting. MS can attack the cooperate
market. Its not sexy but there is a truckload of cash there.

I always thought it would be a good move for Oracle to buy RIM. They could
then offer an end to end solution for businesses, from hardware (sun), OS
(solaris), database (oracle), language (java), all the middle ware software
through to the phone. I could see a lot of big companies jumping on that
platform in a heartbeat.

~~~
SwellJoe
I haven't forgotten it. I've actually mentioned it several times in HN threads
on the subject, suggesting that the only sane way forward for Microsoft in the
mobile market is to hit the enterprise market extremely hard and take the
place of Blackberry (which has only just recently lost the crown in the
business world).

Apple has never known how to provide for the enterprise effectively. Hell, it
was several months before iPhones could be _locked_ , for crying out loud,
which is one of the big reasons adoption was extremely slow in the
enterprise...at least at the companies I know who allowed employees to choose
their own phone, but disallowed iPhone (Google among them). And, Google and
the Android makers haven't really tried to tackle the enterprise market in any
notable way, though the openness of the platform allows bigger businesses to
do what they need to do, regardless of vendor support...which is pretty
powerful, too.

If IT guys are choosing, I'd be surprised if they don't choose Open Source
stuff more often than something from MS. But, I have biases from my own days
as an IT guy.

~~~
boyter
Alas IT guys rarely get to make the choice in any large organization.

To be honest if I was in that situation, I would want an end to end solution
too. Im not aware of any end to end corporate solution for android phones out
there actually. Perhaps that's a business opportunity for someone with enough
capitol to start it.

------
flocial
I wouldn't dismiss them as copycats since Samsung has good technology. They're
also closer to the manufacturing side than Apple. However, they're also spread
across all kinds of products. They'll eventually fall into the same trap as
Japan. Korean demographics is in a good place right now too, right before low
fertility rears its ugly head. They are trying to avoid Japanese mistakes but
it's hard to outclass your inspiration or really invent something
revolutionary.

This is what makes smartphone exciting, the race to advance technology for
high stakes.

------
davidmathers
Samsung also makes cars: [http://www.autoblog.com/2011/06/14/renault-samsung-
previews-...](http://www.autoblog.com/2011/06/14/renault-samsung-previews-new-
sm7-w-video/)

------
regularfry
I got turned off Samsung a few years ago because of one of their low-end
phones: felt cheap, was slow, and the UI sucked. The GS2 has me rethinking
that in ways I didn't think it could.

------
neonscribe
I want to know more about the "smartphone" market in 1996. If I recall
correctly, the smartest thing a phone had in 1996 was a contact list. Perhaps
they mean mobile telephones?

~~~
bstx
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_9000_Communicator>

------
spaghetti
What's the development experience like on the Samsung phones? I've been doing
iOS since 2008 but have been considering getting into Android for a few
months. The only thing that deters me is the few rants I've come across saying
how much better the iOS development experience is.

------
krschultz
<rant> I'd love to help them with that, if only they could ship a Verizon
version of the Galaxy S 2 sometime soon </rant>

------
sliverstorm
_Samsung designs its own smartphone processors_

Sure, the same way that an iPhone app developer designs his own iPhones.

