Samsung doomsayers on social media have criticized the Korean tech giant and mobile head TM Roh for the so-called stagnant flagship smartphone design in recent years. If you were to listen to these experts, you would've thought Samsung's end was near.
However, two years have passed since Samsung changed its pace and the end is nowhere in sight. In fact, in 2024, we're starting to really see the benefits of Samsung's new clever strategy.
Instead of imitating innovation by employing a new camera hump design every year, Samsung drastically switched gears a few years ago and decided it was time to aim for the top instead of racing for the bottom. It settled on a design language, kept refining (rather than changing) it every year, and borrowed a few good pages from Apple's playbook.
The goal? Aim to win market share fighting Apple instead of Xiaomi, Oppo, OnePlus, Huawei, and others.
And the result? Samsung phones are now better optimized than ever. They're not perfect, as nothing really is, but the marriage between Galaxy hardware, design, and software has never been this fruitful.
Plus, it's all held together by the ‘glue' that is incredible firmware support for flagships. Galaxy flagships are guaranteed seven OS upgrades, and Samsung's incremental repairability and sustainability improvements are also playing a role in its success.
When Samsung stopped racing alongside Chinese smartphone OEMs two years ago and decided to go after Apple, it appears to have been very strategic about it. Samsung studied its rival intensely, borrowed some of its philosophies, ignored others, and carved its own path through ideas such as Galaxy AI. It barely made any mistakes, and all seems to be moving in the right direction.
Samsung will help innovate future iPhones
According to the latest reports (via MacWorld), iPhone sales dropped from $51.3 billion in Q1 2023 to $46 billion in Q1 2024. Meanwhile, Samsung managed to improve its revenue and profit thanks to the Galaxy S24 series, which seems to be a success, partly because of Galaxy AI.
After a couple of years of ignoring Android rivals while trying to compete directly with Apple, Samsung's Galaxy phones may have now turned the tables and become an inspiration for the iPhone.
Apple's flagship may have become too stale, and the time could soon come when Apple will feel more threatened than ever by Samsung's Galaxy flagships. Future iPhones are rumored to boast functions similar to Galaxy AI, but Samsung is leading the charge and continues to carve this new path for the mobile market.
This time around, Apple might have to follow Samsung and try to compete by the rules that Galaxy AI is setting or come up with something even more innovative.
All in all, while a few social media doomsayers might say that the Android market has become stale and that Samsung has lost its luster, I think this new game Samsung has been playing against Apple for the past two years is far more interesting.
Better yet, now might be the turning point when the real neck-and-neck race between these two tech giants begins. Samsung is pushing Apple outside its comfort zone and may force it to innovate the iPhone again.
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