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Samsung quietly continues to conquer the world

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Re: Samsung quietly continues to conquer the world

#11

Post by tintin »

jontsai wrote: post #3

Don't know if it's really conquering, but here's a trend that I've seen: In the past, American products were regarded as the best and Made in USA meant quality. Next were Japanese products and consumer electronics. Starting 5-10 years ago, I began to see the well-regarded brands like Sony and Toshiba become more of a boutique brand (overpriced compared to what it offered) as they focused more on style than functional…

It's strange that we see Asian brands as copy-cats all the time. Copy-cats just copy but a lot of upcoming Asian brand are improving. I think this is why Steve Jobs was inspired by Sony: making improvements.

But I have to admit there are also a lot of useless copy-cat products on the market (not only in Asia). Those 'brands' will not survive because they won't offer an improvement.

Re: Samsung quietly continues to conquer the world

#12

Post by justincormack »

SwellJoe wrote: post #6
jontsai wrote: post #3

Don't know if it's really conquering, but here's a trend that I've seen: In the past, American products were regarded as the best and Made in USA meant quality. Next were Japanese products and consumer electronics. Starting 5-10 years ago, I began to see the well-regarded brands like Sony and Toshiba become more of a boutique brand (overpriced compared to what it offered) as they focused more on style than functional…

I don't know if there will "always" be up-and-coming competitors. There are only so many third world countries left to come up and "always" is a very long time. Hopefully, there are many models for "coming up", since making cooler gadgets probably won't work for everyone. Of course, one could make the argument that current first world countries will decline to the point where they can begin to compete on price just a…

Always is a long time, but who knows, China was the richest country in the world until around 1810. We still have 20 years until China really starts getting an ageing population. Africa has a long way to go still, so there is plenty of coming up. Default and devaluation help for price competition too.

In a world of equal wages, there are still going to be local specialisms though. Not sure that it is fair to characterise that the richer countries make cooler stuff. Apple and Dell both make their products in China. Japan makes cool stuff that is only popular locally. Cultures have different attitudes to cool. There will still be diversity.

Re: Samsung quietly continues to conquer the world

#13

Post by chalst »

jakarta wrote: post #8
_delirium wrote: post #7

Samsung is a pretty strange company overall, perhaps more comparable to one of the sprawling late-19th-century industrial conglomerates than anything in the current U.S. business landscape. It not only has a huge array of businesses it officially owns (from computers to shipbuilding), but is part of an unofficial, even larger conglomerate, the "Samsung family group", consisting of the other companies the family contr…

Those are referred to as Chaebols in Korea, in Japan they're called Keiretsu (pre WWI these were Zaibatsu). I think the family ownership involved in the Chaebols somewhat helps them remain innovative. You have a centralized force that can guide the ship during particularly important junctures in history.

Family ownership can give a strong, long-term focus, compared to the usual public company.

Re: Samsung quietly continues to conquer the world

#14

Post by cjboco »

I'm not 100% sure, but I recall a story about a division of Samsung that made watches, being banned from selling them in Germany or somewhere like that. They copied/cloned something that Rolex did (Maybe the quartz crystal or something like that). Does anyone know the actual details about this story?

Re: Samsung quietly continues to conquer the world

#15

Post by Hyena »

jontsai wrote: post #10
SwellJoe wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know if there will "always" be up-and-coming competitors. There are only so many third world countries left to come up and "always" is a very long time. Hopefully, there are many models for "coming up", since making cooler gadgets probably won't work for everyone. Of course, one could make the argument that current first world countries will decline to the point where they can begin to compete on price just a…

I know I'm venturing a bit off topic, but... From what I've seen, 5 years is about the amount of time for major changes in trends to take place. A lot of companies can rise and fall in 5 years, which is the same amount of time it takes for a startup to come out of nowhere and then dominate the scene. We haven't really seen China and India explode yet. I would even dare to say that a lot of people on HN haven't taken…

"and when those companies make boatloads of cash in their own country, guess where they will start pushing out to?"

Nowhere. They're localized copies of services existing elsewhere. Their strength tends to be either localization or central government block on American competitors.

Re: Samsung quietly continues to conquer the world

#16

Post by sorbus »

6ren wrote: post #4

That solar netbook is $USD372.94 (Sh35,000). 14 hour battery (1 hour noon sun gives 0.5 hour worth of battery life), 1.3kg, 1GB RAM, 250GB HDD, 1.3 GHz atom (single or dual), 10' screen. http://global.samsungtomorrow.com/?p=4768 Presumably, an ARM-based solar netbook would have even longer battery life. But the (netbook) apps aren't there yet, and aren't coming, so they stay with x86 and Windows. btw: the kindle, wit…

> btw: the kindle, with passive E-ink, has 2 months battery (i.e. over x100 longer)

And my TI-84 has had the same batteries for at least two years (it's getting to the point that I'm starting to wonder when they're going to run out, since I know that it will be the worst possible time). It doesn't matter, it's an irrelevant comparison, unless you're saying that something more similar to the kindle would be better for developing regions where solar power is a major selling point (which is a really good thing to point out - why does a solar powered netbook need a 250GB HDD? Why not a small SSD, if that would save power?).

Re: Samsung quietly continues to conquer the world

#17

Post by jontsai »

Hyena wrote: post #15
jontsai wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know I'm venturing a bit off topic, but... From what I've seen, 5 years is about the amount of time for major changes in trends to take place. A lot of companies can rise and fall in 5 years, which is the same amount of time it takes for a startup to come out of nowhere and then dominate the scene. We haven't really seen China and India explode yet. I would even dare to say that a lot of people on HN haven't taken…

"and when those companies make boatloads of cash in their own country, guess where they will start pushing out to?" Nowhere. They're localized copies of services existing elsewhere. Their strength tends to be either localization or central government block on American competitors.

Sorry, in my previous comment I was talking about both the on-the-ground engineers and also the people running the companies at the top (e.g. Jack Ma). They will also have a lot of money to buy whoever and whatever they want.

Re: Samsung quietly continues to conquer the world

#18

Post by Hyena »

jontsai wrote: post #17
Hyena wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"and when those companies make boatloads of cash in their own country, guess where they will start pushing out to?" Nowhere. They're localized copies of services existing elsewhere. Their strength tends to be either localization or central government block on American competitors.

Sorry, in my previous comment I was talking about both the on-the-ground engineers and also the people running the companies at the top (e.g. Jack Ma). They will also have a lot of money to buy whoever and whatever they want.

Can you name an international software acquisition which has gone well?

Re: Samsung quietly continues to conquer the world

#19

Post by rhygar »

rhygar wrote: post #5
jontsai wrote: post #3

Don't know if it's really conquering, but here's a trend that I've seen: In the past, American products were regarded as the best and Made in USA meant quality. Next were Japanese products and consumer electronics. Starting 5-10 years ago, I began to see the well-regarded brands like Sony and Toshiba become more of a boutique brand (overpriced compared to what it offered) as they focused more on style than functional…

Samsung is really good at producing knockoffs: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2392106,00.asp After all, they manufacture tons of components that go into these devices. It's not hard to take a part that someone else designed and stamp your own brand on it.

Hmm, seems like the Apple haters don't like to hear the truth.

Re: Samsung quietly continues to conquer the world

#20

Post by rhygar »

Kylekramer wrote: post #9
rhygar wrote: post #2

The article opens: "Is there anything Samsung doesn’t do?" I say: "Is there anything Samsung doesn't clone?" This is shameless: http://9to5mac.com/2011/07/18/family-ties-earn-this-smart-co...

A: Not a Samsung product. B: Nothing is new under the sun: http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/03/apple-ipad-2-smart-cover-...

A. "Not a Samsung product": in a technical sense yes but in a practical sense no. It was made by the CEO's cousin and had Samsung's stamp of approval. Samsung only yanked approval after it was pointed out how blatant of a copy it was.

B. The Samsung clone and the Apple original both have "Smart" in the name, both have ridged covers, and both come in pastel colors. The advertising is even the same - each color case is fanned out in the picture. The evidence is blatantly clear here that Samsung is trying to copy Apple's design.

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