Samsung closes 'image' gap with Apple

Apple co-founder says Samsung 'big competitor'

Steve Wozniak Apple’s co-founder

By Kim Yoo-chul

Samsung Electronics is successfully closing the image gap with Apple thanks to competitive pricing and stabling distribution channels.

Some impressive features and sleek smartphone designs on have also made the Korean firm’s mobile devices popular choices.

This led Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak to praise Samsung and criticize Apple for being “nothing new” during a recent interview with German magazine Wirtschaftswoche.

Wozniak said he feels Apple is “somewhat behind with features in the smartphone business.’’ Rather, he praised Samsung by saying it “is a big competitor because they are currently making great products.”

Hyundai Securities analyst Bae Sung-young said, “This is very rare for the co-founder to criticize Apple and praise the Korean company. Apple is urged to change its business strategies to prevent it from falling further.”

Samsung overtook Apple as the world’s top smartphone maker in the third quarter of 2011 has continued to widen its lead.

Market analysts and even Samsung officials have no doubt that the Suwon-based outfit will further widen its current lead over its U.S. rival this year as Samsung plans to roll out more Galaxy devices as well as budget models.

“Thanks to its deep market penetration, Samsung is boosting its brand image. Apple is pressurized to change its decades-long management strategy of one year one product due to its Korean competitor’s rapid external growth,’’ said an official from Marketing Insight, a leading local brand consultancy.

Samsung has also defended allegations that its Galaxy devices copied the look and feel of Apple’s iPhones and U.S. Federal Judge Lucy Koh rejected a previous verdict in California, ruling that Samsung didn’t willfully infringe on Apple patents.

Samsung now leads in consumer loyalty in most consumer electronics categories it competes in, including Apple’s former territory of laptops and smartphones, according to the Brand Keys’ 2013 Consumer Loyalty Engagement Index.

“This is the first year that Samsung beat out Apple in smartphones,” Brand Keys President Robert Passikoff said. “When Apple was number one, everyone said, ‘Well sure, it’s Apple.’ But the fact is that Samsung always had a larger share of the marketplace.”

More consumers are shifting to Samsung. Seoul office worker Park Yeon-ji was an Apple follower, but bought her first Samsung device, the Galaxy Note II, in December.

The 29-year-designer is satisfied with her choice is sure she won’t be switching back.

“I thought Apple devices were revolutionary. However, I now think Samsung products have evolved effectively. I don’t care much about surface design. Samsung offers great pricing, while its products are highly-tech in terms of hardware,” she said.