Sunday, 17 June 2012
Samsung Seeks Advantage Over Apple With Galaxy S III
Samsung Telecommunications America (STA) will launch its largest marketing campaign ever in the U.S. with the rollout of the flagship Samsung Galaxy S III 4G Android smartphone, which is positioned as “a personal assistant” that detects a user’s face, voice and motions to execute commands.
In a departure from past practice, the six carriers planning to offer the flagship Galaxy phone will promote it as the Galaxy S III instead of giving it different model names. The decision will enable Samsung to focus its marketing efforts behind a single phone to give it greater visibility in its market-share war with Apple’s iPhone.
Todd Pendleton, STA’s chief marketing officer, called it “an industry first” for multiple major carriers to “align behind the launch of a single device virtually simultaneously.” Samsung “will execute our biggest marketing campaign ever” to support the launch, he added.
For Samsung, there are several reasons for multiple carriers to launch the S III under the same name, said Strategy Analytics analyst Neil Mawston. “First, Samsung wants to standardize its sub-branding to simplify a diverse portfolio and minimize its marketing costs. Second, mobile operators are implicitly acknowledging that Galaxy S III has emerged as a powerful sub-brand that is now worthy of its own single name, like Apple’s iPhone.”
On top of that, he said, “Operators want or need a counterbalance to the powerful Apple iPhone, and Samsung’s Galaxy S III can be leveraged as an influential cross-carrier model for a potential counterweight or bargaining tool.”
Perhaps with that potential competition in mind, Apple wants to block sales of the device in the U.S., having asked a federal court in San Jose, Calif., to add the S III to its request to block multiple Samsung-made Android products because of alleged patent infringement.
Apple failed, however, to get a temporary injunction to prevent a June 21 launch by two carriers while the case proceeds. The judge declined to schedule a hearing on the injunction request because she said it would overload her calendar at a time when she will be overseeing a trial on Apple’s lawsuit against other Samsung Android devices, Reuters reported.
The court’s decision, however, didn’t address the merits of Apple’s arguments that the S III infringes on one its patents.
The smartphone is scheduled to be available this summer through five carriers followed by regional carrier C-Spire in September. Verizon Wireless, Sprint, U.S. Cellular and AT&T announced prices of $199 for the 16GB version. Sprint, Verizon and U.S. Cellular will also carry the 32GB version at $249, but AT&T won’t. Instead, AT&T will offer a 16GB MicroSD card with the 16GB phone to bring memory capacity to 32GB at a combined price of $238.
The other carrier planning to offer the phone is T-Mobile.
The AT&T, C-Spire, Sprint, Verizon and U.S. Cellular models will feature 4G LTE, and the TMobile model will feature 4G HSPA+42 technology. The phone will come in white and blue.
The carriers announced these details about their launches at press time:
AT&T: The carrier will sell the 16GB version of the Android 4.0 phone at $199 in blue and white. A red version will be available exclusively on the AT&T network later in the summer.
The phone became available for pre-order on June 6 at AT&T-owned stores and AT&T’s website, with availability following within weeks.
AT&T’s model incorporates 4G LTE and HSPA+ 21 wireless- data technologies.
C-Spire: The carrier will sell a 4G LTE version of the device beginning in September in 20 Mississippi markets. Pricing wasn’t revealed, nor whether the company would offer both versions.
Sprint: On June 21, the carrier will offer the $199 16GB version and the $249 32GB version. The 32GB version will be available through Sprint’s web store, and the 16GB version will be available through Sprint’s stores, direct-tobusiness channel and telesales. Sprint will be the only carrier offering the Galaxy S III with an unlimited-data plan with no overcharges or speed throttling, and it will be the only carrier to offer the phone with Google Wallet mobile payment technology, which is based on Near Field Communication (NFC), to make purchases at more than 100,000 participating retailers.
T-Mobile: Both versions of the phone will be available starting June 21 in T-Mobile retail stores and select retailers nationwide and online at T-Mobile.com. The carrier’s T-Mobile customers will also have access Wi-Fi Calling service. Pricing wasn’t announced.
U.S. Cellular: The phones become available sometime in July in stores and online at $199 and $249. Verizon: The 16GB and 32GB versions at $199 and $249, respectively, became available for online preorder June 6 and will available in Verizon-owned stores and Verizon’s website “in the coming weeks.”
The 0.34-inch-thick phone features Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 1.5 GHz dual-core CPU, 2GB of internal RAM, and 4.8-inch 16:0 HD Super AMOLED touchscreen with thin bezel and Gorilla Glass 2.0 protection.
Other features include All Share Group Cast sharing of video, photos or files via Wi-Fi to up to five other devices at a time, DLNA-based AllShare technology to display video and photos on DLNA-equipped TVs and other devices, and AllShare Play, a Samsung web service that lets users automatically sync content via Wi-Fi and cellular among six devices, including a mix of Samsung mobile devices and client-equipped PCs.
In a departure from past practice, the six carriers planning to offer the flagship Galaxy phone will promote it as the Galaxy S III instead of giving it different model names. The decision will enable Samsung to focus its marketing efforts behind a single phone to give it greater visibility in its market-share war with Apple’s iPhone.
Todd Pendleton, STA’s chief marketing officer, called it “an industry first” for multiple major carriers to “align behind the launch of a single device virtually simultaneously.” Samsung “will execute our biggest marketing campaign ever” to support the launch, he added.
For Samsung, there are several reasons for multiple carriers to launch the S III under the same name, said Strategy Analytics analyst Neil Mawston. “First, Samsung wants to standardize its sub-branding to simplify a diverse portfolio and minimize its marketing costs. Second, mobile operators are implicitly acknowledging that Galaxy S III has emerged as a powerful sub-brand that is now worthy of its own single name, like Apple’s iPhone.”
On top of that, he said, “Operators want or need a counterbalance to the powerful Apple iPhone, and Samsung’s Galaxy S III can be leveraged as an influential cross-carrier model for a potential counterweight or bargaining tool.”
Perhaps with that potential competition in mind, Apple wants to block sales of the device in the U.S., having asked a federal court in San Jose, Calif., to add the S III to its request to block multiple Samsung-made Android products because of alleged patent infringement.
Apple failed, however, to get a temporary injunction to prevent a June 21 launch by two carriers while the case proceeds. The judge declined to schedule a hearing on the injunction request because she said it would overload her calendar at a time when she will be overseeing a trial on Apple’s lawsuit against other Samsung Android devices, Reuters reported.
The court’s decision, however, didn’t address the merits of Apple’s arguments that the S III infringes on one its patents.
The smartphone is scheduled to be available this summer through five carriers followed by regional carrier C-Spire in September. Verizon Wireless, Sprint, U.S. Cellular and AT&T announced prices of $199 for the 16GB version. Sprint, Verizon and U.S. Cellular will also carry the 32GB version at $249, but AT&T won’t. Instead, AT&T will offer a 16GB MicroSD card with the 16GB phone to bring memory capacity to 32GB at a combined price of $238.
The other carrier planning to offer the phone is T-Mobile.
The AT&T, C-Spire, Sprint, Verizon and U.S. Cellular models will feature 4G LTE, and the TMobile model will feature 4G HSPA+42 technology. The phone will come in white and blue.
The carriers announced these details about their launches at press time:
AT&T: The carrier will sell the 16GB version of the Android 4.0 phone at $199 in blue and white. A red version will be available exclusively on the AT&T network later in the summer.
The phone became available for pre-order on June 6 at AT&T-owned stores and AT&T’s website, with availability following within weeks.
AT&T’s model incorporates 4G LTE and HSPA+ 21 wireless- data technologies.
C-Spire: The carrier will sell a 4G LTE version of the device beginning in September in 20 Mississippi markets. Pricing wasn’t revealed, nor whether the company would offer both versions.
Sprint: On June 21, the carrier will offer the $199 16GB version and the $249 32GB version. The 32GB version will be available through Sprint’s web store, and the 16GB version will be available through Sprint’s stores, direct-tobusiness channel and telesales. Sprint will be the only carrier offering the Galaxy S III with an unlimited-data plan with no overcharges or speed throttling, and it will be the only carrier to offer the phone with Google Wallet mobile payment technology, which is based on Near Field Communication (NFC), to make purchases at more than 100,000 participating retailers.
T-Mobile: Both versions of the phone will be available starting June 21 in T-Mobile retail stores and select retailers nationwide and online at T-Mobile.com. The carrier’s T-Mobile customers will also have access Wi-Fi Calling service. Pricing wasn’t announced.
U.S. Cellular: The phones become available sometime in July in stores and online at $199 and $249. Verizon: The 16GB and 32GB versions at $199 and $249, respectively, became available for online preorder June 6 and will available in Verizon-owned stores and Verizon’s website “in the coming weeks.”
The 0.34-inch-thick phone features Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 1.5 GHz dual-core CPU, 2GB of internal RAM, and 4.8-inch 16:0 HD Super AMOLED touchscreen with thin bezel and Gorilla Glass 2.0 protection.
Other features include All Share Group Cast sharing of video, photos or files via Wi-Fi to up to five other devices at a time, DLNA-based AllShare technology to display video and photos on DLNA-equipped TVs and other devices, and AllShare Play, a Samsung web service that lets users automatically sync content via Wi-Fi and cellular among six devices, including a mix of Samsung mobile devices and client-equipped PCs.
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