cordelli

Given that by most counts there are less than 200 countries on the planet, that's pretty impressive of them.

mooper

Apple is in a desperate position. If they don't start picking up market share in developing countries in particular, and soon, they will follow in Nokia's and Blackberry's footsteps. Some quotes from the article that highlight they might be too late:


It's not about bashing them; it is about figuring out why they are falling so far behind. The iPhone isn't going away any time soon, but if Apple needa to change course - soon. Market share is waning and the S3 - months older than the iPhone 5 - is already ahead in the game. The S4 is just going to widen the gap, not shrink it.

Hah. I had started to type "500 carriers and countries" but didn't complete my edit. The S4 is going to appear in ~150 countries and with ~350 carriers.

docbert

Sure, but if Samsung release this phone in 500 countries, then you can bet that the next iPhone will be available in at least 600!

Not like Samsumg or Apple have let reality get in their way before...

allset2travel

My bold

500, really?

mooper

Sheesh. Even after I corrected my hasty entry it's still confusing. 350 carriers & 150 countries = 500. I should have said 150 countries and left it as that!

cordelli

Yeah, it's good that the Galaxy people are price sensitive, given the extreamly low cost of the phone

US - An unlocked Galaxy S4 probably will cost around $800

UK - Unlocked-Mobiles has priced the smartphone at £529.98 ($802) including VAT for the 16 GM, while MobilePhonesDirect has priced it at £564.99 ($855)

Italy - Samsung Italia has purportedly revealed that the Galaxy S4 will sell for €699 ($905) with a European warranty and €599 ($776) with an Italian warranty

Germany - The Galaxy S4 has surfaced in Germany with an off-contract, pre-order pricing of €649 ($840), down from €699 ($906) at Amazon.de.

India - Carriers Vodafone and Airtel will reportedly stock the smartphone, and it will likely sell for between Rs. 40,000 ($739) and 45,000 ($832) without contract.

I'm sure the Galaxy at those prices will totally blow Apple out of the water in developing countries.

gobluetwo

Oh, I thought you were going for countries scattered throughout the entire Galaxy...

(see what I did there?)

@cordelli:
Those prices for the unlocked devices are insane.

mooper

First, the S4 is just *one* Android option available that exceeds the iPhone in quality. There are other phones, including the current S3 model, that can be had for less than an iPhone up front. Wait until the Nexus 5 comes out... it might be half the price.

Second, the up front cost is one factor. There are other costs of ownership (app price, accessories, opportunity cost, etc) that make iPhones more expensive.

Of course, price sometimes goes out the window when it comes to users seeking top speed and features...

gobluetwo

next time, cite your sources and add the context, please:
http://www.redmondpie.com/galaxy-s4-...t-as-iphone-5/

edit: also, i'm not apple fanboy. I still have a blackberry and am considering either the Nexus 4 or 5 as my next smartphone. The citation, at the very least, is a long-held tenet of web etiquette.

cordelli

Funny, because just a few posts ago somebody was saying

Now I may be wrong, but as I can get an unlocked Iphone for $649 but a Galaxy S4 will be around $800, I'm thinking that the Iphone is not the most expensive, and that many people won't defect for a phone that costs hundreds of dollars more.

Try again though, it's entertaining to the facts you will make up to show what a bad thing anything apple is.

And as nobody has actually even seen one of these phones, it's pretty hard to judge the quality of them, but that again is another story.

It's amazing how many times the story changes.

It's clearly not

Considering how that was said in reference to the S4 being the last nail in Apple's coffin, I'll again ask how exactly will developing countries flock to a phone that costs hundreds of dollars more than the one you say it will kill off?

Yeah, because all the accessories and Apps will be free on an S4. Just for fun, how much do you actually believe Apple people spend on apps and accessories? How are you defining opportunity cost? What is covered in your etc?

Get this. There are many people who get a phone, and don't need to spend another penny on it. The phone comes with a charger and a cable, and they are perfectly happy with the bazillions of free apps out there. Now I'm sure you will find some infographic someplace that shows that 4% of iphone users spend over $100 in the last year on apps, and totally ignore the fact that 30% of iphone users have spent zero and extrapolate that to in 800 countries, on 7,000 carriers, the average Iphone user spends six billion dollars per year on their phone, but the reality is no matter what type of phone you get, if you want an accessory that is not included, it's going to cost, and if you want apps that cost money, they cost money, but nobody is forcing anybody to buy them.

mooper

The S4 price isn't locked in; it could fall drastically. But let's assume it is priced higher. You are confusing my two points:

Not everyone is price sensitive. iPhone 5 users clearly aren't, as they are paying a premium for a good phone but not a top-end one (iPhone 4 and previous were one of, if not the, best phones on the market at the time... the iPhone 5 is decent at best). Similarly, someone seeking the absolute best phone and can afford a premium, has their company pay it, or can absorb much of it via a contract subsidy, might not be sensitive to price either. The S4 would be a great choice for these people, as it will be the best phone on the market - by far - when released.

There are others who are very price sensitive. Someone paying out of pocket, who is on a budget, especially without using a subsidy, is much more prone to seek value. The Nexus 4 and several other Android phones can be had for less than an iPhone 5 yet are just as good or better.

See above. The S4 isn't likely to do well in the low-end market. Other Android phones are doing that, hence Android's climbing market share while Apple's is falling. The S4 will take away many of the users who can afford an iPhone. In other words, Android phones will be chomping away at Apple on both ends of the market. Apple has to do something to gain share at least in one segment, hence it being the final nail in the coffin if they don't.

I didn't say that Apple *forces* you to spend more (unless you are trying to make everything compatible, as they have a proprietary incompatible expensive new charger). It's that Apple users are inclined to spend more, as Apple doesn't play as well with non-Apple devices and the ecosystem is designed to suck you in. Why do you think they've been so profitable? Apple users tend to buy multiple Apple devices and spend a lot with them, including on apps, subscriptions, media, and accessories.

The opportunity cost is the fact that there are superior, cheaper choices that are avoided once someone is into Apple. Once invested, it's generally a poor financial decision to get out, so the spending persists. Just yesterday, my wife's friend said to me, "I think I'm going to have to buy an iPhone 5, even though I hate the small screen and the fact I can't customize it because I already have an iPod and iMac and use iTunes and don't want to mess things up". Yes, it's possible for her to switch away, but it's no simple or obvious to many, and that's part of Apple's genius. Unless I talked her out of it, she's going to buy a $700 phone she doesn't really want.

SRQ Guy

Incredibly,Samsung seems to have peeked at Apple's playbook and decided that tiny incremental upgrades are a great idea. Way to squash your own momentum.

cordelli

Where are you coming up with this stuff? They can use any generic usb charger on the market that puts out a bit of power, easily available anywhere for $6 or $7, sometimes with the cable. Most people probably have a handful of them already. The cable is available for as little as $10 depending on where you buy it. Heck, you can get both a 30 pin and the lightening cable today for under $5

mooper

8 cores @ twice the speed score of the iPhone 5, visual controls, etc... maybe not revolutionary to you, but a huge step of from the S3, which was already best of breed. I can't think of any other phone that is ahead of it - can you?

Micro USB cables charge almost any small rechargeable device these days. I have three retractable ones that can handle everything I carry, use around the office, etc. For the iPhone 5, you need something different. Ridiculous.

gfunkdave

Hi all,

Let's not have this thread devolve into an Apple vs. Samsung or Apple vs. Android thread. We have plenty of those already. Let's keep this thread to discussion of the Galaxy S4 without turning into a fanboy/baiting festival.

Merci
Gfunk