Samsung hired students to astroturf - Page 5

On April 16 2013 19:51 Womwomwom wrote:


What is innovation to you?

Innovation for the sake of innovation doesn't sell products. Complete packages sell products. That's why Samsung has, theoretically, the best Android smartphone on the market: the Galaxy S lineup doesn't have any real flaws besides kind of questionable material choices. That's why the iPad is still the tablet market leader: it still has one of the best screens, unquestionable GPU power, and obscene battery size. That's why Apple devices are able to sell for high prices: because the overall hardware and software package is mostly complete. Don't kid yourself, Samsung and everyone else all have their own overzealous fanbases. That's to be expected.

What makes HTC phones a harder sell is the lack of attention to detail. Sense, for a long time, has been complete rubbish in terms of performance. They also have a nasty habit of packing fairly small batteries into their phones and dropping support for their phones extremely quickly. That's why they're doing poorly, just like LG's or Sony Ericsson's inability to update their phones on time (if at all). There isn't a conspiracy theory why brand x sells well and why brand y sells badly.

The problem here is that, although the HTC One has solved many of these problems, it can't get a market foothold. Some of the reasons include launching too close to the Galaxy S4 announcement/too late after the Sony Xperia Z launch but the main reason is that HTC isn't the the darling OEM of the carriers anymore and they don't have the advertising budget to make sure their device is seen over other competitors. Component delays don't help things either.

As noted by the OP's article, Samsung can literally pay some people to spread bad news about the phone and they can't do anything to combat it besides asking the government to step in. They can't compete against Samsung's marketing budget nor can create enough noise to get rid of constant "complaints" about the HTC One. By the time the government finds Samsung guilty (or not), its too late since HTC One has already missed its launch period.

On April 17 2013 14:41 ExceeD_DreaM wrote:
I don't understand why Samsung would need to talk down HTC in the first place... I would understand Apple but HTC? HTC makes great phones, but sells no where near as many as Samsung does. They are no where close to being a rival..

I second that most companies would do this. Interesting that Taiwanese commission is the one suspecting Samsung of doing this. Protecting homegrown company it is.

On April 16 2013 21:45 Womwomwom wrote:


That's fair enough, thanks for clarifying. Its interesting that continental Europe + eastern Europe doesn't really have as much attachment towards Apple products as English speaking countries. I wonder, does it have to do with less Apple store presence? I know the Apple Store is really Apple's true success story, since you actually have a reason to go there if you have a problem.

Yeah, carriers are important for the North American and Australian (and UK?) markets. I'm not sure why, I always buy my phones outright but I know a significant number of Australians who buy their phones on plans, where you pay as you go. Sometimes it actually isn't that much more expensive if you need an expensive, high data phone plan so I guess that's why people like to buy their phones this way. I've heard that the philosophy is a bit different in Europe and your anecdote seems to suggest that too.

But basically, that's the case. The only two companies that get all of their phones on all major carriers during the launch period is pretty much Apple and Samsung. When you're looking for a plan and a swanky new phone, you've only really got these two options to pick from.

On April 17 2013 13:57 Raropatx wrote:
I'll just leave this here...
...
This is the work of one guy, he use to use a BMW logo across multiple web forums until he was caught out.

On April 16 2013 17:21 Womwomwom wrote:
I don't think this is surprising. Anyone remember affinity_12? The same bloke has been doing rounds all around major tech forums and websites like The Verge, Engadget, Hardforum, Anandtech, Whirlpool, and so forth. Its kind of obvious that its him, he has a very specific posting style. Got the fucker banned because dude was shitting in my monitor thread,

On April 20 2013 16:15 Ganz333 wrote:
I find this pretty interesting, is there any concrete proof this bloke is actually trolling all those sites? maybe the "talking points" coincide with other identities because they have been instructed on what to say

On April 17 2013 12:49 Meatex wrote:
So? All companies do this - EA has been ousted for doing this as well and anybody who believes random comments from first time posters on a forum deserve to buy a POS phone... except samsung phones are good
So are HTC and it pretty much comes down to budget and a persons preference.

On April 16 2013 17:49 EvilTeletubby wrote:


<3

That was one of my favorite bans.



Edit: And afterwards, he kept right at it.