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Samsung's Android monopoly

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tendoboy1984

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As we all know, Samsung has the largest marketshare of all Android manufacturers. Should every other manufacturer (HTC, Sony, LG, etc.) just give up?
 
HTC has been steadily removing features and trying to pass it off as an upgrade the last few generations. Not everyone is dumb enough to fall for that. LG is trying to copy Samsung and is starting to see some success on that front. The LG G2 even includes a removable battery (outside the US). I will gladly move away from Samsung once another OEM offers an unlocked high end domestic device with removable battery and a reasonable amount of storage. The phone listed to my left meets those needs thanks to MicroSD support.

Samsung has a near monopoly largely due to the fact that they seem to be the only ones to offer features that cater to the widest range of users. Every other OEM tries to offer a product that excels in one or two areas, and then acts surprised when their niche product ends up only selling to a niche market.
 
Sony's Xperia phones aren't really niche. They're higher quality than Samsung, and they offer a near-stock Android experience.
 
tendoboy1984 said:
Sony's Xperia phones aren't really niche. They're higher quality than Samsung, and they offer a near-stock Android experience.
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And they lack a removable battery, their displays have horrid viewing angles, and despite the hype, their cameras to date underperform the competition.

The Xperia Z cost just as much as the Galaxy S4 but is an inferior phone. If your higher quality comment was solely about build quality, then get an iPhone. In every other area, the S4 was the better phone.

The Xperia fills the niche of "phones that look nicer than Samsung," but don't speak to a broader demographic.
 
tendoboy1984 said:
As we all know, Samsung has the largest marketshare of all Android manufacturers. Should every other manufacturer (HTC, Sony, LG, etc.) just give up?
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If there is money to be made they will not give up.

And having more device options is always a good thing, not everyone likes Samsung.
 
I think part of the reason for Samsung's success in smartphones is that they are a household name in electronics. My 46" TV and blu-ray player are both made by Samsung. So I think it's naturally easy for the consumer to gravitate towards them. My first smartphone was a Samsung Galaxy Captivate.
 
I hope the others don't give up. I'm not fond of Samsung mobile devices. Generally good, even great hardware. Their firmware is crap, IMO, though. As a result: I've replaced Samsung's crappy firmware with CyanogenMod on my Tab 2, and I bought SWMBO and myself HTC handsets.

Jim
 
tendoboy1984 said:
Should every other manufacturer (HTC, Sony, LG, etc.) just give up?
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Of course not, otherwise we'll end up with a monoculture similar to Apple.

Medion said:
Samsung has a near monopoly largely due to the fact that they seem to be the only ones to offer features that cater to the widest range of users.
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They've also identified just about every 'niche' available and saturated the market with devices. Not to mention throwing megabucks into advertising, to the extent that anything with the "Galaxy" name attached is seen as desirable. ;)

Medion said:
The Xperia Z cost just as much as the Galaxy S4 but is an inferior phone.
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It can also survive a thunderstorm downpour, be used in a steamy bathroom without fear of damage, and the network-aware media apps just work with all DLNA-compliant devices in a way that AllShare can only dream about. Oh, and the 16GB storage still has 11.5GB free out of the box. Different folks, different strokes..... your definition of "inferior" isn't gospel. ;)

bjacks12 said:
I think it's naturally easy for the consumer to gravitate towards them.
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See above. Wasn't there a survey recently that found that the majority of people questioned equated "Galaxy" with "Android"?

Bottom line: choice is good. The more OEMs that remain wedded to Android, the rosier the future for we, the end-users. I'm now on my fourth Android handset from a third manufacturer because, every time, I had a choice of device to fit my needs. Does anyone REALLY want to see that end?
 
I would love to try a Sony. Somewhat planned on going with the Z1 except for one small problem...vzw doesn't carry Sony phones.
 
I like Samsung, I owned 2 LG smart phones prior and I actually prefer LG over Samsung.



Samsung flooded the market with so many phones (most of them low to midrange phones) that it is hard for the average person to see anything else. I am not knocking them, they are very successful and they have built some great phones.
I look for LG and Motorola to both keep getting better and better.
HTC just can't seem to market well enough.
 
Samsung's success is mainly due a successful branding campaign in which they took the PC model of providing a device for every price point. Mainstream people don't really care about features like removable batteries, SD cards, or even a decent camera (although they are more likely to gather the benefit of that). All they really want is a phone that will do what they want it to do when they want it to do it.

Should other manufacturer's give up? If they can make a profit - why would they? Being the market leader is a nice position to be in but it isn't the ultimate goal. By the logic that someone is the dominant product that others should give up their wouldn't be an Android since iPhone's were the dominant product (and in fact if I am not mistaken still the #1 brand of phone being sold today).
 
iowabowtech said:
I would love to try a Sony. Somewhat planned on going with the Z1 except for one small problem...vzw doesn't carry Sony phones.
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This!
Since I'm tied to Verizon at the moment, I'm stuck with their options. With smartphones, I've had two Motorolas, two Samsungs and now to switch it up an LG. I know Samsung has dominance in the Android world, but other OEMs aren't slacking too hard. I wish Sony would come to Verizon, if not the other US carriers as they have some amazing hardware and cameras.
 
LG, Sony, ZTE & Huwaei have all had record sales the last quarter, so I don't think they should give up. That's not fair to the consumer and if that were to happen then Samsung would be a real monopoly.

As it stands, there are other competitors and there have been new companies entering the Android market. Samsung doesn't fit the conditions of a monopoly, they are a dominant market leader but their dominance doesn't cause barriers to entry (Android is free after all). Now whether or not other companies can market their product is another thing but no way is Samsung a monopoly.
 
Other manufacturers shouldn't give up, they should step up. They are basically selling the same things. The difference lies in their dressings. Samsung selling a huge margin over other manufacturers simply means they are doing something right and the others are doing it wrong.
 
Slug said:
It can also survive a thunderstorm downpour, be used in a steamy bathroom without fear of damage, and the network-aware media apps just work with all DLNA-compliant devices in a way that AllShare can only dream about. Oh, and the 16GB storage still has 11.5GB free out of the box. Different folks, different strokes..... your definition of "inferior" isn't gospel. ;)
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This is ironic, because that's the very point that I was making. I replied to a person that made a blanket statement that phone X is inferior to phone Y. I merely pointed out that both phones had different strengths. All you did was point out those same strengths for your preferred device that I had already admitted to.

P.S. My phone works with Miracast out of the box (but no DLNA without an app), and has 12.65GB of 16GB available out of the box :)

chanchan05 said:
Other manufacturers shouldn't give up, they should step up. They are basically selling the same things. The difference lies in their dressings. Samsung selling a huge margin over other manufacturers simply means they are doing something right and the others are doing it wrong.
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^This. I've said repeatedly that I would LOVE to have another OEM make a phone comparable to Samsung, so that I can support them. For me, removable batteries are a necessity. I am abusive towards my phone, and the batteries tend to fail after about a year. This happened on my HTC Incredible, my Samsung Galaxy S II, and will happen on my Galaxy S4 GPe. A $10 battery swap after a year is a HELL of a lot cheaper than a new phone after a year. These phones are generally used for 2+ years. My Incredible got swapped after a year, but I went 27 months on my S2. That was due to needing to switch off Verizon though, not because I wanted a new phone.

If you asked me right now to list the top 3 Android devices, the S4 wouldn't make the list, GPe or not. But it's the top ranking phone based on my needs. But because Samsung makes devices for specific markets, they often have a top ranked phone for many individual needs. And this is why they sell so well. On the high end, they have arguably the best phablet (Note Series), their main handset is among the most appealing for mainstream users (Galaxy S series), and then they have assorted budget handsets for emerging markets for specific carrier needs.

When Samsung finally goes away from removable batteries like everyone else, I'll just switch to the Nexus phones. At roughly half the price, I don't mind upgrading annually instead of bi-annually.
 
Sony's pulling out if the US phone market? Imagine if they did that with their PlayStation consoles. How are they supposed to compete with HTC, Samsung, and LG if they're ignoring the US?

Who am I supposed to turn to for my first Android phone? Samsung plans on abandoning Android for their own Tizen OS (if it even comes out), HTC is dying, most of Motorola's phones are exclusive to Verizon, and Sony doesn't really care about the US market. So who's left? LG's Optimus phones are supposedly good, so maybe I'll try them.
 
Are you tied to a carrier, Tendo?
I love my new LG G2, it's a beast of a phone. Tizen still is in a rumor stage and I wouldn't be surprised if it's only released for markets in developing countries.
 
breadnatty08 said:
Are you tied to a carrier, Tendo?
I love my new LG G2, it's a beast of a phone. Tizen still is in a rumor stage and I wouldn't be surprised if it's only released for markets in developing countries.
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I have a contract with T-Mobile, but their phone selection is very limited. I can't give up unlimited data, which is why I'll never switch to ATT or Verizon. My girlfriend has Sprint, but their coverage is horrible.

I've been considering LG and HTC. LG's interface looks like a clone of TouchWiz, so hopefully it's user-friendly. The HTC One is a gorgeous phone with an attractive UI (Sense), but the company is in danger of going bankrupt. Motorola is pretty much exclusive to Verizon, so they're not on my list.
 
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