Samsung had a tough year with two Galaxy Note 7 recalls, but fans stuck by its side because Apple didn't offer anything truly exciting, a new report indicates.
Apple has long been criticized over a lack of innovation with its recent products and a new report suggests that Galaxy Note 7 owners stuck with Samsung particularly for this reason — the lack of a better alternative.
While Apple ruled holiday shopping with the most device activations and app downloads and installs, beating Samsung to the punch, it's expected to experience some phone fatigue after the holiday rush dies down. Hardware analyst Stephen Baker has now commented on the holiday sales stats for the two dominant smartphone makers, offering an interesting take on the matter.
Apple Lacks A "Wowing Product"
In a recent report on The Wall Street Journal, Baker notes that Galaxy Note 7 owners remained loyal to the Samsung brand despite the whole fiasco surrounding two recalls over exploding batteries because Apple failed to offer notable innovation with its 2016 smartphone lineup.
Consequently, although Apple was expected to reap hefty benefits from the Galaxy Note 7 recall, most Galaxy Note 7 owners stuck with Samsung and preferred to get another Samsung smartphone rather than the iPhone 7.
"Most of those who bought or wanted to buy a Note 7 opted for a different high-end Galaxy phone," says Baker. "Samsung was able to fend off other Android competition, and Apple, too, thanks to Apple's own lack of a wowing product this year."
As a reminder, Samsung officially stopped selling the Galaxy Note 7 back in early October, gearing up to recall the product for the first time over exploding battery issues. Even back then, analysts predicted that Samsung fans would remain loyal despite the recall, as they had confidence in the brand as a whole.
Last month, a Reuters/ Ipsos survey bolstered such claims, revealing that the Samsung brand remained strong even after a second Galaxy Note 7 recall. In the meantime, Samsung went one step further and deployed a kill switch to permanently disable any remaining Galaxy Note 7 units, but it seems this hasn't shattered consumers' faith in the brand either.
In this gloomy Galaxy context, many expected Samsung users to shift their brand loyalty and switch boats to Apple's side, Samsung's main rival on the smartphone market.
Analysts believe that consumers' loyalty to Samsung's brand is not only due to Samsung, but also to the fact that Apple's latest iPhones lack a compelling enough feature set to warrant the switch. Apple has been criticized for failing to innovate in recent years, especially since Tim Cook took over as CEO after the iconic Steve Jobs passed away.
On this note, it seems that not even exploding Galaxy Note 7 handsets managed to convince Samsung fans to change ecosystems and buy an iPhone instead of a Galaxy smartphone.
Decade-Long Malaise
As MacRumors points out, earlier this month financial company Oppenheimer highlighted Apple's current state and noted that the company's first revenue decline since 2003, combined with disappointing consumer reception ranging from mixed to negative, could lead to a "decade-long malaise" if it doesn't come up with something to turn things around.
It remains to be seen how things will pan out but at the current rate, Samsung fans apparently don't find the iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus appealing enough to switch to iOS.
