Perhaps the only good thing that comes out of patent trials is insider information. During this round of the Samsung-Apple patent trial, a lot of interesting internal documents have been put on display. The documents reveal marketing strategies, dirty dealings and just how deep the rivalry goes.
During the Apple vs. Samsung trial, an internal document from Samsung was revealed which details the company's plan to dethrone Apple. The document stated that "Beating Apple is #1 Priority" and added that "everything must be [done in the] context of beating Apple." The document also references the first Apple lawsuit, which was filed in 2011. In another document, Samsung declares that the "threat from Apple is extremely real and urgent (up to 12.2M sell-in in 4Q)."
Other documents showed how Samsung specifically tracked rumors about the next iPhone in hopes of determining which new features Apple would add to its handset. One document from 2012 reveals Apple would add "LTE, social networking, cloud integration, CE integration [and] improved Siri," to the iPhone 5. Samsung also estimated that Apple would sell ">40M units = $20B+ iPhone revenue, $12B iPhone profit, 21% share (#2 overall)."
The company worked hard on marketing ideas to combat the Apple "threat." Samsung actually began to study Apple's success in hopes of figuring out the secret to its success as a brand. One document declared the focus should be to "drive consumer pull," so that "customers walk into stores asking for Samsung." Samsung put a lot of effort into trying to "understand why customers buy Apple," and to "develop countermeasures by carrier/retail."
What's even more interesting than the fact that Samsung looked to Apple for inspiration on how to defeat the iPhone, is that these kind of tactics are exactly the same ones an internal document from Apple claims Sasmung is using. In one Apple document, Apple Senior Vice President Phil Schiller says Samsung is "spending 'obscene' amounts of money on advertising and/or carrier channel to gain traction."
Although Schiller doesn't seem too worried about it in the first document, an email he wrote in 2013 seems to indicate he may think Samsung's advertising campaign has merit.
"I watched the Samsung pre-superbowl ad that launched today," he wrote. "It's pretty good and I can't help but thinking 'these guys are feeling it (like an athlete that can't miss because they are in a zone), while we struggle to nail a compelling brief on iPhone."
In addition to the marketing schemes and tight relationships with carriers, Apple noted that "competitors have drastically improved their hardware and in some cases their ecosystems."
Another interesting document unveiled by Apple shows a slide entitled "Consumers want what we don't have," and shows smartphone growth in the 4-inch-plus smartphone market as well as the sub-$300 smartphone market. The slides are the first indication that Apple has ever given that it realizes that 3.5-inch and 4-inch smartphones are dead. Naturally, tech pundits snatched the news up eagerly as proof that the iPhone 6 will feature the rumored 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch displays when it arrives this year.
