Mary Meeker vs. Samsung Earnings: A Clearer Perspective

In May of this year, Mary Meeker and her team at Kleiner Perkins issued their Internet Trends 2014 report. While Mary has been associated with hyping the tech bubble, she is always a good trend spotter and gives us lots of perspective as to not only the who, but the what and the why.

Her projection is that we will continue to see 30 percent growth in Smart Phone adoption. This is a view not shared by IDC as quoted by Reuters, which predicted less than 20 percent growth.

In discussing the earnings warnings Samsung gave recently, they point to cheaper competition in China for pretty good phones.

Samsung has built some amazing solutions and James Brehm recently saw one of the new devices they were bringing to the market and gave us a review.

However, like the modern times for wedding announcements where friends mean well but say stupid things, like, “Well I hope this works”, or “Did you sign a pre-nup?” Samsung gets dismissed as being “not an iPhone.”

That is a very unfair commentary on a company that has brought us significant upgrades in processing and screen resolution. What it shows, though, is the associative skills of brand.

Candidly, I think the Samsung Laptops in the marketplace are second to none, and the Notes and Galaxy series phones hold their own against the iPhone.

However, I never see myself as buying the same way at the Apple store vs. the local Samsung outlet.

Apple has a cohesive look and feel, while Samsung has silos that get in the way of branding.

Now, as my readers know, I am not loyal to Apple; I find them a very closed environment. On the other hand they have been stand-up people in dealing with most of my recent problems. I will comment and would love to have you share your experiences, but I remember when the Genius bar had three stools. My list visit to the Boca Raton, Fla., Apple store had three rows and about 36 stools. Candidly, I can’t figure out how Apple can afford the cost of these stores if over 30 percent of the traffic is repair (or stupidity on the end-users’ experience).

Samsung does not offer that type of access, although they have added space and representation at my electronics store, but it does have the control and focus that an Apple store has.

Samsung has competed on price in a way that often hides its innovation.

At DevCon5, I heard Samsung’s Tizen more often than Windows8, which may mean that Samsung can deliver a breakaway from Android phone, but I personally don’t think being the No. 1 Android phone company is the problem.

I think Samsung may have fallen into the Nokia trap of thinking that more models means more sales. Candidly, it hard to keep the distinction of one part of the Galaxy series from the other and I am not sure the consumer needs the same products divided like that.

I would also like to see better tie-ins between Samsung Smart TVs and Smart phones / Tablets.

Now on a sheer volume number, Mary Meeker would point out that U.S. is saturated and the real issue is price wars for market share capture in China.  

Even still, I would like Samsung to bring a new model for the low end and not contaminate the existing product lines.

You know in the car industry there is a model-equals-generation strategy that seems to have developed. The compact car of the past continues to grow and become more spacious as the owners mature.

Maybe it’s that generation product lines are what Samsung needs to focus in on, something that is right for the tweens and teens that they will be loyal to as they mature.