Shameless Samsung

Posted on Author by Ben Thompson

Samsung introduced the Galaxy Gear yesterday, and, yeah, it’s not great.

I jumped on the leaked prototype, with the same general sentiment: Samsung’s watch will undoubtedly change drastically whenever Apple’s wearable is released. And, to be certain, we will mock them for copying.

Perhaps we’ll even use a staged picture:

Or maybe just a checklist:

Samsung, to their credit, hasn’t responded; if I ran their Twitter account, I’d be tempted to post this:

Via Benedict Evans. Click the image for the original article.
Via Benedict Evans. Click the image for the original article.

Every pre-iPhone phone maker is irrelevant, if they even exist, except for Samsung, who is thriving. Samsung the copycat was smart enough to realize they needed to change, and quickly, and so they did.

Or maybe it wasn’t being smart. Maybe it was simply not caring what anyone else thought about them, their strategy, or their inspiration. Most successful companies, including Apple, including Google, seem remarkably capable of ignoring the naysayers and simply doing what is right for their company. In the case of smartphones, why wouldn’t you copy the iPhone? Nokia refused and look where that got them!

We, especially in the West, have a powerful sense of justice and fairness when it comes to product features and being first. Business, though, is not fair, even if it is more just than we care to admit.

Notification: You will be discontinued when Apple releases a wearable.
Notification: You will be discontinued when Apple releases a wearable.

Ridiculous? Yes.

Probability of failure? High.

Discontinued after Apple’s launch? Certainly.

Liable to put Samsung out of business? In fact, it’s a symbol of exactly why they succeed.