Apple and Samsung

The purpose of this essay is to compare, contrast and evaluate the two major competitor companies: Apple and Samsung. This essay begins by discussing the market value of the both companies. It will then turn to discussing the product portfolios of Apple and Samsung, and then examines the service and it concludes by evaluation. Firstly, Apple is very similar to Samsung with respect to the size of the companies. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, two important people who were expelled from a college, founded Apple Company in 1976, when the first Apple computer was released. (Nostoptechnology, 2009) Unlikely to Apple, Samsung was founded in 1938 by Byung-Chull Lee, the Korean businessman. Although, the initial purpose of the company was to trade vegetables and fruits with China, only back in 1969, the Samsung Company began to expand and sell what nowadays it is world well known: electronics. (Samsung, 2012) Despite the fact, that production of personal computers by Apple was one of the best, there was a significant decrease in sales after 1990s, whereas competition in electronics world started to grow rapidly.

However, after spotting the difference, Apple produced a new product, that was called ‘iPod’ – MP3-player, which in result boosted the sales. (Nostoptechnology, 2009) In comparison to Apple, Samsung Company was developing steadily, but with a lot of new products coming to the market. (Samsung, 2012) Furthermore, ‘In the 1990’s, SAMSUNG transformed its mission statement to keep pace with its growing global operations, rapid changes in the world economy, and escalating competition from well-established rivals.’ (Samsung-Mansour, 2007) According to Daily Mail (2012), few months ago Apple’s company value reached $623 billion, making them ahead of Samsung, whereas Samsung has only $162 billion of company value. (Forbes, 2012) Hence, Apple has made profits of $33 billion, as much as triple of what has Samsung made. (Ibid) Secondly, both Apple and Samsung companies have various products in the product portfolio. Apple supplies products such as mobile phones, MP3-players, notebooks, computers, tablets, software, and some extra accessorizes. (Apple, 2012) Samsung contrasts with Apple in respect to the size of their product portfolio.

Similarly to Apple, Samsung produces mobile phones, notebooks, MP3-playes, tablets, computers and accessorizes. However, it also sells TVs, audio and video technology, cameras, printers, storage and memory devices and home appliances such as refrigerators, cookers, laundry and many others. (Samsung, 2012) First mobile device produced by Apple Company, called ‘iPhone’, was out in January 2007. The technology was so good, that Steve Jobs described the phone as it had few years of an advantage above any other phones. (Kobie, 2009) Unlikely to Apple, Samsung produced their first mobile phones around 1990, and had a long way of an improvement over the years. (Archer, n.d.) However, both companies introduced their first computers around 1983. It was possible to buy Apple computer from 1984 onwards, but at that time, the computer was already expensive, around 2,495 dollars (Bellis, 2012), whereas Samsung started to produce its computers in March 1983 and there is no information about the price at that time. (Samsung, 2012) Even though, Samsung and Apple are both big companies with the great product portfolio, they still are the major competitors.

Recent court issue was about Apple facing Samsung for stealing their technological and design ideas and obligation to pay 1 billion dollars. (BBC, 2012) Last, but not least, one of the major aspects of every electronic industry is service. According to Brooks (2012), Apple has over 300 stores. Also Apple (2012) states that it has about 70,000 employees all around the world, whereas, Samsung, actually, has 222,000 employees in 61 countries. (Pragnell, 2012) Due to the fact, that Apple has a number of stores almost in every big city around the world, that means it is possible to visit the store and discuss the problem that has accused. As a matter of fact there is always someone from the staff that helps customers with their issues, whether it is about the computer or the phone. In other words, Apple’s staff is called Genius Bar staff, they guide customers and make orders for repairs. (Apple, 2012) In contrast to Apple, Samsung website does not provide such information, however, it is possible to make a call, e-mail about the customers’ issues or just visit the store. (Samsung, 2012) As well as Genius Bar, Apple (2012) provides customers with on-line support and opportunities to gather help over the phone, moreover, the website is clear and understandable.

Even though, Samsung Company exists longer than Apple Company, it has number of major advantages and disadvantages. One of the biggest disadvantages of Samsung is that it has lost in the court against Apple and was forced to pay huge amount of money to Apple, thus undermining the authority of the company as a whole. On the other hand, the advantage of the Samsung is that it exists longer than Apple Company and has its well-established world-known brand and customer loyalty. Similarly to Samsung, Apple is also well-known company and advantage of that is that it is still growing company and has tendency to expand even more. According to the aspects described above, there are no major disadvantages related to Apple, which makes this company looks better comparing to others. It may therefore be concluded from the above discussion that Apple Company seems prospective, expanding company with bigger company value and young history, better designed and well-known product portfolio and excellent service, rather than Samsung with its decades of history and slow grow in the market.

Reference list:

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Archer, A. (n.d.) The History of Samsung Mobile Phones [Online]. Retrieved from: http://www.ehow.com/about_5211891_history-samsung-mobile-phones.html [Accessed 20 October 2012].

BBC (2012) Apple awarded $1bn in damages from Samsung in US court [Online]. Retrieved from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-19377261#TWEET205825 [Accessed 20 October 2012].

Bellis, M. (2012) Inventors of the Modern Computer [Online]. Retrieved from: http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa051599.htm [Accessed 20 October 2012].

Brooks, A (2012) Apple Hires Dixons CEO John Brewett as Retail Chief [Online]. Retrieved from: http://www.worldofapple.com/archives/2012/01/31/dick-sons/#more-7430 [Accessed 26 October 2012].

Daily Mail (2012) Apple becomes biggest company in U.S. history [Online]. Retrieved from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2191088/Apple-biggest-company-U-S-history-stock-reaches-623-BILLION.html [Accessed 20 October 2012].

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Pragnell, A. (2012) Can Samsung Compete With Apple’s Retail Stores? [Online]. Retrieved from: http://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0612/can-samsung-compete-with-apples-retail-stores.aspx#axzz2BYQwGKJO [Accessed 20 October 2012].

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