The release of the Galaxy S8 marks an increase in the rivalry between Google and Samsung.
The official announcement of the new flagship of the South Korean company has exacerbated the already obsessive occupational disease of gadget geeks who are constantly fixated on new hardware. You can write a lot about how pleasant and beautiful the new smartphone is. But I noticed that the traditional approach to comparative description in the style of 'my smartphone and your smartphone' is starting to become obsolete and lose its relevance. While Samsung continues to measure the success of its mobile division using iPhone as a benchmark for comparison, a much bigger challenge for the company comes from Google's suite of connected services. Yes, from the very same Google that provides the base OS for the S8.
In order to assess the relevance of software today, ask yourself, what was the major breakthrough: in the virtual assistant Alexa from Amazon or in its first 'home', the 'smart speaker' Echo? What is Facebook trying so hard to copy – the social aspect of Snapchat or the branded camera glasses? And as great as the Nintendo Switch hardware is, don't you think the great Zelda: Breath of the Wild (and the upcoming cool Nintendo releases) are attracting the bulk of new users? Hardware is the basis for each of these scenarios, but it is in the software that the major changes are laid and this is where the revolution occurs. Once Samsung has refined the design and optimized the hardware as much as possible, the company will stay afloat and grow thanks to the software and services that are tied to it.
In the battle between hardware and performance, Samsung is a hardened veteran. The company outlasted HTC, outstripped LG and easily outstripped Sony in terms of units sold. The Galaxy S deservedly holds the premium on par with iPhone, but the thought of consumers making a choice between the two is now a sign of retrograde, regressive thinking. Consumers in 'mature' smartphone markets have already 'rooted' in iOS or Android, and this awareness, coupled with carrier expiration times, largely determines the final purchase choice. Record sales iPhone 7 were partly due to the growing need for a new device from millions of owners iPhone 6 who left with the 'six' specified in the contract for 2 years and decided to buy a new device.
There is enough inertia in brands and ecosystems in the mobile market, so we already know that sales of devices Apple and Samsung will be hundreds of millions this year. Despite the entertaining nature of comparative device comparisons, most decisions in favor of one or another smartphone will be based on more practical considerations than differences in the pixel level in the quality of images from the camera or a nicer design. Samsung would have lived much easier if iPhone did not exist, but this competition is not something new and this process has been going on for several years without changing the direction of development.
Google has an answer for every Samsung software innovation.
The competition with Apple is not as interesting as the escalating confrontation between Samsung and Google. At the last presentation, Samsung announced a number of new features that expand the capabilities of its ecosystem, for each of which Google has its own alternative. Bixby clearly competes with Google Assistant, which performs user voice commands, automates some basic tasks, and mostly plays the role of Alexa / Siri / Cortana. Samsung Connect Home – a 'smart' router that looks like Google WiFi and functions like Google Home – has been released with the goal of linking and organizing various Samsung apps with other connected gadgets that dot your home. And yes, it supports Bixby voice commands too.
Samsung Pay is the South Korean equivalent of Android Pay. The S8's automatic multi-frame mimics the Google Pixel's Auto HDR. The Gear VR updates are pitted against the virtual reality project Google Daydream, which was deliberately not supported during the S8 presentation. Even the DeX dock is an attempt to parallel the gradual process of combining Android and Chrome OS and transforming the latter into a multi-platform operating system. At every turn, Samsung is waiting for a ready-made solution from Google, which has the potential to stealthily steal users and negate brand loyalty. In this context, creating an ecosystem that reliably retains users is not an easy task.
Finally, the most frustrating part of the Samsung-Google standoff is the abundance of quality Google apps for iPhone. Google's drive to maximize the number of users of its services has led them to improve the 'software' ecosystem Apple. Google's hardware partners, like Samsung, for example, really don't like this, but this is the reality. But, on the other hand, a more competitive environment will only improve the services that you and I use.
What amazed me: today, according to the results of the last presentation of the S8, Samsung can rightfully claim the title of the company ahead of Apple in terms of hardware. Their new flagship is the first smartphone on the market to feature a Snapdragon 835 processor, support for Bluetooth 5 and near-gigabit LTE connection speeds. The device has support for wireless charging, the splendid display of the S8 has almost no bezels, and the overall design is luxurious.
The competitive landscape will undergo certain changes in the fall, but at the moment Samsung is the leader in terms of design and hardware.
But can Samsung give the same answer to Google's software? I can't imagine a situation in which I would need to use Samsung Pay instead of Android Pay, but when it comes to such categories as the emerging VR industry or more complex ones, such as organizing the work of a smart home, then I trust Google more. I also tend to tolerate Google's data collection rather than buying Samsung TVs with their annoying ads. When the S8 hits the market, Bixby will only 'understand' Korean and American English, while Google Assistant has already proven itself on a growing number of devices. Even the Google Pixel justifies its value with magic camera algorithms and optimized system performance alone.
When buying a smartphone, many of us are still likely to resort to the age-old habit of comparing devices in terms of design, overall feel of the exterior, and potential inherent in the list of characteristics. But as the smartphone shopper gets more experienced, software plays a more important role in the final purchase decision, and this is where Samsung's biggest challenge lies. The company has the hardware to put Samsung in the lead in the fight against Apple, but can it build the software it needs to get ahead of Google?
Original material, author – Vlad Savov
The challenge described by the author can actually add a spoke in the wheels of Samsung, but from the consumer's point of view, everything is very good. By and large, nothing prevents us from comparing the services offered and taking the best from both players. Of course, it is profitable for companies to lure us into their ecosystems as much as possible, but the final choice is always ours; users only benefit from such competition.
In general, in the original, it is easy to notice the idea that goes through many materials of foreign thematic resources that software 'chips', interesting features of services, and not design and tactile sensations play an increasing role. Samsung is pushing against this position with the visually cool S8 and S8 +, while keeping the software in mind. Of course, Google has gone ahead in this regard, and this is not bad: let some invest in design, others in software, this does not mean that other points are missed. Yes, not everyone likes the Pixel externally, and in the S8, some will not like Bixby, but these are only milestones on the path to creating an uncompromising solution. The question is who will be the first to come to him.