“Samsung has ambushed the launch of the iPhone 4S by offering $2 smartphones in a temporary shop just metres away from the official Sydney Apple store,” Ben Grubb reports for The Sydney Morning Herald.
“A queue – longer than that outside Apple’s store – was seen outside the Samsung ‘pop up’ store at 8am today, with those in line hoping to get their hands on a new Samsung Galaxy S II smartphone for the nominal price of $2,” Grubb reports. “Some waiting in line had been there since Monday, with the store only letting the first 10 in line each day receive the $2 phone. Those waiting since Monday were those wanting the next day’s batch of phones.”
Grubb reports, “The iPhone 4S, Apple’s latest revision of its smartphone, goes on sale at 8am on Friday. Sydney school students Tom Mosca, of West Hoxton, and Wil Batterham, of Chatswood, both 15, have lined up outside Apple’s George Street store before Friday’s iPhone 4S launch. They arrived at 10.30am yesterday.
The two boys – who are good friends and first met in line waiting for the iPad 2 earlier this year – said many people had approached them trying to convince them to stand in the Samsung line instead of the Apple line. ‘There’s this guy who has come up to us trying to convince us to buy the Samsung Galaxy S II two days in a row now,’ said Tom. ‘And he’s an idiot.'”
“Two people Fairfax spoke to in Samsung’s line – brother and sister John, 19, and Jessica Kim, 20, from Lidcombe and Burwood respectively – said they would sell their $2 Samsung Galaxy S II smartphones to go on a trip to India… [Regarding Tom and Wil lined up in front of the Apple Store]: ‘They’re waiting three days to pay the full price of the iPhone,’ said John, suggesting they could’ve waited in Samsung’s line and paid $2 for the Galaxy S II and sold it and used the funds to purchase an iPhone 4S.'”
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/mobiles/samsung-ambushes-apples-iphone-4s-launch-in-sydney-20111012-1lk0d.html#ixzz1aaFNAKEJ
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Way to finance purchases of other goods and services, Samsung!
Whatever happened to the respect… (we don’t want to introduce the new android crap because no one will care because of iphone 4S) shit they pulled off the other day ? It wasn’t about respect after all….
I would be shocked if they were selling these for $2 without a contract. Samsung may be desperate, but surely they’re not *that* stupid?
Though, even with a plan, $2 plus maybe $50 to transfer the account to someone else, might still be worth it. Bottom line is though, you’re still foisting an Android phone onto the world
Hee hee! Samdung: “D’Oh!”
Is the $0.00 iPhone 3GS only available in the United States at AT&T, or is it available at other carriers around the world that had the 3GS when it was new? I would imagine that it would be available, as well as the $99 iPhone 4.
A “free” 3GS (with iOS 5) trumps a $2 Hemorrhoid any day.
Hemorrhoid… LMAO
Oh samsung, why must you be a royal pain in the ass…
We’ve been able to get several of the iPhones free on contract from various carriers across Europe for years, probably from day one.
You can get the 4S free with a contract right now on several carriers. This Carphone Warehouse page hightlights three free deals: http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/mobiles/iPhone-finder
In other words, $0 with plan (or $99, or $199) are not phone prices; these are down-payments on the phone, if you buy it in US and activate on an American carrier. The rest of the phone’s value is being paid off through monthly loan installments.
Outside of the US, different carriers have different amounts of down-payment, depending on the plan. Many in EU required NO down-payment (as in $0 with plan) if you get one of the “Cadillac” plans.
Desperation is the mother of perspiration.
Un..fscking…believeble
F|_|ck Samdung! What a shity company
How bad must you think your product sucks…to sell it for 2 bucks. why doesn’t Samsung just put up a sign that says: “Feces…that you can make calls with.”
To be fair, they’re only selling it at $2 for the first 10 customers every day in the queue when the shop opens for business. That’s why there’s a queue forming every night. The rest of the people will have to buy it at full price, which isn’t that different from an iPhone 4S with the 3.5″ screen, as opposed to 4.3″. I think it’s Apple that hasn’t evolved here, as far as screen size is concerned.
Is the retna display available in the 4.2″ size and if so, does it consume power to the point that reduces battery life below the level that Apple demands?
Bigger is better only applies to certain things. Apple has already conducted careful studies, research and surveys regarding screen size. The current size of the iPhone size is as big as it could possibly be without the phone being just too clunky. While there are geeky people out there who don’t mind holding a brick to their ear, as long as their screen is big, vast majority prefers to have a phone that fits in their purse, pocket and palm of their hand, and most importantly, doesn’t look grotesquely ridiculous when used for talking.
I don’t think Apple will ever release a phone that is larger than the existing one. About the only way it could happen is if Apple somehow came to dominate the entire market thoroughly, and they found enough interest in a larger (and, naturally, smaller) devices for them to consider it worthwhile. Even then, there would certainly be much more interest in a smaller phone than a larger one (ask any woman out there).
Gruber has an interesting observation, comparing shopping for smartphones with bigger screens to taking the Pepsi Challenge:
The thing with the Pepsi Challenge was that most people preferred (and prefer today) the taste of Coke over Pepsi, when drinking a full serving. But, when you only take a sip or two of each, people tend to prefer whichever is sweeter, and that was Pepsi. Some people really do prefer Pepsi, of course. But I think there are a bunch of people buying big-ass Android phones after taking just a sip or two in the store.
So basically, they are doing the same as microsoft, bringing more customers into apple stores, but sammy goes beyond also giving the apple clients a way to finance their iPhone purchase.
Wow, that’s a good strategy sammy.
Well, I’m sure we all know for sure now that Samsung has zero class. They are like that guy in the alley wearing a trench coat selling knockoff Rolex watches and fake gold jewelry. Pathetic.
I was at my in-laws where they still take the dead-tree version of the newspaper, and saw a full page ad for Samsung TV sets. The image shown on the products’ screens were orange-and-white clownfish amidst green anemone. Sound familiar? The default image for the the iPhone 1.0 display. Samsung’s picture, as with their other copying, wasn’t as good as the one Apple featured. Do they have to copy just everything?
“I want my two dollars!!!”
“Better off Dead”
As quirky as that movie was, stupid to the point you had to laugh, it was, to me, enjoyable. “Two brothers… One speaks no English, the other learned English from watching “The Wide World of Sports.” So you tell me… Which is better, speaking no English at all, or speaking Howard Cosell?”, “I’ve been going to this high school for seven and a half years. I’m no dummy. I know high school girls.”, “This is pure snow! Do you have any idea what the street value of this mountain is? “, “She only speaks French, Roy. She doesn’t speak imbecile.”,
Monique Junot: He keeps putting his testicles all over me.
Lane Meyer: Excuse me?
Monique Junot: You know, like octopus? Testicles?
Lane Meyer: Ohhhh. Tentacles. N-T. Big difference.
and of course…
“I want my two dollars!!!”
I wonder how long before Dell will jumps into the foray and offers $1 Inspiron gaming laptops from street carts parked outside Apple stores. A free laptop with every shish kabob.
My family will never buy their products!!!!!!
The harder Samsung tries, the sadder it looks. Two dollars – and overpriced at that.
so Samsung is going to sell a huge total [snark] of 40 or 50 Galaxy II’s to several dozen kids who are willing to camp out a few days so they can make a couple hundred bucks by flipping them. all this just to supposedly “show up” Apple.
this is beyond lame.
Samsung clearly has lost it. it is flailing against Apple with empty boasting, frivolous lawsuits, wild production overruns, and now really stupid PR stunts.
the biggest “reality distortion field” in the world is located in Korea, and it’s imploding.
A pop-up kiosk setup isn’t what we would call “guerilla marketing”. What clearly separates a brand leader & category “re-creator” like Apple is that it always has a long-term view of things. After this reactionary promo stunt, what does the S(h)amsung brand stand for now apart from “shameless copycat”? “Cheap”. “Overpriced”. “Insecure”. To name but a few.
Two bucks? Ya, that’s about what they’re worth.
Apple pioneered the new age smartphones and all, but their time in the sun is gone. Competitor technology is now far superior, recent ease of use studies support Android, and the iPhone failed to deliver the magical number 5. Kids find iPhones uncool because that’s what their parents now have, think about that.
http://www.excitebuzz.com/is-apple-iphone-4s-worth-buying/736.html
The most important thing a company can do besides a) Having a great product and b) Excellent marketing is to have c) BRAND RESPECT. Your brand is as important as your products.
Samsung clearly lapses on all 3 fronts.