Samsung: There’s no way an Apple television can beat us on picture quality

“Samsung’s AV product manager Chris Moseley who doesn’t think Apple has the R&D chops to field a formidable TV,” John Paczkowski reports for AllThingsD. “‘We’ve not seen what they’ve done, but what we can say is that they don’t have 10,000 people in R&D in the vision category,’ hereMoseley told Pocket-lint. ‘They don’t have the best scaling engine in the world and they don’t have world renowned picture quality that has been awarded more than anyone else. … There is no way that anyone, new or old, can come along this year or next year and beat us on picture quality.'”

“Perhaps. Samsung’s clearly got a lot of expertise in display picture quality. But presumably Apple’s got some applicable experience here, too, thanks to its own desktop display offerings and the Retina display,” Paczkowski reports.

Read more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: Besides the facts that the vast majority of consumers can’t tell the difference between a Wal-Mart LCD and a top-of-the-line plasma and that Apple’s offering, if there is any, is likely to focus on usability that may be impossible to mimic, not upon whatever the typical myopic TV set peddlers are currently touting, two more things pop immediately to mind:

• “There’s no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance.” – Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, April 30, 2007

• “We’ve learned and struggled for a few years here figuring out how to make a decent phone. PC guys are not going to just figure this out. They’re not going to just walk in.” – Former Palm CEO Ed Colligan, November 16, 2006

If you can wait a bit, do not buy a TV set right now, and if you have to: Do not buy a TV from Samsung.

Related articles:
Secrets to Apple success: Displays; Apple sets the standard – January 22, 2012
TSMC, ASE, SPIL in running to supply parts for Apple’s smart TV; Foxconn likely to assemble – December 28, 2011
Apple suppliers soon to prep materials for iTV launch in 2nd or 3rd quarter of 2012, say sources – December 27, 2011
Analyst: Apple shifts from Samsung to Sharp for new 2012 HDTV displays – November 23, 2011

105 Comments

    1. bwahahahahahah yes! 😀

      I cannot wait for the Apple TV 2.0 to start selling like the iPhone 4S did.

      We shall ridicule samsung and their arrogant behavior + blatant ripoffs of the iPhone.

      1. It won’t sell as much as the iPhone 4S, but it will sell like hotcakes, fer sure.

        Not only does this article get it wrong, but they ignore that for all intents and purposes, it looks like Apple will be using Sharp’s IGZO panels. And Sharp has LOTS of people in their R&D department.

        1. Oh, and you never know. TV is something people are finally getting sick enough of. There are just no really good ways to get Ad-free TV with zero hassle. If apple combines the “apple TV” innards with a large and delicious IGZO screen, and adds some really interesting and awesome features, they may have a new bestseller.

        1. This begs the question. In the stacked corpses piled high of competitors who have blustered and mocked and downplayed and doubted Apple since the return of Jobs in 1997.

          Has there even been one single doubter or hater who has been proven right and Apple wrong?

    1. I guess he forgot the Mac was invented by 25 people, for mere thousands while IBM was spending millions on R&D.

      Newsflash to Moseley: It’s not the amount of R&D you have, but the amount of great new ideas. Last I checked Samsung hasn’t invented anything new.

  1. To be fair, the iPhone does have a small marketshare in the overall handset market: about 5%.

    If in 2007 I told you they’d reach 5% marketshare you might be thinking “okay, big deal… About the same as the Macs tiny market share” and then if I told you that 5% would be worth more than all of Microsoft put together you’d tell me I was loony.

        1. If Apple enters this space expect them to have a similar strategy. Sell a product into the small slice at the top and take home the bacon.

          Maybe they have figured out how to create a lucrative subsidized model. There’s plenty of people paying for cable service in the US, and maybe in certain other parts of the world.

  2. Ummm, I believe that was said by many companies in early 2007. That may come back to bite Samsung.

    Apple is all about setting standards and Samsung may or should be ready to lose more market!!

  3. Egregious arrogant gigantism…if that fits.

    I have NEVER bought an electronic device because of “Quality”.

    I bought Apple laptops since introduced because of ease of use…

    iPods from day one because of small size & ease of use..

    iPhones because of intuitive ease of use & universal function…

    iHATE my existing Sony because of the REMOTES…remotes that break and “we don’t make that anymore”, so buy a universal remote and program it.

    These arrogant CEOs and their companies STILL do NOT get it after Steve Jobs spent decades showing them…and that is the irony, in that they have been told what to do to succeed by a master and they ignored it for over a decade and still ignore it today.

    Toss the old guard out and bring in someone 30 years old for gosh’ sake.

    1. Agreed! Throw out the old guard! We got rid of Steve Jobs … now let’s concentrate on Sir Jonathan Ive. Tim Cook is over 30 … Can him too! Scott Forstall is over 30 … So is Wozniak.

      Maybe that ancient philosopher Aaliyah was correct … Age ain’t nothing but a number, throwing down ain’t nothing but a thang.

  4. Not to mention what they said about the iPad, the iPod, the iTunes Music Store and the Apple retail stores. Never mind what thenSamsung exec said in public. The people from the TV divisions of Samsung, Sony, Panasonic, LG, Vizeo, Sharp and all of the rest are #%€£-ing their pants in anticipation of Apple’s next venture.

  5. I would never bet against Apple’s quality…NEVER.
    You can beat them in price, to be sure.
    You can beat them in features (quantity, not quality)
    You can beat them in choice

    I’ve yet to see anyone put a competing product out that beats Apple on design and quality…and I doubt we will anytime soon.

  6. What needs changing in TV is not the picture quality. It is the REMOTE and the way people navigate! 50 plus buttons is ridiculous! SIRI TV with iOS interface beats sub/sub/sub menus anyday!
    Please iCal this MDN…famous last words.

    1. Actually picture quality continues to vary widely across manufacturers and product lines. I’m seeing that as I shop for a display to replace my Pioneer plasma (only 1024×768 resolution). Newer sets can beat what I have in peak brightness, contrast, color fidelity, etc. but almost nothing will match the wide-angle viewing I get. Very frustrating.

  7. It’s crazy they would say something like this.

    One the one hand it shows they don’t really understand their own market (I would buy an Apple TV just so I don’t have to consider the hundreds of obscure features and the dozens of models available from each manufacturer).

    And it also demonstrates that they don’t know Apple. Over the years I’ve often decided to pay more (much, much more) for an Apple monitor, rather than buying a non-Apple monitor for my Mac. Why? IMAGE QUALITY.

  8. Whether Samsung is right or not probably doesn’t matter, because Apple will have psychology on its side. If it turns out that the sets are extremely easy to use, Siri-controlled, etc., the average viewer will swear the set has the most extraordinary picture quality they have ever seen. Simple human nature.

    1. That may be human nature (although doubtful as human nature is that which all human being have in common, it’s not particular qualities that only some have), but it’s also self-delusion (and that’s something that not all humans engage in).

    1. Brilliant idea. If anyone ever comes up with a history of Apple Museum someday they should have a room full of quotes from people who criticized any dumped on Apple and the final end result!

  9. So defensive and Apple hasn’t even said they are making a TV yet. Samsung hasn’t learned from the past that when Apple releases a produuct they do it with unthinkable features, not just the lamen stuff that you get on any product.
    There defensive posture shows how scared they are of what Apple might do. You should be scared Samsung.

    1. If Apple enters the TV space, they will have picture quality as good as anyone else. It will have a very small selection of high quality models, and it will have some suddenly obvious features that everyone will want to copy but they will be patented.

      It will also leave off the terrible bloat and junk that every other manufacturer thinks differentiates their products.

  10. Is there a word for some tech pronouncement that boomerangs and collapses on the head of its owner? If not we need to make one up, like boomtang, full protechnic reversal, braggadosis, hubden or hubristic denial, techuppance, idiotspeak, WD syndrome (wishful dreamer) or TTNT (thats today not tomorrow) or TYNT (that’s yesterday not today). Or CEOF (CEO Folly).

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