Monday, April 09, 2012

Is Samsung making too many devices?

by Edgar Cervantes on April 7th, 2012 at 6:10 pm

Samsung has just filed a few trademark applications for what looks to be upcoming Android devices. These are the Galaxy Lift, Galaxy Perx and Galaxy Sire.Of course, this information may not mean much right now. It is still unknown if Samsung will even use such trademarks, or if they will keep the names. It is also unknown if these are tablets, phones, or anything else. But “Galaxy” is attached to Samsung’s Android products, and it is a bit interesting to see a bit of what could be coming. The company has also filed for other trademarks in the past few months. These include the Galaxy Joy, Fresh, Awaken, Axiom, Heir and Rite. What a list, right?
Samsung is known for constantly manufacturing a plethora of devices for all markets. It can become a bit overwhelming at times, which is the reason why manufacturers like HTC and Motorola are deciding to make fewer, better devices. But covering all sides of the spectrum has its benefits, and it seems like Samsung is not stopping.
With that said, we might not be seeing most of these devices. If we do, odds are that we will not care much for most of them. But what do you guys think? Should Samsung follow the other guys and stop releasing devices like pancakes?
[Via: Electronista]
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Showing 76 comments

  • DarrenR
    yes

  • Lucian Armasu
    Sadly yes, and they going the way of HTC in 2011. They are also destroying the Galaxy name by putting it on everything from the most low-end device to the highest, which means they might as well take it out, because eventually it will have no real meaning. They probably won't stop until they see a dip in revenues like HTC did, though.

  • WickedToby741
    Going the way of HTC? They're profits are soaring. You're absolutely right they won't stop unless they see a dip in revenue because what they're doing is working, unlike with HTC.

  • Lucian Armasu
    HTC's profits were soaring up until Q2-Q3 last year, too. What I'm saying is that if they continue, they will be in the same situation eventually, and they need to re-evaluate their strategy before that even happens.
    Also RIM's profits were soaring up until mid 2010, too. Financial data is not always a good indicator of good strategy. Sometimes revenues can grow just because of inertia, not because of a current good strategy. But that means it will be short-lived, and the bad strategy will catch-up with the revenues, and they will take a dip eventually.

  • Josh Destardi
    Depends on if people are actually buying them.

  • ingua2
    which means, yes... still too many devices.

  • Josh Destardi
    I don't get your point?  If people purchase products then it shows demand.  Or am I wrong?  Not being argumentative, I couldn't care less eiher way.

  • dominiej
    My concern isn't how many devices are they MAKING, but how many are they SUPPORTING properly, which is a major one in my mind.
    Ol' Sammy has a bad track record of supporting their devices properly (read: timely - they take forever to update them) and as a consumer, that makes me steer well clear of their devices.  And the fact they're churning out even more devices makes me that much more afraid of them than ever.

  • Dima Aryeh
    Their "bad track record" was one phone series, the Galaxy S, and only the US models. Otherwise their track record has been pretty fantastic. Think about it this way. The Captivate (AT&T Galaxy S) was updated from 2.1 to 2.2 to 2.3. Late, but that's good support. The AT&T Galaxy SII was updated from 2.3.4 to 2.3.6 to fix bugs (also great support), and will be updated to 4.0.3 very soon (leaked builds have the release-keys designation, near final). European Galaxy S was the first device in the world to get Gingerbread officially. First to get it leaked too. European Galaxy SII got Ice Cream Sandwich before the Nexus S did. They update very well, but occasionally slowly. And US carriers mess with the updates too. Other companies don't have much better track records either.

  • dominiej
     In my mind, Samsung is the worst.  HTC, Motorola, and even LG (at least in my mind and experience) update their phones well.  I have friends with LG Optimus S that rock Gingerbread, I had HTC phones all the way up until I got a Motorola Photon 4G which I can't complain about either.
    Sure, I've never owned a Samsung device, but there is a clear and definite reason for that.

  • truthurtz
    I find it hilarious how immediately after Dima proves with facts that Samsung has a great track record with the exception of one instance, you follow it up with "In my mind, Samsung is the worst."
    Well in my mind I'm a billionaire playboy.
    The fact is that Samsung has been better than other vendors on updates with their mid range phones and flagship phones, but the media only likes to focus on Samsung since they're the biggest Android brand, while ignoring brands like HTC that have a worse track record.

  • Dima Aryeh
    Both my Galaxy S and Galaxy SII are running Gingerbread. SII came with it, S got it officially. You can't hate on Samsung when you've never owned one. Media blew the update thing out of proportion and ignored every other company that has done the same thing.

  • Killa357
    Samsung used to be bad about updates but recently they shook up their mobile division to get more timely updates. HTC mass produces phones like nothing I've ever seen before, when I got my Evo 3D (coming from the OG Evo) I had to take it back 3 times due to manufacturer defects. There have been practically no updates on it other than some kernel tweaks. Locked down bootloaders. As for Motorola, their phones are built unbelievably cheap. I don't know how they are about updates. LG seems to  be struggling to keep up, can't comment on their service because I haven't had much contact with their devices.

  • galaxy_S
    in the US manufacturers have to make versions for gsm and cdma and all that... and the carriers, ughh.. LOL

  • dominiej
    Regardless, the perception is still there and now that Sammy's pumping out even more devices faster really calls into question whether they'll be able to keep up with themselves.

  • Dima Aryeh
    The Galaxy S snafu hurt Samsungs rep, but other phones are just getting GB. Like LG Optimus One on Verizon or Sprint (I forget) just got GB. A ton of other mid range phones did too. Many are stuck on Froyo. Yet everyone focuses on Samsung, and ignores most other manufacturers. They say the DROID 3 won't get ICS. It's a DROID 4 without an LTE chip. IDENTICAL to the DROID 4, almost identical to the RAZR and Bionic. What gives with that?

  • Killa357
    Motorola design process: Well I've got these spare parts... and a few new parts... Oh look, a blender!

  • ingua2
    blender reference didn't work.

  • OhAaron
    I have a Galaxy Nexus, but I have to jump in here.  You forgot about the part where the Droid 3 only has 512 MB of Ram.

  • Dima Aryeh
    Ahh, yes I did. They bumped up the RAM. And threw in LTE. While using all other identical parts aside from the worse screen and a different design. Also, 512MB is plenty for ICS. My Captivate runs it smoother than most phones do on GB.

  • bluevoodo
    What about droid charge or Samsung continum?

  • Ardrid
     The BlackJack says hello.

  • Dima Aryeh
    WinMo says goodbye O_o

  • chris125
     it is the carriers that kill it. Their international versions are some of the first to be updated and stay updated. The international sgs2 has been running ICS for awhile now. Blame the carriers

  • grahamnp
    Yes, when you cannot continually support all your models for a decent period of time, you've got too many models.
    They should create one model per price point and throw all their resources at these core models.  No need for different models for different carriers or territories.  This doesn't hamper the iPhone so it's obviously not a real issue.

  • DYNK
    The worldwide Galaxy S has been the most supported android device to this day. (INCLUDING THE NEXUS SERIES) as in updates and major upgrades put together.
    it started out with eclair (even though it really should've been froyo)
    Eclair - Froyo - Gingerbread - and then Gb+ which came out officially like a week ago.
    I'm fine with Sammy. As lomg as they support their expensive flagship devices like now

  • dominiej
    I watched as my Evo 4G got Gingerbread while Samsung infuriated its owners of the Epic 4G (a Galaxy S phone) with a wait of over 6 months.  I was glad I didn't go with the Epic.

  • Ardrid
    In a word: yes.  I would love to see Samsung follow HTC and unify their phones into a singular brand or two, with no more than 3 phones/brand. 
    At this point, its a bit ridiculous.  You have, in no particular order: Galaxy S, Galaxy S II, Galaxy Tab, Galaxy Tab 7.7, Galaxy Tab 10.1, Galaxy Tab 2, Galaxy S III, Galaxy Note, Galaxy Note 2, Infuse, Galaxy Y, Galaxy Pocket, Captivate Glide, Galaxy R, Galaxy W, Infuse, etc., etc., etc.
    It's absolutely ridiculous to have that many phones, many of which overlap with one another.  Just Samsung's 2012 lineup alone, assuming the new trademarks are upcoming products, is insane: Galaxy S III, Galaxy Note 10.1, Galaxy Note 2, Galaxy Lift, Galaxy Perx, Galaxy Sire, Galaxy Emerge, Galaxy Stellar, Galaxy Halo.  Contrast that with HTC's 2012 lineup: One V, One S, and One X; all Android 4.0 devices; all logically targeted at a different segment of the market.
    So, yes, Samsung needs to reel it in a bit.

  • galaxy_S
    ummm wait.. some of the devices you mentioned are iterations of the device not available in the US... or just merely iterations of the first gen devices..... keyword: iterations
    the devices they are making are for different demographics of people..
    but the galaxy note 2 as a 10 incher? i guess it's more appropriate for such type of device with a 'note' feature to be on a bigger screen.. but if they make another note on a 5'3 inche screen.. that's overdoing it.. LOL

  • feztheforeigner
    Really they just make a big name phone (the Galaxy S) and a big name tablet (the Galaxy Tab). I am perfectly fine with that.

  • Aslan N.L. Bollin
    This is their Galaxy Line...
    Galaxy 550, Galaxy 750, Spica, Ace, Apollo, Attain, Beam, Fit, Gio, Mini, Precedent, Prevail, Galaxy R, Galaxy S, Galaxy S Plus,  Galaxy W, Galaxy Y, Galaxy Y Pro DUOS, Galaxy Pro, Captivate, Aviator, Blaze, Stratosphere, Continuum, Fascinate, Epic 4G, Galaxy S II, S II Epic 4G Touch, S II Captivate Glide, S II Skyrocket, S II Skyrocket HD, Note and I'm sure I'm probably missing a few too..
    Galaxy Tab 7.0, Galaxy Tab 7.0+, Galaxy Tab 7.7, Galaxy Tab 8.9, Galaxy Tab 10.1
    All that in under 3 years..... NAhhh that's not too much.........
    I wonder how many different Galaxy S III varients Samsung will have... x_X

  • Daniel Gallo
    Yes! And let me throw this in there because it seems people complain about htc....All Samsung phones look the same!

  • gloriousnumber1
    I like pancakes though....

  • Magnus100
    Stupid Samsung! They should make much fewer devices.

  • Lawrence Mcatee
    blah blah blah they make tons of money, however I hate samsung phone. No samsung phones have sparked my interest ever. The note was an interesting take but it's just a big skyrocket... which is lame. I think it's lame I sell ten of their phones and I would prefer oh... you know.... 2....

  • Stocklone
    It's even more awesome that they release those 10 phones one month apart from each other and do slight upgrades for each. I love my E4GT but their methodology for releasing phones is ridiculous.

  • Matt S
    I think it's funny when people think they know how to make more money than these huge companies... I think they know what they're doing.

  • OhAaron
    Sometimes I wonder... Just look at Motorola.

  • reiththestud
    Yes. And the good ones that people want like the 7.7 are priced into the stratosphere.

  • Aaron Soles
    More choice the better, they will have a phone for any person. Still is nice to have its flagship though.

  • CTownOL
     It's not even about choice any more. It is starting to feel like Samsung takes one of their many low end phones changes it a tiny bit and release it under a new name, usually on a different carrier.
    It just seems so wasteful!

  • Dima Aryeh
    Not really. Unlike HTC/Moto, they make a lot of DIFFERENT devices. They have a plethora of low end to high end phones to suit any need. From the Note to the Galaxy Y Duos to whatever that 2.8" cutie was. But HTC/Moto made the SAME phones a hundred times. Bionic/RAZR/RAZR Maxx? Amaze/Sensation/Inspire? Examples are plenty. Samsung hasn't really done that, at least to that extent.

  • MrSix
    Say Whaaaa? If the Bionic is a Razr, and the Sensation is an Insire(not even close, you mean the Rezound maybe?), then what about the T-mobile Galaxy SII? That's an AT&T Galaxy SII Skyrocket, and while we're at it they both might as well be the Galaxy S Blaze 4G with a big ol' screen upgrade. Soon(or maybe they did already and I didn't notice?) they're bringing out a Galaxy SII Skyrocket HD which is essentially the US Market version of the Galaxy SII HD LTE, which is kinda like a US market Galaxy Note minus the stylus(yeah I'm calling it that).
    While the Epic 4G touch is a normal Galaxy SII with a bigger screen. Don't forget about the Infuse which is essentially a Droid Charge minus LTE with a slightly higher clock speed on the processor, which kinda makes it a Captivate 1.5, while the Captivate was also a Mesmerize and a Fascinate, and a Vibrant and a Continuum. Which means the Galaxy S 4G on T-mobile is also the Infuse! Let's not forget the easily forgotten Exhibit which is like a Galaxy S minus the SAMOLED screen. Speaking of which there's also the Stratosphere which is exactly like the original Epic 4G, now with LTE. There's also the Captivate Glide which plays Droid4 to the Galaxy R's Razr...even though they aren't sold in the same market. Oh and there was also that Sidekick that had all the Galaxy S hardware minus the screen, which makes it a Mesmerize with a keyboard! Which would make it an Epic4G...and Stratosphere...and that regional carrier Variant whose name I can't remember.
    I don't even know anything about the Galaxy Y, W, M or whatever other alphabet soup they got going.
    Don't get me wrong, I'm not bashing them for it because I don't think it's that hard to keep up with really, and it isn't as if they flood the same carrier with them. However when it comes to wrapping the same phone in different skin, Samsung is easily the worst offender.
    Still I don't think it really matters.

  • Dima Aryeh
    1. Bionic is a RAZR.... they just thinned down the RAZR because the Bionic was a fat cow.
    2. I know Samsung has MANY variants, but they're all on different networks with different names. They don't have identical phones on the same network. I'm saying HTC and Motorola spam one network with identical phones. Also, my bad for throwing the Inspire in there, it isn't like the Sensation. Different chipset.

  • MrSix
    The Bionic isn't fat, it's no Razr or GSII I suppose, but then again what was back then? You say "Fat" like it's a Thunderbolt or something(zing!)
    And how are two phones a flooding? If that's the case then Samsung is guilty of it on more than one carrier.
    I mean what separates the Bionic and Razr? The "form factor", the clock speed, the screens(type wise), bluetooth 2.1 vs 4.0 and the rest is software far as I can tell.
    If 2 maybe 3 phones if you count the Maxx, which I don't because it's literally just a battery upgrade which is like counting 32 and 16gb versions of the Galaxy Nexus as wholly different devices in my mind, counts as a flooding then what is Samsung doing?
    They've got the Infuse and Captivate and the Skyrocket and Skyrocket HD on AT&T. The Blaze on and GSII on Tmobile along with the original Exhibit and the Galaxy S 4G and the Vibrant. They've got the 1 device on Sprint but on Verizon they also had the Fascinate and Continuum out at the same time.
    Like I said, they're as guilty of it as anyone

  • Dima Aryeh
    Well it isn't fat, I'm exaggerating...
    It was DROID 3, Bionic, DROID 4, RAZR, RAZR Maxx... that's flooding. They all run the same chipset, same basic hardware. Minor differences.
    On AT&T, Captivate isn't available, hit its EOL. Skyrocket HD hasn't launched. They have Infuse for budget, SII for midrange, and Skyrocket for high end. And a Note for a niche.
    Many of the phones you're naming are EOL already... at a time they didn't ever flood a carrier.

  • MrSix
    It isn't flooding. Let's not lump sliders in with slabs, the keyboards alone are enough to make them sufficiently different. The Droid4 launched at least 6 months after the Droid3, has twice the RAM, and LTE. That's more than enough difference between it and every other Motorola you mentioned. So if you wanna talk budget choice vs high-end then I don't see a problem. And like I said, I barely consider the MAXX to be a different device, it amounts to an extended battery package.
    Which leaves only the Razr and Bionic without alot of differentiation or a large time gap, and that's only because the Bionic was delayed for ages. At that point they'd just lose money again on the Razr if they didn't release it on time.
    The captivate is EOL now(as is the Droid3 fyi) as are the rest of the GSI line, but they weren't when the Infuse and some of the other GSI rehashes were launched. So at any point Samsung still had as many similar devices per carrier. If you insist on lumping qwertys and sliders you'll have to put the Captivate Glide in your example as well.
    I could look up exact dates to confirm alot of it, but I'm too lazy for that.

  • Chris Williams
    I think the idea is that now Motorola, and HTC are going to take the streamlined approach, and focus on a few devices instead of 50 devices a year.  Not sure outside of the RAZR, what Moto is doing, but the rumors are that HTC is going to mainly focus on the One series of devices this year.

  • Dima Aryeh
    Yes, of course. Which is great. Because they REALLY overdid it. I'm trying to say Samsung isn't overdoing it, since they make a lot of devices but all kinds of devices ranging from average to strange and not appealing to everyone (the 2.8" won't appeal to most but is a good option, the Note is HUGE, the Galaxy Y Duos has 2 SIM slots which is a great idea).

  • DYNK
    Lol they made One and made One X And One S. And fromt hose two 3 iterations so that would be 6?
    Different names same shit.
    Its really funny how people think that what they think will let these multi-billion companies earn more.
    Silly post -topic really.

  • Chris Williams
    The idea is no one wants to buy a handset, and have it become outdated 2 months later.  Most of us sign 2 year contracts, and out of contract phones can get expensive after a while.

  • Chris
    Lol yea

  • James Sorensen
    Selling a ton of each one... sounds like good business to me

  • kennedy myril
    yeah but selling a ton of a single device is even more cost efficient and also enables people to be familiar with the brand. take the note for example, there was only 1 galaxy note, (barring the carrier differentiations) and ppl love and can identify with it. there was no noteX, notePlus or the likes... that just me though.

  • Spoken Word™
    Except for the fact that they aren't supporting any in a manner that I would call acceptable. For instance; I won a Galaxy tab 10.1 from this site last year. That Galaxy Tab is still running Honeycomb whereas Samsung has other tablets coming to market with ICS. Touch Wiz on the Galaxy Tab ruined what was a great product and as of yet there has been no fix for that lag inducing BS or any word as to when IC will arrive. They need to slow their roll on new products and fix the ones already on the market.

  • marcus aurelius
     Hi Spoken Word, I too have experienced the horrible and unacceptable Lag afflicting Samsung's Galaxy Tabs, in this case I have the GSM Tab 7.7. I was embarressed how long it took between home screens and coming back to the home screen out of an app. I forgot to try resetting the tablet in the hopes that doing that would "clean up" any issues. I downloaded AWD EX and that did the trick. Lag is 99% gone and it is tablet friendly too. Now I am completely content with it. If your haven't tried ADW EX, I highly recommend it.

  • DYNK
    Yeah but they don't need to...obviously on your part I understand you're pissed but the business works. Its how they got to be top manufacturer in world and they aren't stopping now so they can make less...
    The Galaxy line alone didn't take em this far. It was all of the mobile division.

  • Eric
    Yes they are making to many. They need to focus on the galaxy s and galaxy note line as theur premium devices and a couple mid range and lower end devices, if they made less devices they could improve their premium devies as far as quality of processor, features and build. Hopefully this will come about soon.

  • JevyJav
    YES! And this post should have been made into a poll

  • Thomas Edwards
    Their objective is to surpass Nokia in total phone sales, you can't do that if you only concentrate on a single or a few brands of phones, you have to be able to cover the entire market from flagship iPhone cometitor to affordable low-range devices.

  • surethom
    Yes, Yes Yes.  And the amount of different Galaxy devices is confusing, make less & concentrate on updating software quicker, please

  • chancho1978
    I guess I wouldn't care as much, if they would put a piece of gum in each box with the phone, you know like they did with the baseball cards 20 years ago. That would be sweet.

  • Stocklone
    I thought we already decided this last year that Samsung is making waaaaaaaay too many devices.  I love the way HTC is going and I hope Samsung realizes it is the better path.

  • D Fryling
    I like all of the diversity they offer. I hope the stay with it and produce as many new mobile devices as they can. The only thing needed is to get t-mobile to release their drivers asap.

  • AJA0
    I'll never buy a Samsung anything again, especially phone. If I pay $800 for an electronic, I don't expect it to feel like a LEGO. "it weighs less" is a bullsh^t excuse for making phones and devices out of plastic, it's all about the $$$. I can stand a couple more ounces so it can withstand a drop, or light pressure, without serious scratches.

  • Alan Paone
    its clearly working for them, but theres no way they enjoy priducing, testing and supporting that portfolio. ypu can tell theyre running out of names

  • Jeff Alberda
    RIght now it seems that Samsung is stuck between doing smartphones like the rest of the competition and treating smartphones like everyone treated feature phones a few years back.  Oh this one has a bit smaller screen, this one has a keyboard etc.
    I am a G Nexus user, which shouldn't be included in the Samsung lineup IMO, but I think Samsung needs to go with 4-5 basic designs.
    The very large size like the Note
    The S series 2, 3 etc
    An iphone sized S variant
    And a smaller option.
    Then if they offered a choice in one of those designs like an S series with a keyboard and without and maybe that size with spen, but everything else was the same, then I think you can't really fault them for the option.

  • Aeires
    Yes.
    There should be only one Galaxy, just tack on the carrier in front of it and up the number after it for every new iteration.  Phones shouldn't draw you to a carrier, the carriers pricing, options, and coverage in your area should.  Stop all this insanity of a different phone on each carrier.
    Personally I'd like to see 1 stock high end phone, 1 non-stock high end phone, 1 mid range phone, and 1 low end phone, then concentrate on improving and supporting each one.

  • ubuniz
    Samsung can slow down a bit but not too much.  Just keep things to
    Galaxy S series
    Galaxy Note Series
    ------------------------------
    and the lower ends

  • aiden9
    Drop the lower ends, just sell the older models as "lower end". Other than that I agree.

  • Stocklone
    Nothing wrong with being known as a company that only releases top shelf gadgets. Seems to work for Apple.

  • ReverseRoxas
    People are begging to get burnt when they buy these oversupplied Samsung phones. There are far too many of them to support and update IN A TIMELY FASHION. Remember the Evo? Eclair to Gingerbread in a matter of what, a  year? Lets see Sammy's Epic or better yet! How about the Continuum? It JUST got updated to Froyo, and Sammy did some decent advertising on that puppy. At least with HTC, LG, and Moto, I know I'll get updates ASAP, and not get shoved aside if I buy an expensive phone. (Don't bring up the Thunderbolt, we all know that was a disaster...)

  • RandomRant
    I don't mind how many phones they are making. However, everything they are doing with their many tablets is ridiculousness.

  • james
    they need to make like 2 or 3 phones a year thats it so they can keep up with them selves and the updates for the os i love samsung but im about sick of there updates takeing for ever and a year

  • maximillion82
    Don't worry about Samsung I'm sure they know what they are doing.

  • deh2002
    Yes
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