How Apple vs. Samsung Became a Smartphone Beauty Contest
Samsung Electronics Co.’s newest flagship smartphone owes a lot to scuba diving.
Samsung design chief M.H. Lee wanted to give consumers the weightless sensation of being underwater when they held the Galaxy S8, which hit shelves in April and is the South Korean tech giant’s first premium device after last year’s costly Galaxy Note 7 recall.
The Galaxy S8 grew longer, slimmer and dropped most of the frame surrounding the display, for a sleek design many in the tech industry contend has bested Apple Inc.’siPhone—some would say for the first time.
Ten years after Apple launched the first iPhone, the smartphone war is shifting to how a phone looks and feels. Smartphone innovation has plateaued in the eyes of many consumers, who now see incremental changes instead of game-changing features, like a front-facing camera or a crisper-looking display, that they once lined up for.
“Companies used to design phones to show off their technology,” Mr. Lee, a 45-year-old executive, said in an interview, where he wore gold-colored sneakers and a Darth Vader T-shirt. “Now the focus is on designing a product that can be a buddy to the person, inseparable to them,” Mr. Lee said.
Samsung, at least for now, is turning the tables on Apple with phone quality, Consumer Reports concluded when it ranked the Galaxy S handset the top smartphone on the market for the second straight year, with design earning praise alongside battery life and camera quality on the latest incarnation, the S8. Bragging rights matter more than ever as each company introduces fresh devices this year and vies for some of the record numbers of smartphone owners due for upgrades.
wsj.com |
