After being kicked out of China, the world's No. 1 selling mobile phone overturned again!

Samsung uses "life" to interpret what it means to "emaciated camels are bigger than horses".

Speaking of Samsung, everyone must be familiar with it. Once, Samsung, Nokia, and Motorola were known as the three giants in the mobile phone industry. Now, however, Nokia has sold its mobile phone business, and Motorola has long been acquired by Lenovo.

Image courtesy of IT House

Of the three giants, only Samsung remains strong, and recently released the first new AI device, the Samsung Galaxy S24 series. However, the AI function of the Samsung Galaxy S24 series has been severely "castrated" when used in China.

The picture comes from Samsung's official website

Having said that, you may have to ask, why did Samsung release a new AI machine, but there was almost no splash in China?

The "battery gate" incident blew Samsung away from the Chinese market!

Let's turn the hands of time back to 2016, the year when Samsung's flagship phone, Note7, exploded!

At that time, the price of a Samsung Note7 was as high as 5988 yuan, which was definitely a "fighter" in a high-end machine.

The picture shows Samsung Note7, and the picture comes from the Internet

However, who would have thought that this high-end machine, which costs several thousands, had 35 explosions due to battery problems in just half a month after it was launched.

So, after thinking about it, Samsung finally couldn't bear the pressure and decided to recall about 2 million Samsung Note7 globally on September 2 of that year.

There is no doubt that this product from Samsung is a failure. But the most failed thing Samsung has done is the global scope of this recall, excluding China!

The picture comes from CCTV News

Chinese Consumers: EMMM...... What's going on? Engage in double standards and play differential treatment, right?!

In the face of questions from Chinese consumers, Samsung responded as follows, "The batteries used in the Samsung Note7 released in China and the Samsung Note7 sold in other parts of the world do not come from the same factory. The only problem is the latter, and the Samsung Note7 sold in China does not have any problems. ”

The picture comes from People's Daily Online

Just when Chinese consumers were relieved because of Samsung's "package ticket", as a result, a slap in the face happened - the national version of Samsung Note7 also had battery explosions one after another.

Then, it is Samsung's "Sao operation". On the one hand, Samsung flatly denied that there was a problem with the battery of the Chinese version of the Note7, and even found a laboratory to endorse it, and on the other hand, it was forced to "cover its mouth" Chinese consumers.

The picture shows Samsung's statement, and the picture comes from the Internet

What's even more bizarre is that Samsung is also trying to dump the "pot" on Chinese consumers, and the South Korean media even said that the Chinese are cheating on insurance. It's really money to buy other mobile phones, and it's terrible to buy Samsung's mobile phones......

A year after the fact, the truth was revealed. Samsung still admitted that the battery of the national version of the Note7 also has quality problems, or even worse, but at this time, users' "crisis of confidence" in Samsung has erupted.

The picture comes from People's Daily Online

After the fermentation of the "battery gate" incident, in the same year, it was revealed that Samsung forced employees to kneel down in China, just to let dealers buy more goods, and since then, Samsung's reputation in China has plummeted.

Other domestic mobile phone brands, such as Huawei and Xiaomi, are adhering to the basic operation of "taking advantage of his illness to kill him", which quickly eroded Samsung's market share in China and forced it to become Others.

Becoming the world's No. 1 for 12 consecutive years, Samsung is getting better and better?

However, Samsung, which has left the Chinese market, does not seem to have a bad life as everyone imagined.

In fact, Samsung mobile phones have been the number one smartphone seller in the world for 12 consecutive years (2011-2022). It wasn't until last year that it was surpassed by Apple. From this, we can't help but ask, why is Samsung?

The picture is taken from China News Network

With the support of South Korea? As we all know, Samsung is contracted to exist in South Koreans from birth to death. If you go to watch a Korean TV series, you will find that almost every Korean in the TV series has a Samsung.

The picture shows the Korean drama using a Samsung mobile phone, and the picture comes from TZ Talk

In South Korea, a country controlled by chaebols, Samsung, as one of the country's largest chaebol forces, has undoubted influence in the country.

According to a Counterpoint report, in the second quarter of 2023, Samsung's market share in South Korea was 84%, which is really "far ahead".

However, as of December 2023, the total population of South Korea is about 51.325 million, which obviously cannot support Samsung's huge "ambitions".

The picture is taken from Yicai

So, from the perspective of Samsung's global market share distribution, who are Samsung's mobile phones sold to?

According to a report by Canalys, in the third quarter of 2023, Samsung occupied the first place in Europe, Latin America, and the Asia-Pacific region excluding China with a market share of 36%, 31%, and 21%, respectively.

The picture shows Samsung's market share in Europe in the third quarter of 2023, image courtesy of Canalys

India and Brazil are the main countries to buy Samsung mobile phones, and in the United States, Samsung is also in second place with a market share of 22%. Overall, Samsung's global layout is still very powerful.

The picture shows Samsung's market share in India in the third quarter of 2023, image courtesy of Canalys

So why do Samsung's phones sell better in these places?

First of all, we have to admit that on a global scale, Samsung still has a great advantage in brand influence. Although Samsung's reputation in the Chinese market is stinky, it still does a good job in marketing in other regions.

The picture shows the "batterygate" incident, Samsung that is unwilling to apologize to the Chinese

Samsung's apology letter published in the Wall Street Journal

The picture comes from CCTV online commentary

Secondly, Samsung must thank the "sales optimus prime" - the Galaxy A series, which is positioned as a low-to-mid-range product. According to a Counterpoint report, in the sales ranking of the global smartphone market in the second quarter of 2023, Samsung's Galaxy A14, A54, A14 5G, S23 Ultra, A04e, and A34 occupy the 5th-10th places, respectively.

These mobile phones are precisely in line with the characteristics of market demand in countries such as India and Brazil.

Image courtesy of the Counterpoint report

Sure enough, the power of the low-end mobile phone market should not be underestimated. No wonder Redmi, realme, and OnePlus, these three companies are fighting to the death in the low-end market share, and no one is willing to let go.

Having said that, Samsung's biggest advantage over other mobile phone manufacturers, Dark Horse feels that it is still his unique system advantage. As we all know, Samsung is not only a mobile phone manufacturer, but also a semiconductor manufacturer and home appliance manufacturer.

The picture comes from Samsung's official website

By the way, don't forget, Samsung itself is still a foundry. In other words, the entire mobile phone supply chain, Samsung itself can hold up, even the screen and chips, and this is where Huawei was stumped before.

It can be said that due to its own advantages of scale and systematization, Samsung can still win the world's first mobile phone sales even after losing the Chinese market, because he has a place in the global market.

Struggling and struggling, can Samsung get back to China?

It is true that the loss of the Chinese market may be just a broken arm for Samsung, but it will not be fatal.

We also need to realize that the Chinese market is indeed large and important, but it is not the only one. Therefore, this is also an important reason why Chinese mobile phone manufacturers or other manufacturers not only need to grasp the Chinese market, but also go overseas.

However, Samsung, which has lost the Chinese market, has won the sales championship in the world for 12 consecutive years by virtue of its own advantages, but is it really no problem at all? In fact, judging from the trend of Apple surpassing Samsung last year, Samsung is under great pressure.

Image courtesy of PConline Pacific Technology

This point is vividly reflected in Samsung's financial report.

According to the latest 2023 financial report released by South Korea's Samsung Electronics on January 31, "For the whole year of 2023, Samsung Electronics' revenue will be 258.94 trillion won (about 1.39 trillion yuan), a year-on-year decrease of 14.32%, and its operating profit will be 6.57 trillion won (about 35.347 billion yuan), a year-on-year decrease of 84.85%. ”

Yes, you read that right, operating profit plummeted by 84.85%!

The picture comes from CCTV Finance

For Samsung, this is tantamount to a slap in the face. In addition to the reason for the decline in mobile phone sales (compared to 2022, Samsung's mobile phone shipments fell by 13.6%), limited by the weak consumer electronics market, Samsung's semiconductor industry is not having a good time, and chips are not easy to sell.

Therefore, Samsung urgently needs "100 million" points of stimulation to help it recover, so there is the new AI machine we talked about at the beginning - Samsung Galaxy S24 series.

However, does Samsung still want to go back to China? Yes, I still want to, and it was previously reported that Samsung still wants to go back to China to build a factory (in 2019, it completely closed the Chinese factory).

Image courtesy of Observer.com

However, it is clear that Samsung will not come back. At present, the hardware quality of domestic mobile phones is not inferior to Samsung, and the hardware quality of most mobile phones can already meet everyone's needs. Domestic mobile phone manufacturers: still want to come back? No doors! No windows!

Although the Samsung S23 Ultra is rumored to be a "star-chasing artifact" on some social platforms because of its clear stage shooting, there are even people in China who have started a Samsung S23 Ultra rental business specifically for star-chasers.

But it is clear that Samsung may be mentioned at some point, but if it wants to return to the Chinese market on a large scale and be accepted by the Chinese people again, at present, it is very unlikely.

Resources:

1. People's Daily Online "The truth! Samsung mobile phones have exploded one after another, and the story behind them is even more terrifying..."

2. Antutu "Ranking of key manufacturers in the global smartphone market in the third quarter of 2023: Samsung, Apple and Xiaomi are in the top three"

3. New Weekly "If it weren't for the concert, I would have forgotten this out-of-gas top-notch"