Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) can marvel in what seems to be an occasional blessing in disguise, since the beginning of August. The company’s Samsung Galaxy S3 smartphone registered abnormal sales during two critical periods, involving its major rival Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). The first skewed sales were reported during the lawsuit, in August, which Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) was asked to pay $1 billion worth of damages to the Silicon Valley company. The second wave of abnormal sales was registered during Apple’s Launch of iPhone 5, in mid September.
This raises a very debatable question, as it seems to defy the laws of economics. Considering Apple’s superiority in the smartphones industry, it is quite unimaginable how Samsung would record a surge in sales for its Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) Galaxy S3 smartphone, when everything seemed to be going against it.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) customers held tight to their hard earned cash to wait for the new iPhone 5, and the iPhone maker was forced to surrender a significant market share to its main rival, in its domestic market (U.S.). No one would have imagined that Samsung could dodge a decline in its sales for its Galaxy S3 phone during the launch of iphone 5, but alas, it actually out sprinted expectations by far.
Nonetheless, there are some explainable circumstances that could have contributed to this unexpected, fortunate surge in sales for Samsung Galaxy S3.
First, his simply means that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s launch of iPhone 5, was anxiously, awaited by customers from all walks of life, including Samsung smartphones die hards. Indeed the huge number registered after the launch of iPhone 5 could indicate a chunk of customers who were waiting to compare the two devices, before they could finally make a final decision. Additionally, this indicates that Apple could still have robbed Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) of some customers, who later acquired iPhone 5. This has been revealed in several analyst surveys featured in our earlier posts.
The second scenario is related to the Lawsuit. Following the successful pursuit by Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) over Samsung Galaxy S2 patent infringements, along with other Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) smart devices, it would make sense that buyers who initially intended to purchase S2 smartphones, opted for the new, unique Samsung Galaxy S3, which did not infringe any iPhone patents. This could have contributed to some abnormal level of sales at around that period.
App usage and device activations tracker, Localytics, released statistics showing that Samsung Galaxy S3 sales jumped 16%, during the lawsuit period, and were abnormally up again by 15%, during the iPhone 5 Launch, while the growth to date since August 1st, stands at about 9%.
