Samsung's proven that Android smartphones and tablets can go toe-to-toe with iOS, transforming mobile into its own largest growth business. It took more than $11bn in marketing expenses to get there. [Asymco]

  • http://twitter.com/Beaverbeaver Steve Olsen

    I’m much more likely to ditch Apple now that I have a relative amount of faith in Samsung. The people I know with the Galaxy SIII are pretty happy.

     I still think with the combination of Carrier ROMS/OEM ROMS/ NES ROMS(jk) there is a bit too much going on.Samsung is competing with the iPhone but it’s also releasing A LOT of Phones compared. How many Samsung phones have been released in the last 5 years? Galaxy, Galaxy S, Galaxy SII, Galaxy SIII, Galaxy Nexus(?), Galaxy Note, Galaxy Note II, plus 3g/4g variants of each…Just look here.

    http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung-phones-f-9-10.php

    As soon as they settle down a bit I will jump onboard.

    • http://boingboing.net/ Rob Beschizza

      Yeah, so settling down on model proliferation is not really Samsung’s cup of tea.

      • vonbobo

        Agreed. .. The fractioned knock against Android and Samsung is also a positive… consumers have more options to choose from, ensuring they get the price point, features, and hardware that suits them the best. I don’t see Samsung wanting a single iphone like business model at all.

        Rereading the op… I do agree however that the manufacturer and carrier ROMs are the biggest negatives to the Android experience (one of the things killing the windows pc too).

        • http://twitter.com/Beaverbeaver Steve Olsen

          I like choices but there is a point. They do really only push the latest and greatest which is practically the same thing I suppose. It’s not like I actively have to wade through 300 models. I still think the abundance of carrier/manufacturer combos is a bit much.

          I had a coworker hit me up to change the ROM on her Galaxy SII.  She’d switched carriers and was having issues. In France law requires that they unlock the phone, but that’s where it ends. I spent a week or so trying to pin down the right stuff both variant wise and link wise before I got it done. That is an extreme example and not exactly samsung’s fault but after wading through that sea of endless ROMs/root methods/bios flashery I wasn’t left with a positive impression of the landscape. My dad is having trouble getting updates for the HTC Nexus I gave him before I moved in 2010.This may seem like a silly question but can you buy Samsung phones off contract? Unlocked?

    • sciwizam

      Pretty simple, as Samsung releases 2 flagship phones per year.
      If you want a normal phone get the Galaxy S phone of that year, if you want a bigger phone with a  Wacom stylus, get the Galaxy Note of that year.

  • http://www.jjsaul.com Jim Saul

    They’ve certainly passed some strict testing… the ISS currently has three SPHERE robots (also suitable for light-saber training) that are run by onboard Nexus phones (with Adafruit battery housings!)

    http://www.uml.edu/News/stories/2010-11/space_shuttle_smartphone.aspx

    Google Talk: ”Smart SPHERES: Android-powered, free-flying space robots”

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEaheYVf3U0

    • http://twitter.com/Beaverbeaver Steve Olsen

      That is sofa king awesome!

      • http://www.jjsaul.com Jim Saul

        It’s really worth the time to watch the talk… lots of great details about the way they hacked the control system together, standing in line to get the phones at Best Buy on release day, destroying one trying to remove the cellular chip to conform to ISS safety requirements, using the fact that the USB port on the phone is already set up to switch over to act as a serial port, converting to alkaline batteries because lithium is tightly restricted on the ISS, detailing how the gravity and inertia sensors react to the environment, etc.

        And he encourages volunteer roboticists, coders, AI hobbyists, and hackers to contact him to contribute to that and other projects.

    • http://glitch.tl/ Michael Smith

      Good against remotes is one thing. Good against the living, that’s something else.

  • Ito Kagehisa

    1) build android phone
    2) DON’T FORCE USERS TO RUN YOUR CRIPPLED VERSION OF ANDROID
    3) profit!!!!!!!

    Sadly, for most android vendors, step 2 reads “??????” or “something magical happens” instead.

    • http://twitter.com/snookasnoo Idon’t Know

      Someone needs to build an Android phone that is iPhone level quality instead of crappy plastic and either run vanilla Android on it or Cyanogen Mod.

  • TheKaz1969

    choice: $11bn to inform consumers about your phone and get them to try it or spend $11bn to have your lawyers go after your competition..?

  • http://twitter.com/snookasnoo Idon’t Know

    Samsung makes dramatically less money than Apple with their smartphones.  Not even close.  They are the ONLY Android manufacturer making money though which is pretty sad.  Bu they won’t break out their revenues or how many phones they have actually sold.  they only announce shipped half of which are sitting on store shelves while Apple announces sold.

    • vonbobo

      Lol! When Samsung “ships” a phone, they have actually sold it. You are thinking about when a carrier buys a phone from Samsung, it sits on their shelf until a customer buys it from them. I’m not sure how much of your statement is actually true, or even if it matters.

  • GawainLavers

    Those iPhone line ads are great, but i’m not sure they’re $11b great.

  • Cowicide
  • Emo Pinata

    It doesn’t help that Apple is coasting and everyone caught up.

    I like the new iTunes though.

  • http://lectiblog.blogspot.com/ lecti

    It is an incredible amount, but marketing is certainly working on consumers for Samsung. Screw “product selling itself” – this actually shows that Apple isn’t spending enough on marketing including spiffs for telco sales.