[NewsPoster]

A new study out of the UK that monitored consumer sentiment on social networks when the iPhone 5 launched has found that 20 percent of posts were critical of the device. By comparison, the launch of the Galaxy S4 attracted around half as much criticism at 11 percent, reports the Daily Mail. Criticisms leveled at the iPhone 5 were focused on the new Lightning connector, the problems with the Maps app and that the its design was not different enough to the iPhone 4S that preceded it.


"Brands were often on the receiving end of criticism for their handsets offering nothing new to the previous model," senior analyst Ed Kitchingman at We Are Social told the Daily Mail. "The most successful launches were those that captured the consumer's imagination by talking about the handset's new and innovative features," Kitchingman explained. "And while leaks can be an important tool in building success, give away too much and the handset loses its 'wow' factor upon launch," he added.

Samsung seemed to get this emphasis right with the launch of the Galaxy S4, according to We Are Social's research. More than half of the discussions on social networks about the Galaxy S4 focused on new features like the eye scrolling functionality (which was subsequently panned by many critics for not working properly). This compared with 29 percent of social chatter critical of Apple's apparent lack of feature innovation with the iPhone 5.

It's not all bad news for Apple though. The same UK-focused research showed that Apple had the strongest brand loyalty with 42 percent of discussions focused on the Apple brand itself. It also attracted by far the most launch day discussions on social networks with 1.7 million conversations focused on the iPhone 5. The popularity of the BlackBerry brand among UK teens saw it attract 300,000 conversations following the launch of the BlackBerry Z10, while the Galaxy S4 launch trailed with just 140,000 conversations.

[Jeff75]

We know Samsung paid people to denigrate Apple in online forums. We know Samsung spends amazing amounts on marketing far more than others in the industry. Put these two factors together, I think we have a reason for these results.

[Sukoshi]

Samsung didn't get anything right or better concerning their ads, it's that opinions on Apple are extremely polarized: you love them or you hate them.

[bobolicious]

...I used to like Samesong products in a budget, plastic sort of way, and still own a monitor of theirs with colors that don't come close to a cinema, but their willingness to steal a customer's (apple) design and the negative marketing have me sworn off their brand in principle from now on...

[Spheric Harlot]

So, almost twice as many people took the time to diss the iPhone 5 than could be bothered to even give a shit AT ALL about the Galaxy S4?

[SwissMac]

Remember the iPhone 5 was launched after the Apple v Samesung lawsuit was launched; Samesung went on a PR campaign in the social media area to denigrate everything Apple did - and Apple even fell for the rhetoric by changing stuff in the way people were saying they should - except many of these stories began with Samesung shills and pointed to how Apple didn't have features which Samesung did (except people didn't buy).

The main reason for Samesung's success is because it really is a cheaper copy of the iPhone. And so many people can only compare hardware specifications and have no clue about software or other soft benefits. Apple lost the moral high ground in the social media, perhaps because their marketing guy is over 50? Even Steve Jobs didn't get texting and thought the first iPhone would do more with email instead...

[dbolander]

Here's proper investigative journalism to show that this was a hit piece:
http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/07/06/apple-most-hated-smartphone/

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by SwissMac 

The main reason for Samesung's success is because it really is a cheaper copy of the iPhone. And so many people can only compare hardware specifications and have no clue about software or other soft benefits.

THIS is the main reason for Samsung's success:


From here:
The cost of selling Galaxies | asymco

Originally Posted by SwissMac 

Apple lost the moral high ground in the social media, perhaps because their marketing guy is over 50?

Maybe because they weren't aiming at the under-18-year-olds. Samsung has products that are in the same price brackets as Apple's, but they establish their brand presence by selling "nearly as good" cheap shit to kids.

Originally Posted by SwissMac 

Even Steve Jobs didn't get texting and thought the first iPhone would do more with email instead...

The original iPhone *had* texting. It didn't have MMS messaging.
Which, to be fair, was completely irrelevant in the U.S.
Here in Europe, we used it all the time — I still do, with the one or two remaining people who don't have a smartphone (and thus no WhatsApp or iMessage).

[Sebastien]

Uh oh, Electronista/MacNN forgot to claim this was written by Samsung's advertising department again.

[pairof9s]

Miraculously, my iPhone 5 works 100% properly despite 20% negative online posts.

[Jeronimo2000]

Wow, that's amazing news. And how crazy is that: all that "heavy flak on social networks" directly translated into abysmal sales numbers for the iPhone 5!

Oh wait. It didn't.