Steve Jobs was infamous for saying that users don't know what they want — so he created devices that users didn't even know they wanted. The iPhone and iPad set the standard for smartphones and tablets, offering consumers key features that are now ubiquitous in every OS. Apple sat at the top of the heap for years, but now companies that started out as copycats have carved out a space for their own creations.
Samsung, for instance, spearheaded the emergence of the phablet with its Galaxy Note and made its Galaxy series of smartphones the most recognizable Android device ever, while Apple seems to be submitting different iterations of the same device, in varying sizes and slightly improved capability. The iPhone was succeeded by the iPhones 2 through 5, the iPad was followed up by the iPads 2 and 3 and mini.
The Korean company has slammed Apple for its stuffiness in several ads, poking fun at iPhone fans waiting in long lines for the launch of the next iDevice and calling its own Galaxy line "the next big thing." While Samsung phones do lack some features the iPhones tout, such as Facebook integration, it is outstripping Apple in terms of taking advantage of its top-notch hardware, allowing two apps to run in a split-screen display.
Steve Kovach at Business Insider writes that Samsung really shines in its software innovation. It spends a massive chunk of its capital on market research, investigating features that users want and including them in updates. Apple users have to wait a year or more for iOS updates, many of which older devices can't even access.
Apple still takes 72 percent of the earnings in the mobile market, but Samsung is catching up — and quickly. For comparison, Apple spent $10 billion in 2012 on capital expenditures and market research while Samsung doled out $21 billion.
"Where Apple stakes its success on creating new markets and dominating them, as it did with the iPhone and iPad," Brian Chen wrote in the New York Times, "Samsung invests heavily in studying existing markets and innovating inside them."
Samsung has even invested in strategy and innovation centers in places such as Korea, Israel, California and New York, where entrpreneurs with big ideas can get a head start.
Apple hasn't announced a new type of product in a while, but if what we're hearing about an iWatch is true, it might be able to recapture its reputation as a creative powerhouse. Meanwhile, it may want to take a leaf out of Samsung's book and look into some vanguard trends, if it wants to stay on the cutting edge.
