Though consumers and Android fans were undoubtedly enthused about the release of the Samsung Galaxy S IV, competitors didn’t take long to come out all guns blazing, in verbal terms. Not everyone was thrilled about the unveiling of the Galaxy S IV.
To be specific, all of Samsung’s competitors decided to take jibes at the company and the phone in an attempt to downplay the significance of the launch. After Apple and LG, HTC also decided to join the party. In fact, HTC decided to take on the S IV during the launch itself. The Taiwanese company came up with the novel though unimaginative idea to distribute hot cocoa and snacks in cold weather while promoting their own product, the HTC One. Following this were a series of “Twitter wars” aimed at mocking the phone.
HTC’s fresh CMO (through a PR agency) claimed that the Galaxy S IV was “more of the same” and that the HTC One’s all aluminium body with cutting edge technology is what consumers are really after. HTC president Jack Mackenzie was surprisingly jubilant after the launch of the S IV. In fact, he stated that he felt bad, not for HTC but for Samsung. Samsung chose a collection of skits to demonstrate the use of different features on the phone. This was an appropriate choice given that gala was conducted at the Radio City Music Hall in New York. Mackenzie asserted that the HTC One was well ahead of the Galaxy S IV and other flagship handsets.
He justified his opinion by pointing out that major emphasis was laid on the marketing front rather than pure innovation, given how the phone was unveiled. Furthermore, he went on to slam Samsung for unveiling the S-Translator as a software upgrade, given that Android itself provides the same in-built function. HTC continues to remain in an underdog position despite a strong flagship phone in the form of the HTC One. One of the weaknesses of HTC has been on the marketing front, where Samsung is seen dominating the airwaves and TV shows. Mackenzie admitted that HTC has run into several hiccups of its own, with the delay in the launch of the HTC One being one of the major ones.
