Apple iPhone 7 Failed To Reap Sales Windfall Following Galaxy Note 7 Disaster Says NDP

With all the negativity surrounding Samsung over the past few months, you would think that Apple would have been able to take advantage of the situation and nudge some irate customers over to the iPhone camp. However, Stephen Baker, primary hardware analyst for NPD Group Inc., says that Galaxy Note 7 customers stayed within the brand rather than jump ship at the first sign of danger.

“Most of those who bought or wanted to buy a Note 7 opted for a different high-end Galaxy phone,” said Baker. In other words, customers opted for the smaller, but similarly spec’d Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge.

He also went on to add that the decision for Samsung customers to stay put was also in part due to the fact that Apple just didn’t offer anything compelling enough to entice customers to make the often arduous leap to a completely different software ecosystem.

“Samsung was able to fend off other Android competition, and Apple, too, thanks to Apple’s own lack of a wowing product this year,” added baker.

Apple itself drew a lot of criticism for the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, which were announced back in September. Many felt that the smartphones were minor improvements over their predecessors with largely the same design as the 2014-era iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Apple also did nothing to address complaints about lower screen resolutions compared to the competition and sparked a nuclear war or words for the decision to remove the 3.5mm headphone jack.

In the end, mobile industry analyst Chetan Sharma perhaps summed up the situation the best, commenting, “The timing couldn’t have been worse for Samsung and it couldn’t have been better for Apple. But the truth is neither company capitalized this year.”