Apple vs. Samsung: Which Brand is Right for You?

By Lilyanne Rice - On May 28, 2024

Deciding Apple vs Samsung is just as much a matter of personal preference as choosing a favourite food. But these brands have distinctive flavours, and if you’re in the market for a smartphone, you’ll probably want to know what each has to offer before settling on an Android phone or an iPhone.

We’ve done the digging to give you a sense of what each company provides.

Design and Build Quality

Apple’s reputation for high build quality and design has always been enviable. The latest iPhones, for example, are sleekly finished and part of an ecosystem that links with other Apple devices.

Samsung offers a variety of designs, from the higher-end Galaxy phones to more affordable options, so there’s something for everyone.

Innovation

Innovation takes an idea or invention and scales it up to become a good or service that creates value or for which customers will pay. It is a process of deriving greater or different values from resources by the application of information, imagination and initiative.

All processes by which new ideas are generated and converted into useful products also constitute innovation. In business, innovation occurs when ideas are applied by the company to further delight the customer.

Technically, innovation could involve something as rudimentary as improving a recipe for the creation of a stronger cement mix to something as challenging as designing a new quantum computer chip that can complete calculations in a fraction of the time it takes current silicon-based computers.

Features

Features are unique and specific characteristics or qualities of a product or service that are thought to promote the user’s advantage – features can be tangible, such as a smartphone’s sleek ergonomic shape, or intangible, such as a software app’s intuitive user interface. Being able to identify a feature can be a selling point for companies, helping to distinguish products or services from the competition.

Take a smartphone – its features could include a high-resolution camera, water resistance, and wireless charging capability, while write-in/result away might be a feature of software configuration, such as support for multiple users, integration with other tools, and advanced security.

Both are necessary to win markets for goods and services – the one by differentiation, the other by differentiation. Innovation often causes features to spring up, and features can, in turn, cause innovation by revealing new ways in which things could be made better or enhanced.

User Experience

In the debate between Apple and Samsung, it breaks down to iOS vs Android. In Apple, the closed ecosystem is created for the simplicity of configuration and security over choice.

Samsung’s Android phones enable many preferences, including the choice and customisation that one should be able to have on the phone.

Performance

It is not breaking news that both companies offer a lot of firepower in terms of hardware. In fact, Apple’s vertically integrated chips, though not as open as the latest processors from the likes of Qualcomm, Nvidia and Intel, generally hold the lead in benchmark tests of smartphone performance.

Samsung’s extensive line of flagship phones are notable for having some or all of the latest processors from Intel and Qualcomm, and in many cases, they are the only Android-powered phones that are speed-competitive with the iPhone.

Camera Capabilities

If photography is your thing, either brand has got you covered with Apple’s iPhones that are extremely colour accurate together with its high-drama video offerings, and Samsung’s high-resolution sensors and space zoom with the Galaxy S20 Ultra make for a smartphone to die for.

Price and Value

Samsung offers something for all price points, which can make it easier to buy or upgrade one. Of course, Apple iPhones, while more costly than many Samsung phones, tend to maintain their values fairly well, which can make them a better buy for someone who upgrades infrequently.

Apple vs. Samsung: Final Thoughts

Taken to the extreme, it might be that Apple iOS vs Samsung Android comes down to taste: whether you prefer a closed user experience, with a single brand served with swift updates to a finished product, or whether open is the name of the game, with a variety of brands that to some might seem unfinished, yet that can nevertheless now be as useful.

The battle line might no longer be between Apple and Samsung, but ultimately, the choice could still boil down to whether you favour iPhone features or the best Android phone.

After all, the perfect brand is the one that fits your needs and your life best.

Global Sales and Trends

Apple and Samsung have elevated their market purchasing in the global sphere and their brand image popularity in the 2023/24 fiscal year.

Apple’s Global Purchasing Trends

Apple announced financial results for its fiscal 2024 first quarter, which ended December 30, 2023. The Company posted quarterly revenue of $119.6 billion, an increase of 2 per cent year over year.
It remained the world’s most valuable brand, worth $880 billion. $378 billion of that value, in case you’re curious, is derived from ‘brand awareness’.
Apple led the global smartphone market in 2023 and had its highest market share ever, even though the smartphone market as a whole fell 3.2 per cent.
The iPhone continued to lead the global premium smartphone market in 2023.

Samsung’s Global Purchasing Trends

Samsung’s brand value stands at $87.7 billion (up 17 per cent from 2021)
In 2023, Samsung’s brand value reached $91.4 billion and grew by 4% year-on-year.
On the other hand, Samsung was ranked second in the global smartphone market – selling 226.6 million phones, which equates to a 19.4 percent market share in 2023.

Brand Popularity

Apple and Samsung have been among the top smartphone makers in the world for many years.
During the first half of 2023, Apple and Samsung collectively captured more than 54 per cent of the World smartphone market.

In the global market share of quarter 4 (Q4) of the year 2023, Apple ranked top in the smartphone industry’s market share globally, with up to 23%, while Samsung is the following one.

Based on these trends, we could suggest that Apple’s market share and brand value are slightly bigger than Samsung’s. In conclusion, Apple is undoubtedly a more popular brand in the world in 2023/24.

SUMMARY

The Apple vs. Samsung debate has been going on for many years and we see no sign of that slowing down any time soon. Samsung represents the best Android phone currently on the market, but the immense iPhone features of their latest models will mean it’s purely down to individual preference and what you really need in a phone. Though with so many manufacturers in the marketplace jostling for positions with plenty of features at lower prices, it’s good for consumers. Happy shopping!