[Winder]

Apple may be getting last laugh as Samsung earnings implode | VentureBeat | Business | by Chris O'Brien

[Na Horuk]

Isn't it weird? We live in a world with giant corporations, and they have massive profits and losses, in some cases as big as a small country. Wonder what happens if one of the giants topples.
And I prefer Samsung over Apple

[normhead]

I feel so bad for them, only 3.6 billion in profits, now that's heartbreaking.
And I prefer Apple over Samsung... I don't like any "me too but only cheaper " company. But I wouldn't buy a smart phone from either of them. I bought a used smart phone (iPhone 3) from my step-son for $75. It's way more phone than I need, except I would like a better camera in it. Anyone who'd pay $700 dollars for a smart phone isn't very smart in my opinion. I have to agree though, any phone that can separate customers from $700 is really smart.

[Rupert]

Some perspective here...... Take a look at this, read or scan the entire page and notice the broad array of subsidiaries of Samsung, some of them gigantic in their fields. If Samsung was a nation, it would rank among the largest in the world economically.
Samsung - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Now for the perspective....you have a Trillion $$ in the bank all doing well, safe and sound. You are walking down the street when a quarter rolls out of a hole in your pocket and into the drainage ditch. Bystanders, known as "Appleheads", cheer and predict your imminent demise.

Regards!

[Stavri]

Wait until Christine gets a wind of this......................

[normhead]

Sounds kind of like "Pentax heads". Where every person who doesn't like something about Pentax means Pentax is doomed. I can relate, I believe if I don't get up on game day , put on my Ohio State jersey, have coffee from my Ohio State mug, and wear my Ohio State hat during the game, Ohio State might lose. Sometime if I'm watching the game and it's close, and I don't have my hat on, I'll go to the closet and get it, just to give the team a little boost.

The difference between me and them being, I know I'm entertaining totally irrational quirks in my all too human personality. Some part of me knows, it makes no difference. Just for three hours a week, I choose to ignore that part. For some of these people it appears to be more than just a game. If for 10 years of the first 18 years of your life, you got up and packed your jersey on game day and got ready for the game, that's can become a life long habit. It doesn't change because you don't play anymore. Irrational maybe, but totally human, and totally harmless.

Getting attached to a phone company, I guess for modern youth it's the same thing. They imagine themselves to somehow become part of the Samsung team or the Apple team. At least I grew up in Columbus, watched Woody Hayes curse out his team and slap them around. Lived in the culture. it's kind of hard to understand these brand loyalties based on absolutely no real world human contact, just attachment to marketing concepts.

I'm attached to my Buckeyes, and so is every other individual who grew up two miles form the Horseshoe and played Pop Warner ball on the Buckeye practice fields. That's probably about as easy for a lot of youth to relate to as cell phone loyalty is to me.

[Rupert]

Wait until Christine gets a wind of this......................

What Christine (and I'm not picking on her!) and many fail to realize is that unlike Apple that has all their eggs in one basket of phones and computer devices, Samsung is a hugely diversified corporation. If one segment is failing, the others can finance its recovery for years if necessary to obtain dominance. I'm not a Samsung fan necessarily....I have held some of their various stock off an on, but I am impressed in how they manage such a large conglomerate of varied businesses. A Samsung failure is a rare event...so rare that I challenge anyone to find one and present it here. Once they enter a particular endeavor, their goal is usually to dominate, and their record is very substantial at doing it.

Might be a good time to buy some Samsung Electronic stock.......It will surely go up, it is almost guaranteed!

Regards!

[normhead]

I don't find for the most part such corporate investing strategies much more rational than my game day football traditions. They use a lot of numbers and talk up their stocks, but brokers are no different than the supporters of various football teams. I use a lot of numbers to talk up my team. I know where the rank nationally in offence defence and hangnails per game. And some of them are no better than Tampa Bay football fans. Sure they have enthusiasm for certain stocks, but an honest analysis says they are just as likely to lose you money as make you money.

The Ontario teachers pension fund has an investment strategy that is real simple. Invest equally in the top 50 fortune 500 companies in Canada. Every year, year after year, they outperform every other investment venture in Canada, by ignoring stock advice and going strictly on results. So personally, if I had the money to invest, I'd employ their strategy. They've averages over 10% a year increase almost every year for over 30 years now..many years hitting 15% return on investment over a single year. There are simply no stock brokers out there that can offer you that kind of return, and they are prohibited by law from the kind of risky investments that typically offer the possibility of those types of returns. They outperform the scammer and ponzi scenes, just by having and applying a no brainer strategy. Your stock broker doesn't want you to hear about them.

[jatrax]

the others can finance its recovery for years if necessary to obtain dominance.

Decades or longer, actually. They think very long term. I once had a meeting with an engineer from Samsung Heavy Industry, he was touring the US and our representative was escorting him around the area as he visited various small businesses. I was told we would meet someone from Samsung so expected a computer/phone/TV guy. Nope, he built ships. One of the largest ship building companies in the world. Amazingly diversified company.

[panoguy]

A Samsung failure is a rare event...so rare that I challenge anyone to find one and present it here. Once they enter a particular endeavor, their goal is usually to dominate, and their record is very substantial at doing it.

This is quite true. Kodak is close, but they simply never diversified (enough). GE is the closest American analog in terms of diversity (appliances, nuclear reactors, healthcare, oil & gas), except GE has 5 times the assets of Samsung. Mistubishi is another example (cars, electronics, ships).

[Stavri]

This is quite true. Kodak is close, but they simply never diversified (enough). GE is the closest American analog in terms of diversity (appliances, nuclear reactors, healthcare, oil & gas), except GE has 5 times the assets of Samsung. Mistubishi is another example (cars, electronics, ships).

You forgot the Smart Bombs, they make quite a few of those and are very profitable....(a statement and a nestled investment advice)

[Rupert]

They imagine themselves to somehow become part of the Samsung team or the Apple team.

Yes, it's a universal mindset to support your buying decision. We don't like to admit our failures or the weakness of our decisions. If we hit a home run, we think we have outsmarted the world......Smart decisions do not rest on brands or popularity, they rest on the result you expect being obtained by the product you buy at a price you find reasonable for that expectation.

If all else fails in decision making......."Have you considered going FF?"

Regards!

[pete-tarmigan]

Some perspective here...... Take a look at this, read or scan the entire page and notice the broad array of subsidiaries of Samsung, some of them gigantic in their fields. If Samsung was a nation, it would rank among the largest in the world economically.
Samsung - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Now for the perspective....you have a Trillion $$ in the bank all doing well, safe and sound. You are walking down the street when a quarter rolls out of a hole in your pocket and into the drainage ditch. Bystanders, known as "Appleheads", cheer and predict your imminent demise.

And Samsung shareholders get up in arms because their share values decline and because they aren't earning dividends.

[Christine Tham]

Wait until Christine gets a wind of this......................

LOL

Actually, I was already pretty aware of this for some time, and Samsung to their credit has been flagging this for at least a year now. Still, the magnitude and the speed of the decline is kind of shocking.

I actually see this as a good thing for Samsung, if they survive (which I think they will).

They are already showing signs of transitioning from a company with a "copying" meme (seriously, they were copying not just from Apple but from everybody - their vacuum cleaners look like Dyson, their TVs look like Sony and Panasonic etc. etc.) into creating their own products (their smartwatches, although rushed, was a clear sign that they wanted to be seen as innovators).

Remember when Sony was behaving badly? Fostering one silly proprietary "standard" after another, acting like bullies ... They calmed down, started playing nice, and now making great products after they went through their financial crisis.

In a similar vein, I think Samsung have some growing pains, but I am hoping they will emerge a better company and make products that we can all be proud to own (I know some people already think that, but many others think they produce crap).

[reeftool]

All I can say is that Samsung makes one hell of a microwave oven! I bought one in 1988 that's still getting passed around the family. I own a 35mm film camera (and still do) that was pretty darn good too. It's been a bad year. People spent most of their disposable income heating their homes last winter and folks are saving up for this coming winter and the results are showing up. Samsung didn't loose any money, they just didn't make as much.