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Chinese media criticise heavily the low preorder numbers of Galaxy Note8!

Nick PapanikolopoulosSeptember 20, 2017

Oh my, press can be such a harsh critic don’t you think? China never really “loved” Samsung’s products all these years and not even the almighty Galaxy Note8 can change that!

According to recent report by “Business Korea”, the Chinese media is criticizing the Samsung’s latest flagship every day, especially its REALLY low presale numbers that seem disappointing. So far it seems that Apple’s iPhone 8 (yes the one that has nothing to show when compared to the previous model) already has 4 million preorders in China, while at the same time, Samsung’s Galaxy Note8 has managed to receive only 20,000 pre-orders so far!

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We have to note however, that in order to preorder an iPhone, customers in China do not need to make any payment. On the other side, Galaxy Note 8 customers are required to pay 100 Yuan (~$15) to pre-order it. According to Samsung, this deposit system works as a way to secure a future purchase of the device.

Some say that one reason the Galaxy Note8 has so low pre sales in China is its extremely high price, that can reach up to 6,988 Yuan (~$1,060) in the country. On the other hand, the “Chinese” Xiaomi Mi MIX 2 that comes as a fully featured flagship carries a VERY low pricing of 3,299 Yuan (~$501), so it’s quite easy to see how this is going.

Things don’t look good for Samsung in China and a recent IDC report basically confirms this, as the Korean company stands at the last place with a 3% market share – compared to the 7% they had the previous year. Apple now has an 8% market share, and all the remaining Chinese owned companies (Huawei, OPPO, Vivo and Xiaomi) have an 87 percent combined market share.

Things look grim for Samsung in China, the world’s largest smartphone market. What do they do wrong guys? What needs to change according to you?

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About the author

Nick Papanikolopoulos
With some little over 20 years of experience in the Mobile Technology sector Nick is the EIC of Gizchina.com. He has a Masters’ degree in Wireless & Wired Telecommunications, Electrical Engineering and Computer Informatics and a PhD in Mobility QoS Measuring Techniques.
If you'd like to know more you can always follow me on Twitter.

goodwill
September 20, 2017
It’s really just a matter of pricing. Flagship phones has become increasingly pricey. Being expensive is fine since it’s coming from the mainstream brands but at this price, It’s so pricey that it’s unrealistic. USD 1k for a smartphone, really? It’s already super expensive in the US, do you think 3rd world countries that earn half or even less that the average income in 1st world countries, can afford that? or rather smart enough to not pay USD 1K for a smartphone.

Marius Cirsta
September 20, 2017
When you can get a good phone like the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 for $140 why pay $1000 for a smartphone ?
I think the Chinese are more careful on what they spend on and don’t care so much about the Samsung brand.
Apple can get away with their high prices because it’s Apple but Samsung has some fierce competition in China and in other places.

Caleb Katana
September 20, 2017
I think the price needs to be much much lower considering China manufacturers almost all the phones in the world.
- goodwill
  September 20, 2017
  - Caleb Katana
    September 20, 2017
    My bad, I thought Samsung is Korean made. But still it’s too much a price to pay for a gadget that you use for only 2 years
goodwill
September 20, 2017
It’s really just a matter of pricing. Flagship phones has become increasingly pricey. Being expensive is fine since it’s coming from the mainstream brands but at this price, It’s so pricey that it’s unrealistic. USD 1k for a smartphone, really? It’s already super expensive in the US, do you think 3rd world countries that earn half or even less than the average income in 1st world countries, can afford that? or rather them being smart enough to not pay USD 1K for a smartphone regardless of affordability.

Marius Cirsta
September 20, 2017
When you can get a good phone like the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 for $140 why pay $1000 for a smartphone ?
I think the Chinese are more careful on what they spend on and don’t care so much about the Samsung brand.
Apple can get away with their high prices because it’s Apple but Samsung has some fierce competition in China and in other places.

Caleb Katana
September 20, 2017
I think the price needs to be much much lower considering China manufacturers almost all the phones in the world.
- goodwill
  September 20, 2017
  Actually, most of Samsung smartphones are made in Vietnam. But yeah, still too excessively, expensive.
- Caleb Katana
  September 20, 2017
  My bad, I thought Samsung is Korean made. But still it’s too much a price to pay for a gadget that you use for only 2 years
Partha Dutta
September 20, 2017
Only price. I am using Ulephone t1. It’s a gorgeous phone, good display, sunlight legible, whole day battery, quick charge, 6gb RAM, 64gb internal memory. It has all the LTE Bands for worldwide use. Rear dual camera with flash, front 13mp camera with flash. Both take good pictures. People will be fed up in buying costly phones. I had to download file transfer application to transfer music and photos in my phone. Sound is very good but like all other big companies but slightly louder. It fell flat from my hand front facing but nothing happened. I bought it from Banggood in India at $199. A beautiful phone with all that one wants. I have 6 phones within 600 dollar. Isn’t it better than one iphone and all of them were tweaked a bit which gives some knowledge about tech.

Guest
September 20, 2017
Only price. I am using Ulephone t1. It’s a gorgeous phone, good display, sunlight legible, whole day battery, quick charge, 6gb RAM, 64gb internal memory. It has all the LTE Bands for worldwide use. Rear dual camera with flash, front 13mp camera with flash. Both take good pictures. People will be fed up in buying costly phones. I had to download file transfer application to transfer music and photos in my phone. Sound is very good but like all other big companies but slightly louder. It fell flat from my hand front facing but nothing happened. I bought it from Banggood in India at $199. A beautiful phone with all that one wants. I have 6 phones within 600 dollar. Isn’t it better than one iphone and all of them were tweaked a bit which gives some knowledge about tech.

cyril symbio
September 20, 2017
what do they do wrong????? Whether it’s rhetorical question, whether it’s sarcasm.
In case it’s none of them, but I fairly hope it’s not the case, the only thing Samsung did wrong in China, it’s to be Korean. As many Korean shops closed, many chinese shops refused and refuse to serve Korean, some Taxis displaying “I accept everyone but Dogs and Koreans”, etc. It has everything to do with the conflict between NK and SK-US, especially when the US installed the THAAD in South Korea.
Chinese government pushes Korean bashing daily.
Come on.
This website can’t possibly say the Chinese won’t buy a phone because of the pricing. Otherwise nobody here would buy those crappy iPhones.
The more a phone is expensive, the more they will buy because it will be a nice object to display in public to show personal success and blablabla. Like if it’s new.
Plus, Xiaomi Mix isn’t VERY low pricing. It’s LOWER pricing of the range, at most. But cheap… a 500$ phone… for most it’s a month salary
- goodwill
  September 21, 2017
  many chinese shops refused and refuse to serve Korean, some Taxis displaying “I accept everyone but Dogs and Koreans”? I’ve been to China and around their states many times over and I have yet to see this. I’ve been to Seoul many times too and recently, I can say South Koreans are not even that bothered about the North issue. (accept for some villagers that the system is being installed in) Rather, they seem to be on the same page on agreeing that Trump is an idiotic child.
- Anon
  September 21, 2017
  Samsung hasn’t been doing well for many years now even before the thaad conflict. There’s just no point buying a Samsung phone when it’s so expensive and their Chinese brands offer 80 to 90 percent of the features at 50 percent of the price.
cyril symbio
September 21, 2017
what do they do wrong????? Whether it’s rhetorical question, whether it’s sarcasm.
In case it’s none of them, but I fairly hope it’s not the case, the only thing Samsung did wrong in China, it’s to be Korean. As many Korean shops closed, many chinese shops refused and refuse to serve Korean, some Taxis displaying “I accept everyone but Dogs and Koreans”, etc. It has everything to do with the conflict between NK and SK-US, especially when the US installed the THAAD in South Korea.
Chinese government pushes Korean bashing daily.
Come on.
This website can’t possibly say the Chinese won’t buy a phone because of the pricing. Otherwise nobody here would buy those crappy iPhones.
The more a phone is expensive, the more they will buy because it will be a nice object to display in public to show personal success and blablabla. Like if it’s new.
Plus, Xiaomi Mix isn’t VERY low pricing. It’s LOWER pricing of the range, at most. But cheap… a 500$ phone… for most it’s a month salary
- goodwill
  September 21, 2017
  many chinese shops refused and refuse to serve Korean, some Taxis displaying “I accept everyone but Dogs and Koreans”? I’ve been to China and around their states many times over and I have yet to see this. I’ve been to Seoul many times too and recently, I can say South Koreans are not even that bothered about the North issue. (accept for some villagers that the system is being installed in) Rather, they seem to be on the same page on agreeing that Trump is an idiotic child.
- Anon
  September 21, 2017
  Samsung hasn’t been doing well for many years now even before the thaad conflict. There’s just no point buying a Samsung phone when it’s so expensive and their Chinese brands offer 80 to 90 percent of the features at 50 percent of the price.