Do You Remember When Samsung Mocked Apple?
No sooner than the digital dust had settled after Apple’s October special event that Samsung posted a picture on Facebook of its Galaxy flagship noting that a charger came “included” with it. Interestingly, that post appears to no longer be available.
Jump forward a couple of months and documentation for the Galaxy S21, initially reported by Brazil’s Tecnoblog, suggests that the forthcoming Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21+, and Galaxy S21 will not come with a power adapter or headphones.
Apple also eliminated the EarBuds starting with the iPhone 12.
Samsung has not yet made an official statement regarding this, but the documentation—which was required for approval by ANATEL, Brazil’s answer to the FCC—all but confirms this. Since Apple made a big point about the sustainable implications of its move (less e-waste and lower shipping costs), it will be interesting to see if Samsung makes a similar argument.
Samsung and Apple: A Long, Complex History
Samsung and Apple “enjoy” a complicated relationship. The two have been partners and rivals for much of the lifespan of the modern smartphone era. Samsung’s business is reliant on the components it makes for Apple, which at various times has included displays and Apple’s initial A-series chips for iPhone, before TSMC took over the latter job.
At the same time, Samsung is fiercely competitive with Apple. Its Galaxy smartphones are some of Apple’s biggest marketplace rivals, and the two waged a vicious, multi-year court battle over patents, commencing in 2011. It’s a strange form of “coopetition” (as it’s sometimes called) that only makes sense in the tech world.
This same contradictory aspect of the two company’s relationship applies to Samsung’s product strategies. Prior to Samsung mocking Apple’s power adapter decision, something similar occurred with Apple’s abandonment of the headphone jack from iPhones in 2016.
In that case, Samsung copied Apple as well, despite poking fun at it initially. However, as CNET pointed out, it later deleted the evidence.
Hang on to Your Samsung Power Adapters!
Is Samsung simply looking for a chance to make fun of Apple? Is it such a big company that its social media and marketing team don’t speak to its product engineers and smartphone design team? Who knows, but it’s not a great look for a company that’s hoping to gain itself favorable (and non-mocking) headlines.
Nonetheless, it’s a good idea to make sure you look after your current Galaxy power adapter, unless you want to be shelling out for a new one at some point in the future.
