Samsung removes logo from smartphones in Japan

"Samsung provided no reason why it kept the logo off in Japan."

hypocrites, one step in my boat and one in yours.

Samsung removes logo from smartphones in Japan

in other words, Japan's leading telecom companies NTT DocoMo and KDDI au to market Samsung Smartphones (!)

I think they should do this on all their phones in every market. The Samsung or Docomo name on the front is tacky. (Imagine if the car companies started painting 'Toyota' or 'Nissan' in huge bold letters on the side of your car). The stylised S logo on the back of the phone is enough.

The Samsung logo staring Japanese consumers in the face would remind them of Samsung and Korea's success and dominance, especially in one of the global economy's most strategic and tech-laden field. That's why.

This isn't the only Korean product that in recent years had to hide their origins. Its really pathetic but hey, Japan is digging its own grave with its galapagos mindset. Samsung and Apple continues to dominate global sales while Japan continues to slide into irrelevance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gal%C3%A1pagos_syndrome

My guess is there was a huge payoff involved. No way Samsung, the dominant Korean company beating the pants off local Panasonic, is doing it out of the kindness of their hearts when they could be promoting. And likewise it gives Docomo and the Japanese carriers a chance to push it off as their own in a field where they have failed in every single attempt to copy the success of Apple and Samsung (in that order), when if they did not have this chance Samsung would be staring the Japanese customers in the face.

If the sales clerk hide the company name from prospective customers, the sales contract would be null and void.

I personally dont like Korean brands, especially when it comes to electronics. Even though Sony and Panasonic has faced trouble to compete with other brands, I still go for those Japanese brands. At least I already know the quality and I can trust on them. Now my LG computer just last for 5 months what was sucks!!!

@WatchingStuff: why are you saying such crap, when Apple smartphones are the most sold in Japan? I think most of Japanese consumers buy something when they like it, despite the nationality of the products. You can't speak about Japanese people like they were righ-wing nationalists, plus smartphones are bought specially by the young people, the same people who often like K-pop or Disney stuff. But when a foreign company in Japan isn't successfull, well some people prefer as usual bashing Japan, ignoring the success of Apple, or German cars, rather than those companies that probably didn't adopt the right strategies to win the Japanese market. And you can see this attitude specially when American carmakers and Samsung are involved, probably because some Americans and Koreans are irritated. And those people call Japanese "nationalists"...try to think about you, sometimes.

"Japanese consumers buy something when they like it, despite the nationality of the products."

If that were true, Yodobashi Camera would be filled with TVs by Samsung and LG, as with electronics retailers in every other country in the world. And Hyundais and Kias would be a common sight on the roads. But... they aren't.

Anyway, Mitsui Mtsuyama's comment expresses the common sentiment, and it sinks your argument about the "rationality" of Japanese preferences:

"I personally dont like Korean brands....I still go for those Japanese brands."

The Samsung logo staring Japanese consumers in the face would remind them of Samsung and Korea's success and dominance, especially in one of the global economy's most strategic and tech-laden field. That's why.

True, but Samsung also misses a charismatic (dead) leader and doesn't have the ear of the mass media.Samsung should use those K-pop and K-drama figures to promote their wares.....

@M3M3M3 Agreed. Logos which are too prominent are enough reason for me to avoid buying something. If Apple stuck their logo on the front when it's already on the back, that would be gaudy too. I don't buy laptops which put Windows logos on the top of the keyboard either. Keep that crap for surfaces nobody has to look at.

You can't speak about Japanese people like they were righ-wing nationalists,

I meant, like all of them were right wing-nationalists.

@JeffLee: Mitsui Mitsuyama's comment shows only he prefers to buy brands that he already trusts. Korean companies should adopt proper strategies to win Japanese trust, but it's hard because Japanese already have very good electronic brands, that are not more expensive than the Korean ones. In the past decade Korean brands became successfull globally because they were cheaper than Japanese goods (the yen was really high before Abenomics), and progressively they improved their quality, that is really good now. In the meanwhile, while both Korean and Chinese brands grew in quality and reputation, keeping a very competetive price, Japanese brands lost large market share worldwide, and at this point it's difficult for them reconquering it also with the current low yen, but there's not a real reason why a Japanese person should prefer a Chinese or a Korean tv over a Sony tv, for example, and this has nothing to do with hate towards China and Korea, at least not in the case of most of people. They are only more familiar with these brands. Apple was that successfull because unlike Samsung, it brought in Japan a completely new device, and the Japanese loved it.

JeffLee, whatever anyone writes on this thread, you're correct about this to a certain extent. I know quite a few Japanese who won't buy Korean products and I imagine there are plenty of Koreans who won't buy Japanese ones. Samsung's response is to try to hide the brand of the phone a bit, which makes perfect sense.

Well, no surprise I get many thumbs down, since I'm speaking mainly with Americans and Korean-Americans, but what I described in my leatest post is how the things are actually went in the global market in the past years.

I know quite a few Japanese who won't buy Korean products and I imagine there are plenty of Koreans who won't buy Japanese ones.

This is true, and I didn't deny there are some nationalist guys with this attitude (and you are right they are present both in Japan and Korea), but most of consumers buy the products that they already trust, period. For one Japanese person preferring a Korean or Chinese tv over a Japanese tv, is like for an Italian person preferring a foreign brand for pasta over Barilla, for example. It's really a simple concept.

Alex80: "...and this has nothing to do with hate towards China and Korea, at least not in the case of most of people."

Oh, no, SURE it doesn't! When Japanese snub Korean products solely because they are Korean, it isn't about hatred, but somehow you claim when American or Korean companies don't do well in Japan it is because of their irritation or some such rubbish.

"@WatchingStuff: why are you saying such crap, when Apple smartphones are the most sold in Japan?"

He said Japanese companies are sliding into irrelevance, which is true in many cases in regards to electronics in general, and DEFINITELY the case with smart phones. How on earth is you pointing out the success of Apple in Japan contrary to that? Apple is not a Japanese company, just in case you forgot.

"I think most of Japanese consumers buy something when they like it, despite the nationality of the products."

Utter BS.

As usual, the excuses for Japan.... But you know what? It's only hurting Japan in the end. The excuses are not going to help them.

This was a self move by Samsung, since being known as a Korean company in Japan is a death knell.

"Samsung has removed its corporate logo from its Galaxy S6 smartphones sold in Japan amid deep distrust of Korea and Korean technology in the island country. "

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2015/04/17/2015041700999.html

@Smith:

Alex80: "...and this has nothing to do with hate towards China and Korea, at least not in the case of most of people."

Oh, no, SURE it doesn't! When Japanese snub Korean products solely because they are Korean, it isn't about hatred,

I said, at least not in the case of most of people, or your Korean proud didn't let you to read everything I wrote?

but somehow you claim when American or Korean companies don't do well in Japan it is because of their irritation or some such rubbish.

I said when some American or Korean companies don't do well in Japan, and you see some people blame the Japanese consumers for their failure, rather than the companies, despite the fact there are some foreign companies that do very good in the same market, their complaints show to be only a sign of irritation, because their nationalistic proud is hurt.

"@WatchingStuff: why are you saying such crap, when Apple smartphones are the most sold in Japan?"

He said Japanese companies are sliding into irrelevance, which is true in many cases in regards to electronics in general, and DEFINITELY the case with smart phones. How on earth is you pointing out the success of Apple in Japan contrary to that? Apple is not a Japanese company, just in case you forgot.

He blamed the "Japanese galapagos mindset" for the failure of Samsung, when Apple is the most sold smartphone in Japan. So it's BS, since the galapagos mindset is related to the fact that some Japanese goods are thought mainly for Japanese consumers and not for a global market, but it has nothing to do with the success or the failure of foreign brands in Japan, like Apple shows.

"I think most of Japanese consumers buy something when they like it, despite the nationality of the products."

Utter BS.

According to your biased logic, it's BS of course. I wonder how many people in Korea buy Sony TVs rather than Samsung TVs, or Chinese TVs like Hisense (it's really a good brand, you know), when they are more familiar with Samsung, of course. You can't blame people for trusting more the products that they they have been buying for years rather than others.

"I wonder how many people in Korea buy Sony TVs rather than Samsung TVs, or Chinese TVs like Hisense"

I wonder how many Koreans demand that Japanese logos be removed from Japanese products and replaced by Korean ones?

or your Korean proud because their nationalistic proud is hurt.

I meant "pride", sorry for my mistakes. It would be a good thing if the site had the "edit button", specially for people like me whose English isn't very good.

I wonder how many Koreans demand that Japanese logos be removed from Japanese products and replaced by Korean ones?

So now you are saying that the Japanese consumers are the ones who asked to Samsung to do this? It was a marketing choice made by Samsung, a poor marketing choice that shows they are not self-confident.

@tinawatanabe

If the sales clerk hide the company name from prospective customers, the sales contract would be null and void.

despite your use of "legal-sounding" words, you obviously know nothing of the law. It would only be "null and void" as you put it if the salespeople lied about the name. If customers don't ask what the name is then no harm no foul

When Samsung went into the auto business building and selling cars and trucks the technology came from Nissan.

Korean electronics are technologically superior to Japanese electronics.

I actually bought the new Galaxy S6 edge a couple of days ago and this is leaps and bounds technologically superior to the iPhone 6.

Samsung is the world's largest technology company. Apple is the world's most profitable technology company. However the main company driving technological advancement is the one that is producing the new technology and that's Samsung.

Samsung actually supplies high tech aerospace parts to Lockheed Martin for its advanced fighter jets. And Samsung SDI is the world's largest Electric Vehicle battery maker. Panasonic is ranked No.2 and LG is ranked No.3.

The reason why Japanese electronics brands are doing poorly outside Japan is because they are technologically behind. Also, Japanese electronics brands like Sony and Sharp suffer from poor management. Companies like Sony, Sharp, Sanyo, etc are dead companies. People outside of Japan don't buy Sony, Panasonic and Sharp anymore. They buy Samsung, Apple and LG.

there is rumor that only for Japanese market Samsung locked the ring tone to play one and only psy gnam gnam style riff.

Iwent to AU the other day and it's way cheaper to iPhone 6 than Sony, Samsung or any other famous brand. While in my home country it's the total opposite. My mom has Samsung (don't remember the model) and it sucks so much compared to Sony Z3, for example (even if we put Apple aside). My personal favourite right now is Sony Xperia Z3. Camera's currently the best one out there. Batter y life is great compared to other android smarphones (I charge it once every two days even though I watch videos on it quite a lot). While Samsung.... well, it became worse and worse with each passing month starting from maybe the 3rd month of usage. I've had Sony Xperia Z3 for over 6 months and it's still as good as new. While my iPhone 5's battery has become a lot worse right after exactly one year had passed after the purchase.

Samsung's phones are just higher quality than Japanese phones. Go read up reviews of the Galaxy S6/S6 Edge. It has the best display, best SoC, best RAM & NAND, best camera, and best build-quality.

Japanese phones are just very poorly-built and are inferior to Samsung phones in every metric.

Everything he says is true. Japanese phones are inferior and don't sell well outside of Japan. Too bad so many Japanese are too delusional and stuck up to realize this.

In Korea, most of cars and electronic stuff is Korean. Since they have a strong production of these goods, it's normal for them buying Korean. The 70% of the car market is made by Korean cars. But some Koreans here think it's not normal that in Japan people prefer to buy Japanese brands that they already know very well, and believe they should buy Korean stuff, even though similar in quality to Japanese goods. I repeat, it's like to ask to the Italians to buy foreign brands of pasta rather than our brands. Also in Germany most of cars are German, why should the Germans buy more American cars, for example, when they already have a strong national market with a lot of choices?

Hyundai is outselling Japanese cars in Russia and Brazil, one of the largest automobile markets.

(Russia) -What you say is true but the ruble is way down so sales are +25% down.

http://www.automotivelogisticsmagazine.com/news/kia-looks-to-export-from-russia-as-profit-collapses-in-domestic-market -Kia is exporting from Russia now.

http://www.carscoops.com/2015/01/russias-best-selling-car-no-longer-lada.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automotive_industry_in_Russia 2013 auto sales numbers

Since Apple (and I know it's American, I don't get why Smith thought I believed it is Japanese) is so successfull in Japan, probably because it's the company that created smartphones, and worldwide there's still the feeling (right or wrong, I won't speak about it because I'm not interested in buying an Iphone, since it's too much expensive and I'm not the kind of person who goes crazy for phones) Iphones are the coolest smartphones ever, Samsung could try to change their strategy market in Japan, playing with the cool factor. For example, there's plenty of people here that say K-pop and K-drama are really popular in Japan, so Samsung could use some Korean stars to appeal the right kind of target, who likes Korean entertainment.

It's not true that "People outside of Japan don't buy Sony, Panasonic and Sharp anymore. They buy Samsung, Apple and LG."

In the US, many still frequently buy Japanese electronic products. Japanese products are much cheaper than Korean products, and Japanese products are passable. Abe is doing a great job with massive money printing (QE) ], lowering Japanese wages. Japanese will know their actual wages when they travel outside of Japan. Japanese can overcome Korean products by cheaper labor (QE), overcoming Korean products in their quality.

@JohnY921: i don't know in the US, but in my country, Italy, Japanese electronic products (that are really good, not "passable"), are not cheaper than the Korean ones.

Alex80, look at the countries you are quoting. You are a great nationalist. I never heard that Italy was known for electronic products. Look around.

I guess in Japan, people only buy Japanese or European products. I guess they have some complex or something, which I am not so sure of. Most of Asians feel good about their own identity and their fellow Asians. Because of too many extreme nationalists in Japan, only in Japan, "Samsung removes logo from smartphones in Japan." Buy Samsung S6 Edge this time. Lucky for you if you can get it cheaper than Japanese phones. In the US, most of the people buy I-Phone or Samsung phones, which are the two most expensive phones.

@johny921 pot meets kettle, you are quite the nationalist yourself.

Imagine the comments here if it was the reverse, a Japanese product hides their logo to launch product in South Korea. There will be many accusations made with most people agreeing.

Alex80, look at the countries you are quoting. You are a great nationalist. I never heard that Italy was known for electronic products. Look around.

I'm a great...nationalist? What? This is fun. xD By the way, Italy is known mainly for other industries, but it's not like we haven't any electronic companies. Your attitude towards my country is a bit arrogant, you know. I guess you never heard about Olivetti, for example

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olivetti

but it has had her own hystory of successes and failures. Probably you think Samsung will be always the top electronic company, ignoring like the market works, historically. Italian electronic companies have nothing to do with the topic, though.

I guess in Japan, people only buy Japanese or European products. I guess they have some complex or something, which I am not so sure of. Most of Asians feel good about their own identity and their fellow Asians.

Yeah, okay, if you like to think like that...I'd like to say other things, but I would be OT.

Because of too many extreme nationalists in Japan, only in Japan, "Samsung removes logo from smartphones in Japan." Buy Samsung S6 Edge this time. Lucky for you if you can get it cheaper than Japanese phones. In the US, most of the people buy I-Phone or Samsung phones, which are the two most expensive phones.

In Italy when you speak about big brands like Sony or Samsung, the price is really similar currently, both if we are speaking about TVs or phones. It changes according to the specific characteristics of the model, not because of the brand. If you are speaking about smartphones, the only sure fact is that the I-Phones are the most expensive ones.

Leaving the manufacturer's name off the phone in Japan has actually been quite common even with domestic Japanese producers. For example my flip phone was made by Kyocera but the name on the phone is that of the service provider. Moreover, if phones were properly labeled by manufacturer, Apple phones would carry the Foxconn name.

@MIodinow:" It would only be "null and void" as you put it if the salespeople lied about the name. If customers don't ask what the name is then no harm no foul"

I don't think so in Japan. The customers have right to be informed. If the salespeople deliberately hide information that could be important, It constitutes fraud.

As SKoreans anti-Japan stance intensifies, many Japanese are avoiding Korean products. You can check this by trade statistics. Samsung knows this, that's why removing logo.

I don't think so in Japan. The customers have right to be informed. If the salespeople deliberately hide information that could be important, It constitutes fraud.

That depends on the information being hidden. Not displaying the company name would not be considered fraud under Japanese law.

Oh, c'mon, what kind of Korean products are better in quality that their Japanese counterparts? I'm not Asian, and I do not work for an electronic company but as a usual consumer I prefer to buy Japanese stuff, from smartphones, TVs, PS Vita to Japanese cosmetics, and stuff. Korean things suck. And I do not say that because I dislike Korea or anything, I have quite a few Korean friends. But based on my experience I did not like Korean things that I bought. Since I do have the money to spend on all that, I do value high quality, and Korean electronics seem to have reached the ceiling with their average quality, haven't noticed a single worthy premium product produced by Korean companies.

Now In Japan, information on from which country is important. Samsung removed its logo only from Japanese market is evidence that it knows the logo is negative information to the Japanese. If the logo is removed, then salesperson has to explain it's Korean made to protect the customer's right.

In the US, we think Korean electronics are more technologically advanced and better quality than Japanese electronics.

Japanese electronics used to be good but that's in the past.

Hence why most people in the US and the west in general prefer to buy Apple or Samsung smartphones. And most people I know tend to buy Samsung or LG TVs, refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners, etc.

99% of the new TVs my friends have bought in the past 2 years have been either Samsung or LG. I've never seen a Panasonic TV being bought and I rarely see any Sony TVs.

Korea's technological advancement has been more rapid than Japan's. It's something that Japanese companies need to realize or they will sink even faster. Buying Japanese products just because they are Japanese isn't good because it makes Japanese products less competitive as they will innovate less since they are generating sufficient income and just rest on their laurels.

I bought the Galaxy S6 edge because it is aesthetically attractive and it is the best designed smartphone I've ever seen. It's even better designed than the iPhone 6.

Sony phones are thick like bricks and they lag. The Sony UI is unattractive and their displays are low quality. Maybe that's why Sony is no longer making smartphones after the Xperia Z4. Because no one buys them outside of Japan.

@ Kanade

Modern Japanese products and quality are a myth and an oxymoron. I am galled that you even have the stubbornness to say Japanese products have higher quality than Korean products after that Takata airbag scandal, where the company workers intentionally cut corners to cut costs and put the car passengers in danger. Takata still refuses to hand over company documents to foreign governments and would prefer paying daily fines to keep those information out of investigator hands. In fact, it was only the Koreans and Germans with their strict quality control standards that avoided Takata airbags.

As for smartphones, I suggest you read up objective reviews about both the Galaxy S6/S6 Edge and SONY phones. The most recent review comes from Anandtech, which is one of the most reliable review sites out there.

"Taking everything together, the Galaxy S6 is the phone to beat right now. I’m not sure I’m the biggest fan of the glass back, but the display, camera, SoC, fingerprint sensor, battery life, and design are all strong points in favor of the Galaxy S6. In the past year, all of the Android flagships seemed to be missing some critical component to make them well-rounded. This year, Samsung is the first to get everything right."

The Galaxy S6 is the best in everything. It has the best display, camera, SoC/processor, and build quality. It has the best looks if you count the S6 Edge. SONY can't even design their own SoC. This year, they'll be stuck with the faulty SnapDragon 810 that'll overheat, cut performance and kill battery life.

The only thing Japanese products provide is comfort of mind that you're buying a Japanese products, but there will always be a Korean product that is superior, and that is the truth.

I think Gallaxy S6 is the best phone on the planet, it beats all the brands, it has all the features possible, it represent the superiority of the Korean designers, oops South Korean designers. It only have one negative point, it looks really ugly despite its price.

The fact that Japanese goods are high quality isn't a myth at all. Cases related to recalls are common between all the brands worldwide, but you can often see how America adopt double standards to attack their main competitors.While they are forcing Japan to open their market to the American cars, it's not weird they try to destroy the reputation of Japanese brands until Japan will accept their conditions about Tpp.

Alex80, thanks for the link, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olivetti

Now I know that Italy used to make computers and great typewriters. However, I don't think too many people care about typewriters anymore. Keep up the good work. Japanese phones are the best! Americans are double standards!

@JohnY921: If only Korea had a bigger economy, and it was considered a threat for the US economy, Korea would be forced into something like the Plaza Accord, and its export-oriented economy would collapse. But you are living in another planet, where you think the only reason why Samsung is doing so well is because it has the best technology ever. Bye bye...

I don't blame them given the recent political climate.

And the climate looks really grimy.

This is the phone that competes with Apple's iPhone.. well everywhere except in Japan where they must hide the logo. If the Japanese electronics are so good, why aren't none of the Japanese companies competing with Apple, with their own "Galaxy 6" type of phones? Even China makes better phones than Japan, and I would take Chinese electronics over the sinking Japanese industry that can't compete because Japanese electronics reminds me of how Americans thought about Detroit's auto market in the 1960's and 1970's. The difference is that Americans were opened minded to change, weren't afraid of trying foreign products, then learned from their mistakes, and they still have an auto industry. Where as in Japan, the stubborn superior mindset that doesn't allow any room for change will ensure that their electronic industry will end up in demise. What will Japanese do when Sony, Panasonic, Toshiba, Sharp, etc stop making consumer electronic products? Will the Japanese choose to live in stone age, rather then buy non-Japanese products? I wouldn't be surprised if that would happen, knowing the Japanese mindset.

Korean electronics are more technologically advanced and better quality

That must be why applications frequently crash when using the s6. Oh well, at least they don't suddenly catch on fire.