No wonder it's either Apple or Samsung: The 3 Immutable Laws of Marketing

I just re-read THE 22 IMMUTABLE LAWS OF MARKETING’ book written by Al Ries and Jack Trout and many ideas already exploded in my little mind. You can read the full list of 22 laws at our previous article at here.

As at today Samsung and Apple both controlled over 52% of the world's smartphone market share out of over 40 players. Samsung and Apple successes can be attributed to the 3 laws:

Law of Sacrifice. This is the opposite of Law of Extension. It says that if you want to be successful, you need to give up something. For Samsung, they give up software control, for they use Google's Android instead of their own Tizen operating system. For Apple's iPhone, they give up screen size so that the users can have a easy one-hand operation. Note that the rumoured iPhone 6 coming up in June 2014 will have a larger 4.7 inch option, but this is still much smaller than Samsung Galaxy Note 4 coming up in July 2014 which will have 5.9 inch.
Law of Attribute. This states that you have to own a certain attribute that your competitor does not have. Both Apple and Samsung share the same critical components that made their smartphones so popular: screen, processor and flash memory. (Samsung has been supplying these 3 components to Apple since 2007, the year of the first iPhone launch). No wonder some people are wondering if both Samsung and Apple are not competitors but collaborators!
Law of Candor. When you admit a negative attribute, the market will give you a positive attribute. It goes against human nature to admit a weakness, so if you admit a weakness, the market will see you as honest and strong enough to be weak, that means you have certain strong attributes. For Apple, they admit their weakness is their small screen size, whereas for Samsung their most exposed weakness is its plastic back. Samsung justified this so as to allow for the battery to be removed and replaced easily (and thus you need not worry about weak battery)

Now you too can apply these and other ideas into your daily sales. Whether you are now enjoying good sales income or you want to fast track your success, learn from the experts. Related articles on sales and list of sales courses are at here:

The Secret Under the Mattress: Why would a 79-year Man Bet So Big on 4D?

It was 2007 when we discovered his secret. While moving my father’s mattress, we found them: heaps and heaps of Singapore Pools 4D tickets. They were stacked in layers, a paper trail of lost hopes. What shocked us most wasn’t just the volume, but the stakes. He wasn’t betting a few dollars for fun. He was punting hundreds of dollars per draw—nearly ten times a month. At the time, my siblings and I were furious. Our father was a 79-year-old retiree. We wondered, with a mix of anger and confusion, why a man at his stage of life would need to win such "big money." What was he going to do with the money? We saw it as a reckless habit, a sign of poor judgment in his final years. Some of us would say, "If I were to give him money to buy 4D, why don't I use the money and buy 4D myself? At least I have better discipline". It has taken me two decades, and the experience of raising my own three grown-up children, to finally see the truth that was hidden under that matt...

Head Bleeding when the Chair Falls

The Weight of Silence: What Were We Really Arguing About? My earliest memories are punctuated by the sound of shouting. In 1970, when I was barely 6 years old, I stood as a small witness to the fierce quarrels between my father and my late eldest brother Kah Yang (he passed away in 1971 at the age of 17). As I grew up, these contradictions became the soundtrack of our lives, usually centered around our family's shoe shop and clothing stalls in Chinatown. In the court of family opinion, the verdict was almost always the same: my father was "wrong." He was judged as a man who didn't fulfill his role, who wasn't "burdening" enough for the family’s success. But as I look back from the vantage point of 2026, I have to ask: Was that actually true? Let me finally put to rest what my father did right: the truths that were buried under decades of criticism: Unseen Labor: He worked grueling, long hours. I remember him hauling boxes of goods and equipment to set u...

Business and Money Tips

Search This Blog