iPhone 7's Lack of 'Compelling' Features Convinced Most Galaxy Note7 Owners to Stay With Samsung

In a recent piece by The Wall Street Journal, hardware analyst Stephen Baker commented on the state of holiday sales figures for both Apple and Samsung. While many believed Apple would have it easy this season due to Samsung's Galaxy Note7 crisis, Baker said that "Apple's own lack of a wowing product this year" meant that woeful Note7 owners opted for other high-end Galaxy phones, and not the iPhone 7.

“Most of those who bought or wanted to buy a Note 7 opted for a different high-end Galaxy phone,” Mr. Baker said. “Samsung was able to fend off other Android competition, and Apple, too, thanks to Apple’s own lack of a wowing product this year.”

Apple decided to not release the first weekend sales numbers for the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus back in September, because it felt the results were "no longer a representative metric" due to demand outweighing supply. Samsung officially halted sales of the Galaxy Note7 worldwide in early October, but another industry analyst, Chetan Sharma, continued Baker's thread by commenting on the iPhone 7's lack of "a compelling enough feature set," which wasn't enough to convince owners of potentially exploding Note7 devices to switch ecosystems.

iphone-7-plus-colors

“Apple has the strongest ecosystem, with its hardware, software and app and content stores,” said consumer tech and mobile industry consultant Chetan Sharma. “IPhone users looking for an upgrade stick with Apple. But in a year when Samsung dropped the ball in a huge way,” he said, Apple “didn’t have a phone with a compelling enough feature set to lure Samsung owners away.”

Earlier this week, Yahoo-owned mobile analytics firm Flurry released data surrounding the top device activations by manufacturer between 12/19 and 12/25, confirming that Apple was again at the top of the list with 44 percent activations, while Samsung came in second at 21 percent. In comparison to the previous year, Apple dropped from 49 percent and Samsung climbed slightly from 19 percent.

Ultimately, the two analysts admitted that both Apple and Samsung "made mistakes this year that cost them growth." Sharma said that "the timing couldn’t have been worse for Samsung and it couldn’t have been better for Apple. But the truth is neither company capitalized this year.”

In the first few days of December, financial firm Oppenheimer summed up the current negative cloud surrounding Apple -- fueled by mixed-to-negative consumer reception and its first revenue decline since 2003 -- and stated that the company could be heading into a "decade-long malaise" if it doesn't turn things around.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

Beyond iPhone 13 Better Triad

Apple's 20th Anniversary iPhone May Finally Go All Screen

Tuesday April 15, 2025 6:31 am PDT by
Apple is preparing a "bold" new iPhone Pro model for the iPhone's 20th anniversary in 2027, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. As part of what's being described as a "major shake-up," Apple is said to be developing a design that makes more extensive use of glass – and this could point directly to the display itself. Here's the case for Apple releasing a truly all-screen iPhone with no...
iPhone 17 Pro 3 4ths Perspective Aluminum Camera Module 1

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Sunday April 13, 2025 7:52 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
iOS 19 Roundup Feature

iOS 19 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Tuesday April 15, 2025 7:37 am PDT by
The first iOS 19 beta is less than two months away, and there are already a handful of new features that are expected with the update. Apple should release the first iOS 19 beta to developers immediately following the WWDC 2025 keynote, which is scheduled for Monday, June 9. Following beta testing, the update should be released to the general public in September. Below, we recap the key...
CarPlay Hero

Apple Releases Wireless CarPlay Fix

Wednesday April 16, 2025 11:28 am PDT by
If you have been experiencing issues with wireless CarPlay in your vehicle lately, it was likely due to a software bug that has now been fixed. Apple released iOS 18.4.1 today, and the update's release notes say it "addresses a rare issue that prevents wireless CarPlay connection in certain vehicles." If wireless CarPlay was acting up for you, updating your iPhone to iOS 18.4.1 should...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday April 17, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
Apple 2025 Thumb 1

10 Products Still Coming From Apple in 2025

Friday April 11, 2025 4:14 pm PDT by
Apple may have updated several iPads and Macs late last year and early this year, but there are still multiple new devices that we're looking forward to seeing in 2025. Most will come in September or October, but there could be a few surprises before then. We've rounded up a list of everything that we're still waiting to see from Apple in 2025. iPhone 17, 17 Air, and 17 Pro - We get...
iOS 18

Apple Releases iOS 18.4.1 With Bug Fixes

Wednesday April 16, 2025 10:11 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.4.1 and iPadOS 18.4.1, minor updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating systems that came out last September. iOS 18.4.1 and iPadOS 18.4.1 come two weeks after the launch of iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. There have been complaints about ...
iPhone 6s MacRumors YouTube

Apple Says These Products Are Now Vintage

Tuesday April 15, 2025 9:53 am PDT by
Apple today updated its vintage products list to add the 2018 Mac mini and the iPhone 6s, devices that will get more limited service and repairs now that they are considered vintage. The iPhone 6s initially launched in 2015, but Apple kept it around as a low-cost device until 2018, which is why it is only now being added to the vintage list. The iPhone 6s had Apple's A9 chip, and it was...
macOS Sequoia Feature

Apple Releases macOS Sequoia 15.4.1 With Bug Fixes

Wednesday April 16, 2025 10:16 am PDT by
Apple today released macOS Sequoia 15.4.1, a minor update to the macOS Sequoia operating system that launched in September. macOS Sequoia 15.4.1 comes two weeks after the launch of macOS Sequoia 15.4. Mac users can download the ‌‌macOS Sequoia‌‌ update through the Software Update section of System Settings. It is available for free on all Macs able to run macOS 15. According to...

Top Rated Comments

maflynn Avatar
108 months ago
People get upset over a headphone jack,
That's because people need and use the headphone jack. Schiller said it took courage to remove the headphone jack, yet I can no longer listen to music with my headphones and have it charging. Also if it took courage, why did they include it in the new MacBook Pro?
Score: 75 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Sunny1990 Avatar
108 months ago
iPhone7 - Lack of innovation, same two generation old design,headphone jack removed which millions of people use every day
Score: 59 Votes (Like | Disagree)
A MacBook lover Avatar
108 months ago
I'm glad Apple is waiting and taking their time with the redesign. Remember - Apple is never first, but usually always the best.

People get upset over a headphone jack, but not over an exploding phone. And yet people question the values of Apple and not Samsung.

I would argue the dual camera / telescopic zoom is a major feature as the jump in camera quality between the 6s is quite large.
Score: 42 Votes (Like | Disagree)
maflynn Avatar
108 months ago
Can't say that I'm overly surprised. I think the iPhone 7 is a nice phone, but its not that much different the 6s. There's a fairly large disparity on features with Android phones vs. the iPhone
Score: 39 Votes (Like | Disagree)
maflynn Avatar
108 months ago
How are you a moderator on an Apple site?

If you can't make sense of it there really isn't any other way to explain it
Are you saying that I cannot hold an independent thought and I must blindly agree to everything Apple does?

As pointed out, Apple made a statement about how antqiuated the headphone jack is, and yet they included it in the MBP

Beside, I already said the iPhone 7 is a nice phone, my wife has one. I think its good, but I am critical of them removing something that many of us use.

As I stated, I cannot use the iPhone 7, having it charging and listen to music on my headphones - something I do all the time.
Score: 30 Votes (Like | Disagree)
OllyW Avatar
108 months ago
They removed the headphone jack to make space in a tiny device - the MacBook Pro is considerabley larger than the iPhone.
I think the reason people are confused by Apple retaining the headphone socket in the new MBP is because of the outright condemnation of the same socket by Apple executives when the iPhone 7 was announced.
The audio connector is more than 100 years old", "It had its last big innovation about 50 years ago. You know what that was? They made it smaller. It hasn't been touched since then. It's a dinosaur. It's time to move on", "We are removing the audio jack because we have developed a better way to deliver audio", "We've got this 50-year-old connector -- just a hole filled with air -- and it's just sitting there taking up space, really valuable space"
If they genuinely feel it's that bad and outdated, wouldn't you expect them to remove it from all of their new product releases?
Score: 28 Votes (Like | Disagree)