Stealth Galaxy
The smartphone industry is growing more and more interested in Samsung's move to ditch its logo from the Galaxy S6 being sold in Japan. It seems the strategy stems from concerns for the recent anti-Korea sentiment in the country. However, industry watchers believe that it is a measure considering Japanese tendency to follow the U.S. while belittling Asia, called “MacArthur Syndrome.” After World War II, U.S. armed forces stationed in Japan and General MacArthur changed the Japanese social system to an American one, creating MacArthur Syndrome.
According to the industry and foreign press on April 19, the Samsung name will disappear from the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge, to be launched in Japan on April 23.
This is a drastic measure for Samsung to sell its new smartphone in Japan while ditching its branding. According to data from U.S.-based Interbrand, Samsung came in seventh in a ranking with US$4.5 billion (5 trillion won) in the Japanese market. Nevertheless, Japan has historically been a weak market for Samsung.
Samsung Electronics has come up with new measures to rejuvenate its smartphone business for the first time after the company tapped into the Japanese cellphone market. When the company first released the Galaxy S in 2010, Samsung ranked first in the market, beating Sony for the first time, with full support of the nation’s number one mobile carrier NTT DoCoMo, and the power of the Korean wave.
However, the company has lost ground since then, as the mobile carrier included the iPhone in 2013, and anti-Korean sentiment emerged in Japan due to its wartime history. The Galaxy S5 came in 48th in a weekly smartphone sales ranking in Japan from April 8 to 14 by market research firm BCN. According to data from another market research firm Strategy Analytics, Samsung Electronics took 5th place, with 5.6 percent in the Japanese smartphone market share last year, lagging far behind first-placed Apple with 40.8 percent.
The company noted the successful case of Naver entering the Japanese messenger market while focusing on the “Line” brand instead of “Naver.” Also, Samsung is showing a strong will to dominate the Japanese market again this time, and will carry out a full-scale attack by quadrupling the workforce at Galaxy S6 outlets.