Recently, Samsung has been sued for cloning the designs, graphical user interfaces and touchscreen of an Apple’s IPhone. Apple feels Samsung has taken the credit of being the advanced smartphone with a large touchscreen and other features. Samsung has been fined one billion dollars for the imitation.
This relates to the class discussion when we talked about Points of Parity VS. Points of Difference. The IPhone used to have POD by being a touchscreen smartphone that is also slim and unique in design. This was the reason why the IPhone was so popular among young and old cell phone users. However, a new competitor, Samsung Galaxy, revealed the same concept as the IPhone making POP. Now neither of the phones is unique and people are more lenient on which phone to buy.
I realized the significance of points of difference and how good it can attract consumers. Products need POD in order to succeed in the market business and without it, it can’t position itself as #1 in consumers’ minds. After the IPhone 5 came out, I can analyze that both companies are now racing to see who can become #1 in consumers’ minds by inventing a slimmer phone with a bigger touchscreen. By next year, we will being carrying around brittle phones with a 10-inch screen.