When Apple Reminded Samsung Employees Of Their Mission

Their rivalry might have gone off the boil but there was a time when Apple and Samsung were at loggerheads with each other. So much so that Apple co-founder late Steve Jobs even threatened to launch a “thermonuclear war” against Android — Samsung was the catalyst for the comment made by him. More interesting details and anecdotes have emerged of the rivalry in a new book that has been excerpted by Forbes. The book titled “Samsung Rising” has been authored by Geoffrey Cain who details what all Samsung did at the peak of its rivalry with Apple.

Back in 2011, writes Cain, Samsung had beaten Apple and become the number one smartphone brand in terms of shipments. Around the same time, Cain writes, that Samsung did something ‘unusual’ at its Texas headquarters. “Trucks carrying fresh apples started arriving at the Texas headquarters of Samsung. Bushel baskets were placed in the elevator banks and break rooms, so that wherever Samsung employees took a coffee break, they were reminded of their mission—to take a bite out of Apple.”

So yes, Samsung was so determined to beat Apple that it took every possible step to motivate its employees. This meant that apples were kept at strategic locations in the office to remind its employees what they were working towards.

It was Samsung’s marketing strategy, explains Cain, to have ads and commercials that took dig at the iPhone. Cain wrote, “By attacking Apple head-on, Samsung’s marketers thought they could establish themselves as the challenger brand, turning the competition with Apple into a Coke-versus-Pepsi war for the smartphone world.”

However, off late, Samsung hasn’t made any jabs — or at least not that frequently — at Apple. In fact, a feature that Samsung mocked Apple for removing — the headphone jack — has been removed from high-end Samsung phones.

―Times of India