[Galaxy S 4 General] puremind:
YOU talked about the importance of others seeing the phone. I briefly argued that a phone is very visible seing as you use it on the metro or at restaurants, where the whole city can see you. But really that's not the point. People identify with a phone because of what it represents to them, and what it represents to them is articulated in the brand's marketing promise and that is really what should guide your decision.

If they were random, then I wouldn't have picked those two, now would I? The point of the quote is not that they are bragging, it is that they are making a market positioning statement, positioning the product as a premium product with mouth-watering design. Analyzing what a top executive has to say about the company's flagship device is usually very useful, because they happen to give the business strategy, which is then reflected in all of the advertising that you see. They is nothing random about such statements...

Samsung on the other hand chooses to articulate the features of the phones in their marketing message.

Please stop personal attacks immediately! I am not trolling here so please leave it at that. If you believe otherwise, then ask for my posts to be removed. This kind of accusations from you and that other user distract from the actual discussion and are totally off-topic!

The surest way to loose market share is to ignore competition and only look at your own products. The S3 sold very well because of several factors, one of which was competition failing:

Apple failed to react to market demand for larger size phones

HTC failed at marketing: no features singled out, too many devices, marketing promise poorly articulated, low promotion efforts after initial release.

2013 is a new environment. Like Apple, Samsung can count on a large fan base and blistering budgets. But competition is tougher and success will depend on how well both these companies articulate their marketing message - what really differentiates them, and to how many do these differentiating factors appeal most.

I have simply described to you the audiences that I think the S4 and One appeal to by virtue of their promoted features and marketing promises. as I said, you shouldn't take this as a personal attack on you (which you seem to have done, since you felt a need to boast your salary). After all, users have different reasons for choosing a device. But with most phones being very close in terms of performance, the differentiating factor these days really is the market positioning.

But just so we are clear, I own both HTC and Samsung, I just happen to identify more with the HTC marketing promise of a premium slick device at the moment (and like the screen on the HTC One better, but I am happy to be convinced by the custom Kernels). The fact that I skipped the S3 does show that I care about innovative design. And the fact that I didn't purchase the One X shows that I cared about performance. I wanted both in one device and now I have found it.

Different people talk about different things they like in a product. It was actually shown that design makes the strongest connection to a device because it activated regions of the brain normally activated when you are in contact with people you love. This came from a comparative study for Samsung vs. Apple customers when asked to talk about their device (from 11:53 to 14:15).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxwBDPnSIfk

I think I have given you details about both brands and their chosen market positioning. Samsung wants to appeal to everyone (both old and young, both rural and urban setting), whereas HTC has a more targeted approach. This is very clear in their advertising campaign that they take a more mainstream approach than HTC:

http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/10/samsung-galaxy-s4-commercials/

I actually like Samsung adverts, as they do a good job of singling out a few features that bring people closer to each other. But I still don't like the Life Companion term because it distracts from this. For example, companion doesn't translate well in other languages. In French and in German it is an old fashioned word to describe a lifelong partner or a dog that "obeys to gestures" so the parallel is not too flattering.

I actually liked S3's "made for humans" better, because it emphasized the human, emotional aspect more. Having said that, I think the "life companion" slogan is only an issue for press advertising. The ads I have seen so far translate the benefit much better (the first ad on my link is really great). This is where HTC still cannot compete...