Samsung has decided to launch its latest Galaxy series smartphones in Japan sans its corporate logo.
According to a new report from The Korea Herald, Samsung will launch the Galaxy S6 and its curved-edge variant, the Galaxy S6 Edge in the Japanese market on April 23 without the company’s logo on the handset. Instead the smartphones will be marketed as Docomo Galaxy and Au Galaxy after names of the Japanese telecom service providers that sell them.
Furthermore the smartphone maker has also renamed its Facebook Page in Japan to ‘Galaxy Mobile Japan’ and removed its name from the marketing visuals for its new phones.
“We think the Galaxy brand has been well established in Japan,” the paper quoted a Samsung official as saying.
Reason for Samsung ditching its logo is yet to be known. It is, however, believed that Samsung’s failure to establish strong hold in the Japanese smartphone market has led to the decision.
According to Strategy Analytics, Samsung is overshadowed in Japan by Apple (41 per cent share) and domestic players (Sony, 18 per cent; Sharp 12 per cent; and Fujitsu 9 per cent). The South Korean company made up a tiny 5.6 percent of Japanese smartphone sales last year, as against its 25.1 percent global market share.
There were even rumors that Samsung was planning to exit the Japanese phone market, with its devices barely making an impact in the country.
It will be interesting to note how the two new Galaxy smartphones perform in Japan. Both handsets are already available in several global markets, and are apparently receiving good response.
