E
veryone remembers the kid who
sat next to you in high school and
conveniently turned his head
toward your Scantron to “cough” during
an exam. Even worse are the ones who
peer pressured you into letting them copy
the entirety of your homework. Copycats
are a nuisance — a fly you just can’t seem to
swat for good. Even in the team-oriented
corporate world, there are colleagues who
ride the coattails of your work. But what
happens when a $700 billion company
strategy is rooted in these very grounds?
Apple has created an ecosystem that
most students at the University of Michi-
gan have bought into. Send a text on your
iPhone, track your workout on an Apple
Watch, write your essays on a Macbook
and indulge in your morning podcast on
those AirPods. When you run out of stor-
age, make sure to upgrade your iCloud
storage for only 99 cents. Every picture
you take, place you go, thought you have
and person you talk to circles back to
these environs. But beware: The ecosys-
tem comes with a side effect of allegiance.
The easiest way to start a friendship on
the wrong foot is observed when you care-
fully type a new number into your phone
and watch the green text fail to turn blue.
When the iPod became wildly suc-
cessful after its release in 2001, Apple
looked ahead and accurately predicted
the inevitable smartphone takeover. Thus,
it quietly began creating the iPhone. The
iPhone was groundbreaking when its first
few models came into fruition, capturing
3.4 percent of the smartphone industry’s
market share within the first quarter on
the market. And by 2012, the iPhone made
up more than half of Apple’s revenue.
A quick glance at Samsung and Apple’s
timelines show the iPhone broke grounds
first. The debut iPhone was released
in January of 2007, while the Samsung
Galaxy was released in 2010. While the
first 8GB iPhone cost a whopping $600
(approximately $740 today), it was widely
regarded as the most anticipated gadget
of the decade, and thus saw booming suc-
cess. But since its first few models, Apple
has let its branding and consumer loyalty
take the lead, working in the shadows of
Samsung while carrying the gold
medal.
Excited for the AirPower wire-
less charging technology set to
release later this year? Samsung
debuted this capability back in
2015, even featuring it in an ad
mocking Apple. Tired of getting
the “Not Enough Storage” notifi-
cation right as you’re about to snap
the perfect photo? Samsung intro-
duced microSD expandable mem-
ory in 2014 with the Galaxy S5 — it
can now expand up to 400 GB. And
while your water-resistant 2016
iPhone 7 may save your life during
a poolside Instagram photoshoot,
the Samsung Note7 introduced
waterproof technology that same
year, after implementing water
resistance since its S4 in 2013. The
2016 Note7 also debuted facial rec-
ognition technology, which Apple
picked up for its iPhone X in late
2017.
The
mimicry
pattern
runs
deeper than surface-level fea-
tures. After Steve Jobs bashed
OLED screen technology in 2012,
Tim Cook ultimately implement-
ed it in the Apple Watch in 2015,
then the Macbook and iPhone
soon after for better picture quality and
power efficiency. But while Samsung has
used OLED screens since its 2010 Nexus
S, Apple deserves some credit, as OLED
technology has been argued to be primi-
tive until used in Apple products.
Though the Samsung versus Apple
rivalry can often feel as bitter as that of
Coke versus Pepsi, what many tend to
forget is that Samsung actually produces
a substantial number of processors and
OLED screens for Apple. While their sup-
plier relationship altered in 2018 with
Apple’s decision to bring on a second
OLED supplier to reduce their reliance on
Samsung, the South Korean mogul once
made $110 off of every iPhone X that was
sold. And while both companies continue
to play tag in legal battles year after year,
they still lead a critically symbiotic rela-
tionship. As they say, keep your friends
close, but keep your enemies closer.
It is hard to deny Apple is winning in the
smartphone race in the U.S. Despite Sam-
sung being a global leader in market share,
their smartphone market share in the U.S.
hovers near 25 percent, while Apple’s sits
at 45 percent. Apple was also the largest
company by market cap last year, while
Samsung took 12th place. Beyond getting
kids acclimated to their products through
elementary school classrooms equipped
with iPads and Macs, Apple also continues
to offer features that are deeply integrat-
ed in our daily lives: iMessage and Face-
Time. It can be argued Apple is leading in
the U.S. because of these features, while
other countries use third-party apps, such
as WhatsApp, and thus find more value in
Samsung products. While Samsung often
innovates earlier, Apple still capitalizes
on a rare pairing of luxury branding and
ubiquity to hold on tight to their domi-
nance.
But perhaps Apple’s lack of innovation
will eventually catch up to them. Three
months ago, Goldman Sachs slashed
their stock price forecast of Apple, citing
a lack of success in China as well as the
iPhone XR’s flop in performance. And just
4 weeks ago, Apple announced they too
are slashing their own revenue forecast
for these same reasons, ultimately caus-
ing their stock price to plummet by 10
percent. Minor model changes and steep
price jumps may no longer be the ticket to
success in Apple’s playbook.
You can only play copycat for so long.
But for now, as enticing as cutting-edge
technology and waterproof systems are,
no one wants to be a pixelated Snapchat,
or worse: a green text message.
Want to defend the brainchild of Steve
Jobs? Feel free to spark conversation at
rsharm@michigandaily.com.
Wednesday, January 30, 2019 // The Statement
2B
BY ROMY SHARMA, STATMENT COLUMNIST
Apple has played copycat for a
decade — and is winning
Managing Statement Editor
Andrea Pérez Balderrama
Deputy Editors
Matthew Harmon
Shannon Ors
Designers
Liz Bigham
Kate Glad
Copy Editors
Miriam Francisco
Madeline Turner
Photo Editor
Annie Klusendorf
Editor in Chief
Maya Goldman
Managing Editor
Finntan Storer
statement
THE MICHIGAN DAILY | JANUARY 30, 2019
ILLUSTRATION BY CHRISTINE JEGARL