Not content with fighting in the courtroom, Samsung has taken the fight to Apple in the week before the iPhone 4S goes on sale by renting a pop-up shop just metres down the road from Apple’s Sydney store, offering consumers the Samsung Galaxy S II for just $2 for one week only.
Interest in the Samsung phone has been healthy, with queues stretching back further than the Apple Store down the road – although this might have something to do with the Korean smartphone giant limiting $2 Galaxy S II handsets to the first 10 people in the line each day.
This has led to many queuing since Monday to secure Samsung’s flagship handset, tempting some customers away from the Apple Store, with the new pop-up store being used not only to promote the smartphone but also its new online music subscription service, Music Hub.
With Apple’s iPhone 4S going on sale at 8am on Friday, Samsung is hoping to capitalise on the increased footfall passing the store by touting its own bestselling smartphone, a device that launched to critical acclaim and is currently the best-selling Android smartphone on the market.
Customers queuing outside of Apple’s George Street store in Sydney waiting for Friday’s iPhone 4S launch have reportedly been approached by Samsung representatives, encouraging them to switch queues and stand in line at the Samsung store instead.
Unfortunately for Samsung, it doesn’t seem to be working on most, with student Tom Mosca noting:
There’s this guy who has come up to us trying to convince us to buy the Samsung Galaxy S II two days in a row now. He’s an idiot.
It’s a bold move by Samsung, which has already seen the launch of its Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet blocked by Apple in Australia. The Korean manufacturer has said it will likely cancel its plans to launch the tablet if it can’t get its sales ban overturned.
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