Samsung, the electronics giant, based in South Korea will ratchet up its competition with archrival Apple Inc, by having its own mini-store with Samsung staff inside Best Buy stores in the U.S. The idea said Samsung, is to highlight the way its tablets, television and smartphones work hand and hand together. Following the announcement by Samsung, Best Buy stock prices soared.
Starting April 8, the electronics giant will open nearly 500 new “Samsung Experience Stores” inside Best Buy stores. The new mini-stores will be 460 sq. feet in size and located near the front of the store for high visibility and more foot traffic.
Last year and at the start of this year, Samsung has been stung by Apple lawsuits that have accused the electronics giant of copying products made by Apple. This year Samsung has increased its marketing budget to prove to consumers that it is able to compete with rival Apple in innovation.
Best Buy stores that are not the larger version of 46,000 sq feet will have smaller Samsung mini-stores in them. Best Buy hopes to have 1,000 locations with Samsung mini-stores by June.
These new mini-stores are to compete directly with Apple. Apple’s iPhone is the leading smartphone in sales in the U.S. with a share in the market of 38%, while Samsung only has 21% of the current market. Worldwide, Samsung leads with over 40% of the market after shipping more than 545.2 million units in 2012.
The report is authored by Selena Roberts, the CEO and founder of Roopstigo.com and a former columnist at the New York Times and a Sports Illustrated senior writer. Roberts graduated from Auburn and defended the report when asked about comments made by Blanc that the report was false.
