What’s in a name? Apparently, Samsung is counting on a competitive advantage. The electronics giant has rebranded its app store with the catchy name Samsung Galaxy Apps.
The new platform offers hundreds of exclusive mobile apps for Galaxy device users. Samsung is calling Samsung Galaxy Apps an improvement on its predecessor, which was known merely as Samsung Apps. It promises more customization for mobile devices and will serve up promotions and discounts. Meanwhile, the user interface offers three sections — Best Picks, Top and For Galaxy.
“Best Picks” helps users find recommended apps and promotions. “Top” showcases the most popular apps and can be viewed according to popularity, date, and price. And “For Galaxy” has four sections: Galaxy Gifts with premium exclusive apps; Galaxy Essentials for what Samsung deems “must-have” apps; Apps for Professionals for business-focused apps and services; and “Galaxy Specials” for apps created using Samsung SDKs.
No Longer Targeting Google
We caught up with Avi Greengart, an analyst at Current Analysis, to get his take on the rebranded app store. He told us the gear shifting is meaningful because in the past Samsung has tried to compete head to head with Google on many software fronts.
For example, Samsung worked to set up Google Play alternative services, like Samsung Hub for media downloads and the Samsung App Store for apps and Samsung Translator for translations. Samsung’s idea was to show the market that it could reduce its reliance on Google if necessary.
“Google and Samsung have been speaking over the last year or so and trying to reduce some of that friction. We saw some results of that at Google I/O when Samsung decided to give the Knox security suite over to the next version of Android,” Greengart said. “We’re seeing Samsung pull away from trying to replace everything in Android with its own versions.”
A Differentiated Experience
When it comes to Samsung Galaxy Apps, the company is looking to offer a hub where it can serve up a differentiated experience for Samsung Galaxy device owners rather than always targeting Google Play. As Greengart sees it, the rebranded app store is about Samsung competing with other Android vendors — and to a large extent, Apple.
“This is Samsung trying to provide software benefits to its Galaxy customers. They’ve been doing it with new subscription services. They’ve been doing it with apps that usually cost money that they are throwing in for free,” Greengart said.
“When you buy a Samsung Galaxy product, you not only get the hardware and the Google software and Samsung software on top of that, but you also get offers to various subscriptions and apps and services as part of the overall value proposition,” he added.
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