The debut of Samsung's Galaxy S4 was not enough to match the popularity of Apple's iPhone 5.
According to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, in a note to investors, the iPhone 5 continues to overshadow Samsung in consumer appeal. The comment was evident based on the number of tweets between the iPhone 5 and Galaxy S4 on their respective launch dates. The iPhone 5 launched on Sept. 12, while the Galaxy S4 made its debut on March 14.
The data, courtesy of Investing Analytics, shows the new Apple smartphone trounced Samsung's 5-inch device comfortably in social media. The iPhone 5, based on the data, attracted approximately 2.4 million tweets. The number dwarfs the Galaxy S4's tweets, managing about 440,000.
"We believe this demonstrates that while interest in the Galaxy S4 is growing, Apple continues to hold a meaningful lead as the smartphone with the broadest consumer appeal," said Munster.
It isn't all bad news for Samsung, as the tweets for the Galaxy S4 were largely positive compared to its rival. The Galaxy S4's positive reviews were at 81 percent, while 73 percent for the iPhone 5 tweets were positive.
According to Munster, a reason why the iPhone received more negative attention was due to its specifications leaking prior to its launch, resulting in underwhelmed customers.
The hype for iPhone 5 may be evident to Samsung Electronic Co. CEO J.K. Shin, who spoke with the Wall Street Journal about the company's market share in the U.S.
While the CEO believes Samsung is a "global player" in the smartphone market, he recognized dissatisfaction in the U.S. market.
"Innovation is what will get consumers to buy new devices. I don't dwell on market share numbers, but I'm not satisfied with our market share in the U.S," said Shin.
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