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U.S. Galaxy S II Release: Samsung Finally Gets Branding Right

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With the U.S. release of the Galaxy S II, Samsung finally nails down branding of its flagship dual-core smartphone with its carrier partners. Rather than releasing the product under different variants and branding, like what happened under the original Galaxy S 1, the Galaxy S II maintains its global brand under all three launch carriers including AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile. Of the three major U.S. carriers, Sprint’s is the only one with additional branding, with its variant known as the Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch.

The move is a departure from the original Galaxy S smartphone. The original flagship was known simultaneously as the AT&T Captivate, the Sprint Epic 4G, the T-Mobile Vibrant, and the Verizon Fascinate. While having different monikers would give the carriers some bragging rights about differentiating their offerings or products, but it also served to break down the market and may have caused customer confusion on trying to locate the proper variant for their own carrier or networks.

Though there are subtle differences between all three versions released in the U.S., moving towards a common, unified brand should help Samsung and carriers sell the device to consumers. For example, if a customer on carrier A saw a friend on carrier B use a device, now that customer can go to his carrier and ask for the device by name. Before, if a carrier saw a Vibrant, but if his carrier was AT&T, that would have caused confusion as the customer may not be aware that the Vibrant and Captivate are essentially the same devices with some differences. Now, that scenario is less likely to happen as all the Galaxy S II devices are now marketed under the same name.

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