????三星的崛起非比尋常。要知道，就在十來年前，這家公司還默默無聞。三星過去也對抗過索尼（Sony）等曾經的電子巨頭。后者上世紀八、九十年代在消費電子領域可謂風光無限。與索尼等日本公司不同，三星明顯斗志旺盛、野心勃勃，三星董事長曾當著2,000名工人的面，燒毀了所有有瑕疵的手機。

????三星從廉價空調和低端電視機起家，隨后擴張至芯片制造業，如今它已成為世界最大的內存芯片供應商，在閃存芯片領域，它也是主要的標準制定者。過去十年，三星大肆擴張，挺進大屏幕電視、液晶顯示器和手機等多個領域。三星在這些領域就算現在還不是領導者，也正在成長為領導者。

????三星的企業DNA無疑是“深耕技術”。即便Android手機生產廠商眾多，但三星非凡的技術功底使它在智能手機市場獨占鰲頭。當然，三星在工業設計領域同樣出色，它在美國市場的品牌效應要比日本競爭者高出不少。

????今天，三星在消費電子領域面對的競爭者不再是日本公司，而是蘋果。最近一段時間，一系列負面消息讓蘋果的光環效應蒙塵不少。例如蘋果地圖問題不斷、iCloud業務發展不暢、向來穩定的高管團隊出現改組，拳頭產品iPhone的競爭力有所減弱。而股價不斷下跌、凈利潤率下滑、投資者對股息等問題怨聲載道，蘋果的公眾形象這段時間褪色不少。

????而三星正在抓住這個機會，利用蘋果的低潮期來鞏固自身實力。三星已然將自己定位成蘋果的替代者，在GalaxyS3手機的宣傳片中，它盡情嘲笑蘋果死忠們。這些人過去一直招人煩。憑借異乎尋常的嗅覺，三星能準確預測蘋果的下一步計劃：蘋果不是在搞智能手表嗎？三星也在搞。蘋果不是在研發低價iPhone和平板嗎？三星當然也有。

????現在的蘋果頗有些手忙腳亂。這家公司向來以言語刻薄著稱，經常將競爭對手駁得體無完膚。但面對三星最新產品GalaxyS4，蘋果只在官網上放了一篇吹捧iPhone品牌的文章，而蘋果高管在點評GalaxyS4的缺陷時，還出現錯誤。這不禁讓我們想到了前蘋果高管吉恩-路易斯?卡西的評論，“蘋果失去了話語權，別的公司開始成為領導者。”

????在消費者忠誠度方面，三星仍然難以媲美蘋果。目前，蘋果與三星相比有一個巨大的優勢，就是它數十年來逐漸建立的獨特品牌。雖然最近有些麻煩，但蘋果的品牌仍然要比三星成熟得多。品牌管理顧問公司Interbrand對三星品牌的全球排名是第9名，較之三年前的第19名有大幅上升，但蘋果仍然穩居亞軍寶座，僅次于可口可樂（Coca-Cola）。

????三星標榜自己叫板蘋果這一招沒多久就會失靈。三星需要的不僅僅是被視為設計最佳的Android手機的制造廠商。一個品牌最強大的時后，人們會對它產生依戀，把它看成對自己身份的表達。而就三星GalaxyS4發布會拙劣的超現實主義效果（跳踢踏舞的小孩！歌劇手套！一輛Mini Cooper橫在臺上！）來看，三星仍然在苦苦探索自己的品牌形象。

????不光是科技媒體，眾多消費者也樂于坐山觀虎斗，特別是因為，他們覺得誰輸誰贏自己說了算。但威脅蘋果領先地位的新對手——三星的本質到底是什么？回答這個問題將是三星的下一個挑戰。（財富中文網）

????譯者：項航

????Samsung's ascent is remarkable given its humble image even a dozen years ago. The company struggled against onetime electronics giants like Sony (SNE), the premier brand in consumer electronics in the '80s and '90s. In contrast to Sony, Samsung had a distinctly un-Japanese spirit of scrappy gumption -- its Chairman once burned an entire inventory of defective cell phones in front of the 2,000 factory workers who built them.

????Starting off as a maker of cheap air conditioners and low-end TVs, Samsung expanded into chip production until it became the largest maker in DRAM chips as well as an innovator in flash memory chips. Overt the past decade, the company has pushed aggressively into large-screen TVs, flat-panel displays and cell phones -- becoming a leading if not the leading manufacturer in each market.

????Samsung's DNA has always been deep in engineering. In a market where there are multiple companies making Android devices, it was that engineering prowess that pushed its smartphones to the head of the pack. In the past decade, Samsung has put an equally strong emphasis on design, which has made it a more prominent brand in the U.S. than any Japanese competitor.

????Today, it's not Japanese companies but Apple that is the consumer electronics brand to beat. In recent months, a number of things have taken some of the shine off Apple's brand: Mishaps like the Apple Maps brouhaha, growing frustration with iCloud, reshuffling of longtime top execs, and the erosion of the iPhone's competitive edge. A flagging stock price, sagging profit margins, and investor grumpiness around dividends have added to Apple's public-image troubles.

????Not missing its chance, Samsung is stepping in to make Apple's moment of weakness its own strength. Samsung has shrewdly positioned itself as the Apple alternative, with Galaxy S3 commercials that mock the cultish Apple fanboys who have annoyed so many people over the years. Samsung is nimbly anticipating Apple's moves: Apple is working on a smart watch? So is Samsung. Apple is producing lower-priced phones and tablets? Get in line, right behind Samsung.

????Apple isn't helping its case either. The company used to hurl snide rebuffs at competitors that stung. But its reply to Samsung's new rivalry is a page touting the allure of the iPhone brand, and inaccurate comments from a top executive about flaws in the Galaxy S4. That error prompted former Apple exec Jean-Louis Gassée to declare, "Apple has lost control of the narrative; the company has let others define its story."

????Samsung still has its challenges in trying to beat Apple for consumers' loyalty. Apple has, for now, one strong advantage over Samsung -- its distinct brand, which it has built up for decades. Even with its recent troubles, Apple's brand is substantially more developed than Samsung's. Interbrand ranked Samsung the No. 9 brand in the world, up from No. 19 three years earlier, but Apple is still ranked No. 2, behind only Coca-Cola (KO).

????Being the anti-Apple won't work for Samsung much longer. The company needs to be seen as more than the maker of the best-engineered Android phone. When brands are most powerful, people attach to them as an expression of their own identities. Judging from the ham-fisted, surreal press event (Tap-dancing kids! Opera gloves! Sideways Mini Coopers!) to introduce the Galaxy S4, Samsung is still struggling to define that image.

????It's not just us in the tech press, consumers in general enjoy a good horserace, especially when they can feel like they've picked the winning horse. But what exactly defines this new rival that is threatening to take the lead from Apple? Answering that question is Samsung's next challenge.