Competitive set
What the nine named competitors hold in partnerships, where Samsung sits in brand perception, and the threats in Samsung’s own survey data.
Premium is the lowest of 26 image attributes against Apple. 5 attributes sit below 90: Premium, Youthful, cool and trendy, Superior and successful, Smart and ahead of others, Good impression on other people.
So whatThese attributes are the gap partnerships are asked to move, per Samsung’s brand objectives.
Hisense and TCL together hold FIFA, UEFA EURO, the NBA TV category, the NFL TV category, FIBA and Olympic TOP rights in TV and appliances.
So whatThese are the two C-brands that Samsung TV survey tracks as rising on awareness and proud to own.
LG holds Frieze globally, the Guggenheim art and technology initiative, the National Gallery London and MMCA Seoul.
So whatArt is the one territory where a named competitor has built depth. Samsung holds Art Basel.
In the Landor map Samsung sits at about 4 on the distinctive axis, against 25 for Apple and 28 for Huawei. LG sits at minus 9.
So whatSamsung sits just right of center: high on premium, close to familiar on distinctiveness.
Each bubble is a brand. Further right means active in more of the six territories. Higher up means more global or league level deals. Bubble size is the number of current deals found. Click a brand for its read.
Samsung is plotted from its own status file (brand partnerships as the top tier count), so read its position as indicative.
| Territory | Samsung MX VD DA | Apple MX | Xiaomi MX | Huawei MX | Sony VD | LG VD DA | Hisense VD | TCL VD | Bosch DA | Whirlpool DA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sports | 7 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 9 | n/r | n/r |
| Music and entertainment | 7 | 2 | 1 | n/r | n/r | |||||
| Arts and culture | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | n/r | n/r | |
| Gaming and esports | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | n/r | n/r | ||||
| Fashion | 1 | 2 | n/r | n/r | ||||||
| Social impact | 2 | 1 | n/r | n/r |
Current partnerships found per territory. Samsung counts every row in its own partnership status file, so its column is not directly comparable. n/r means not researched yet. Click a brand for its read.
Most brands cluster in premium and distinctive. Samsung sits near the center, high performing and premium, without a clear emotional space of its own. Landor reads it as modern and competent, but restrained in emotional tone. Samsung’s stated goal: ownable premium brand that is not exclusive.
Landor, Samsung Category Brand Perceptions, 6 Jun 2025. BAV 2024 US data. Positions read from the Landor chart, approximate.
Competitiveness index against Apple, 100 is parity. Last column is the change since 2024. Samsung Brand Image, competitiveness index against Apple, 2025 against 2024. Base: aware of each brand.
Samsung against the main phone competitor in 2025.
So whatA 12.6 point gap in the MX strategic target. Samsung rose 2.6 points, the competitor fell 1.2.
Samsung’s proud to own competitive index against LG fell 52 points in a year for premium owners aged 40 to 60.
So whatThe VD weakness sits in the older premium owner, the group the VD 45+ proxy stands in for.
Share of Samsung TV owners aged 40 to 60 who consider only Samsung for the next purchase, 2024 to 2025.
So whatToo many unnecessary features rose to the first reason for not being proud to own in this group.
Hisense rose from 51.3 to 60.4 and TCL from 48.7 to 55.1 since 2023, in the markets surveyed in 2023.
So whatThe same two brands hold FIFA, EURO, NBA, NFL and Olympic TV rights.
Among non Samsung TV owners, awareness of Gaming Hub lifts Samsung proud to own by 12.3 points. SmartThings lifts it by 11.5.
So whatProduct services already move proud to own among prospects, which links to the technology integration principle.
Samsung 2025 Brand Attitude Survey, Phone (Sep 2025, 40 countries) and TV 2H (Sep 2025, 40 countries, premium owners). Co.A is the main phone competitor.
- 01Hisense and TCL now hold the top global sports rights in the TV category, FIFA and UEFA for Hisense and the Olympics through 2032 for TCL.Hisense, TCL
- 02Apple buys rights to fill its own services, not signage, with F1, MLS and MLB all streamed on Apple TV.Apple
- 03LG has made art its owned territory with Frieze, the Guggenheim, the National Gallery and MMCA, while none of the other TV brands has a comparable art programme.LG, Hisense, TCL, Sony
- 04US team deals are increasingly bundled with stadium display contracts, as with LG at the Dodgers, Red Sox, Cowboys and Ravens.LG
- 05TCL will control the Sony BRAVIA TV business through a 51 percent joint venture, which leaves Sony's TV brand with little sponsorship behind it.TCL, Sony
- 06Chinese phone brands lean on camera and design alliances for premium cues: Xiaomi deepened Leica in 2025 while Huawei lost Leica and Porsche Design and built its own sub-brands.Xiaomi, Huawei
- 07Football ambassadors are used to localise global rights, such as Rai for Hisense in Brazil, Saka for TCL in the UK and Julian Alvarez for Xiaomi in Argentina.Hisense, TCL, Xiaomi
- 08Gaming is mostly bought at team or title level, with LG on Gen.G, TCL on Gentle Mates and Call of Duty, and Sony shifting from owning EVO to sponsoring it.LG, TCL, Sony
- 09India activity among these competitors is mainly ambassador led, such as Jadeja for Hisense and Katrina Kaif for Xiaomi, with no competitor found holding ICC rights in this pass.Hisense, Xiaomi