Steve Jobs' Death Prompted Samsung to Attack iPhone Through Ads, E-mail Shows

Business is brutal, but the latest leaks out of Apple's trial with Samsung show just how low companies can sink in the race to get ahead. It's been clear for a while that much of Samsung's advertising strategy revolves around direct attacks on Apple products, but a new e-mail obtained by Cnet demonstrates that Samsung used Steve Jobs' death as a signal to ramp up the battle against the iPhone.

Source: Billboard

The e-mail was written just two days after Jobs' death by Michael Pennington, then Samsung of America's vice president of sales operations and head of national sales. In his words, the death of Apple's storied co-founder allowed for "the perfect time to attack iPhone" as they could prey on fears that Jobs' death would mean the death of innovation and creativity at the Cupertino company. The relevant sections of the e-mail reads as follows:

"Unfortunately, Steve Job’s [sic] passing has led to a huge wave of press coverage of Apple's and iPhone's 'superiority,' all created by the 'passionate, tireless, perfectionist…' The point here is that there is an unintended benefit for Apple, since the external messages by 3rd parties are all highlighting and/or supporting the consumer perception that Apple products are superior, since Jobs’ [sic] was such a visionary and perfectionist. What consumer wouldn’t feel great about purchasing a device developed by such a person."

"Sorry to continue to push this issue, but I have seen this far too long and I know this is our best opportunity to attack iPhone. If there is no consensus on the approach I initially proposed, I will stop pushing, but I would like to better understand our strategy so I can align with that."

Oddly enough, according to Cnet, Pennington was among the "at least five" executives from Samsung's U.S. mobile division (known as Samsung Telecommunications America, or STA ) to leave the company over the last two months.

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