Samsung has just opened a new retail store in Sydney, Australia, that bears a striking resemblance to Apple’s own retail stores. With staff wearing blue shirts, a minimalist design, and Samsung devices on display for customers to play around with, it’s no wonder Samsung can’t seem to shake its fast-growing reputation as a copycat.
According to Samsung, though, their new store, just a block away from Apple’s Sydney store, was completely their own idea, as reported in The Sydney Morning Herald. Samsung Australia’s Vice-President of Telecommunications, Tyler McGee, said Apple “didn’t even come into the equation when we were looking for a location [for the store].”
But everything from the glass storefront to the store layout to the staff, and even to the products and packaging, is strangely similar to Apple’s own stores.
McGee went on to say that this is the layout that Samsung uses around the world and it’s about giving consumers the chance to “interact, learn and play with our devices.”
Despite Samsung’s denials that they are an Apple copycat, many people aren’t buying it, and its turning into more of a joke than anything else. Recently Conan O’Brien even made fun of Samsung with a parody video of Samsung’s obvious copying.
Whether intentional or not, a store so similar to Apple’s own retail stores does nothing to dispel the idea that Samsung is a copycat. And this is all happening while the world waits for a jury verdict in a case between Apple and Samsung, where Apple first accused Samsung of copying the look and feel of the iPhone and iPad.
What do you think? Did Samsung copy Apple’s store layout?
Source: The Sydney Morning Herald via Apple Insider
Image Credit: The Sydney Morning Herald
