Samsung to expand its ‘Pop-up’ retail stores, directly taking on Apple?

Samsung decided to imitate Apple’s famous “one more thing” keynote strategy to announce something else that looks like an Apple imitation: “Pop-up” Samsung retail stores. We’ve seen some of these pop-up stores before, notably in Australia just before the iPhone 4S launch, but Samsung may finally be embarking on a more focused retail strategy. Recently, Samsung has launched mini-stores at iPhone 4U locations in the UK and partnered with third parties to launch stores in Canada.

The new pop-up store that Samsung showed during the Galaxy S III keynote was essentially a large glass cube that rose up from underneath the stage. Samsung was looking to make a dramatic impression with the event, presumably because it wants to dramatically promote these stores. A Samsung spokesperson said that the shops would appear at “prominent” locations throughout London in the coming months. Samsung is riding high right now as analysts say that it is number one in global smartphone shipments, so it makes some sense that it would look to expand its retail footprint.