Samsung report: Consumers couldn't tell iPad, Galaxy Tab apart (pictures)

What was Samsung's mind-set after Apple released the iPhone? You can learn something about how the South Korea-based company viewed the world from a consumer survey the company sponsored and completed by 2008.

The following slides are taken from that report as well as a consumer survey that tracked consumers from May 2008 to January 2011.

This slide shows that the consumer tracking report found there was confusion about whether the Galaxy Tab was a Samsung product or an iPad.

This photo is from a section of the report titled "iPhone feedback and analysis."

This followed the previous slide in the report. Keep in mind that this is from a Samsung internal report.

Samsung's researchers created this slide from data collected by JD Power & Associates.

Samsung's researchers found that Samsung's phones were liked by consumers, but not loved. They concluded that none of the phones in the company's lineup made a "design statement."

Samsung researchers identified some of the shortcomings of the iPhone, but they recognized that consumers found the handset very appealing.

To help give Samsung managers an idea of what Apple's endgame might be, the researchers included quotes from Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. The title of this slide was "Software at the Center."

This was the title page for the survey completed by 2011.

An illustration from that survey shows how each of the top players in mobile phones fared in a category Samsung's researchers called "top of mind brand."

Each bar represents a different quarter during 2010. Samsung saw a 2 percent increase in the fourth quarter, but Apple was hot on its heels. Motorola and RIM were in decline.

Samsung's researchers believed they had a read on Apple's long-term iPhone strategy.