Samsung devices ship with two versions, remember that while Samsung can't opt out of the Google apps, they're free to remove any AOSP app they'd like.
In fact, I've had AOSP apps disappear from my Cyanogen Mod ROM when I installed gapps, although I don't know if that was due to being overwritten or just part of the install script.
This seems like a terrible situation for users. Can someone with a Samsung smartphone confirm this?
If this is the case, how are the apps organized when you first buy the phone - are they all in one big apps list?