Samsung Electronics Co unveiled two smartphones and a virtual-reality headset on Wednesday in a bid to draw consumer attention before its rival Apple Inc announces its new products next week.
Samsung, whose smartphones have become progressively larger each year, has decided that bigger is not better this time. Instead, Samsung’s Galaxy Note 4 retains the 5.7-inch screen of last year’s model, but adds a speedier processor, a better screen, better cameras and software to fit more people into selfies.
The announcement at the IFA trade show in Berlin comes as Samsung’s smartphone sales fell 4 percent in the second quarter compared with a year ago, even though it launched the Galaxy S5 in April.
Photo: Bloomberg
According to tech-tracking firm International Data Corp (IDC), Samsung’s share of the global smartphone market fell 7 percentage points to 25 percent.
“Samsung needs the Galaxy Note 4 to be a hit,” CCS Insight research director Ben Wood said. “It has to make up some of the ground it lost as a result of the relatively poor reception to the all-plastic Galaxy S5.”
Wood said the new metal-based design of the Note 4 could offer the kind of premium look and feel that Samsung needs to compete with Apple’s much-anticipated iPhone 6.
Apple’s iPhone 6 is widely expected to have a 4.7-inch screen to make it more competitive with larger smartphones made by Samsung and other companies. There has been speculation that Apple might also unveil an iPhone with a 5.5-inch screen, putting it in competition with the Note 4.
A computerized wristwatch might also be unveiled by Apple, competing with Samsung’s smartwatches.
Besides the Note 4, Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Note Edge with a side display for quick access to the camera controls, news and frequently used apps.
IHS Global Insight analyst Ian Fogg said the side display distinguishes Samsung’s smartphone from others, but Samsung would need to persuade app developers to take advantage of it.
Samsung’s earlier attempt to introduce “finger levitation” which allowed users to hover their fingers over a device and not touch the screen, did not take off. Developers did not build the technology into their apps.
However, some of those who got their hands on the Edge at the IFA show were enthusiastic.
“Users often don’t know what they want until they see it, and I think this will be one of those features,” Techweez.com managing editor Martin Gicheru said.
As well as its new phones, Samsung launched a virtual-reality headset called Gear VR. It uses sensors to gauge the head’s position, giving people an immersive experience with concerts, aerial footage and games.
All three products are due for release next month. Apple’s new phones are likely to come out sooner.
Even as Samsung unveiled its phones, tech analysts at Gartner predicted that iPhones would be the “must-have” gadget of the holidays.
“There’s no question that’s going to be the new device that will drive existing upgrades,” Gartner analyst Hugues De La Vergne said.
He said there has been pent-up demand for larger iPhones, and Apple looks to be delivering on that, negating a major advantage that Android phones have had.
Samsung has also recently been losing ground to Chinese manufacturers after seeing several years of healthy growth, according to IDC.
Speculation is rife that Apple plans to launch a smartwatch in time for the holidays. In the space of just a year, Samsung is producing its fifth smartwatch with the announcement of the Galaxy Gear S last week. Unlike its other smartwatches, this one has 3G cellular connectivity and can do more without a companion smartphone nearby.
ICC Insight’s Ben Wood said that Samsung’s rapid roll-out of new products underlined the ever-quickening pace of the mobile devices space.
“Samsung [has] to anticipate Apple’s every move while looking over its shoulder at the ever-present threat from Chinese manufacturers,” he said.
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