Samsung Electronics Co will use more premium materials in mobile devices to win over customers and offer a wider range of connected devices after losing its outright lead in the smartphone market to Apple Inc.
The plan includes more smartphones with metal casings, slim designs and high-definition displays across its range of models, joint chief executive Shin Jong-kyun said at the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Seoul yesterday.
Samsung’s unveiling of new Galaxy S6 phones this month has spurred a stock rally on expectations the company can revive earnings and stem a slide in market share that saw Apple surge into a tie for global leadership. The devices include the company’s own processor chips and a model with a screen that stretches from the front down both sides.
“Samsung Electronics aims to consolidate its leadership in the premium market and plans to newly change the smartphone lineup to strengthen competitiveness,” said Shin, who heads the mobile phone business.
Samsung shares rose 1.9 percent to 1.475 million won as of 11:53am yesterday in Seoul. The stock has surged 8.7 percent since showing off the S6 and S6 Edge on March 1, featuring metal bodies and a fingerprint reader. The phones go on sale in 20 countries on April 10.
Apple tied Samsung with 19.6 percent of the global market in the fourth quarter, Strategy Analytics Inc said in January.
Kwon Oh-hyun, who leads the company’s components business, said Samsung would try to tap new demand in the business-to-business market, as well as smart home and health devices.
The Suwon, South Korea-based company is moving workers and boosting investment to build a future beyond mobile phones, as it tries to create a hit from what is known as the Internet of Things, technology that stitches together telephones, cameras, sprinklers and roads.
Samsung is pouring more than US$21 billion into capital expenditure this year to grab a bigger slice of revenue from the 1 billion handsets sold by rivals by supplying chips and displays.
The firm expects uncertainties surrounding the global economy to rise this year, while market competition on key products will further intensify.
Samsung last year posted its first decline in revenue in nine years, while annual profit dropped for the first time in three years.
Net income will probably decline 4 percent to 22.2 trillion won in the year ending December last year, according to the average of 41 analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
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