Samsung Electronics Co is said to be planning to debut its next flagship smartphone in February, presenting Apple Inc’s iPhone X with a sooner-than-expected challenger.
The South Korea-based technology giant plans to introduce the new models, the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus, as early as late February and release the devices as early as March, people familiar with the matter said.
That schedule would be a month earlier than it was for the current Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus.
The new phones will be similar to the current Galaxy models, but include upgraded camera systems, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans are private.
The debut is to be the South Korean company’s first major phone introduction since the Note 8 was released in September last year. The Galaxy S8 line was introduced in March.
The launch is to be a significant one for Samsung, potentially serving as a way for the company to continue strong global momentum despite the appeal of the new top-of-the-line iPhone X and a forecast of a dip in market share. Samsung’s new models could present Cupertino, California-based Apple with formidable rivals just months into the iPhone X’s life cycle.
While the latest iPhone has generated positive reviews and some analysts project holiday sales will help Apple close its first quarter with more than US$80 billion in revenue, Cowen and Co analyst Karl Ackerman said customers seem to be opting for cheaper models of the iPhone, suggesting that the company failed to cram enough new technologies into the iPhone X to justify the US$999 price tag in the US.
“Some investors may conclude this relates to better sales momentum for the X, but we are increasingly concerned that demand has been below initial expectations as users appear to have gravitated toward the previous iPhone models,” Ackerman wrote in a note to clients.
Sales of the models released this year are “good, but not yet indicative of a ‘supercycle,’” Ackerman said.
Meanwhile, China’s top smartphone makers are ready to challenge Apple on its home turf after trouncing the iPhone maker in their own market.
Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and Xiaomi Corp (小米) are in talks with US wireless operators about selling flagship smartphones to Americans as soon as next year, people familiar with the matter said.
The firms are negotiating with carriers including AT&T Inc and Verizon Communications Inc, the people said.
Huawei has already tried selling its flagship Mate 9 phone in the US via e-commerce Web sites like Amazon.com Inc and the company also plans to sell the Mate 10 device through e-commerce channels, the people said.
Xiaomi senior vice president Wang Xiang (王翔) said the firm aims to roll out phones in the US within two years.
The company is also weighing opening retail stores in the US to build its brand and sell its fitness trackers, thermostats and vacuum cleaners before a phone launch, Wang said.
Those products are already sold online in the US.
Verizon, AT&T and Huawei declined to comment.
TECH RACE: The Chinese firm showed off its new Mate XT hours after the latest iPhone launch, but its price tag and limited supply could be drawbacks China’s Huawei Technologies Co (華為) yesterday unveiled the world’s first tri-foldable phone, as it seeks to expand its lead in the world’s biggest smartphone market and steal the spotlight from Apple Inc hours after it debuted a new iPhone. The Chinese tech giant showed off its new Mate XT, which users can fold three ways like an accordion screen door, during a launch ceremony in Shenzhen. The Mate XT comes in red and black and has a 10.2-inch display screen. At 3.6mm thick, it is the world’s slimmest foldable smartphone, Huawei said. The company’s Web site showed that it has garnered more than
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp (世界先進) and Episil Technologies Inc (漢磊) yesterday announced plans to jointly build an 8-inch fab to produce silicon carbide (SiC) chips through an equity acquisition deal. SiC chips offer higher efficiency and lower energy loss than pure silicon chips, and they are able to operate at higher temperatures. They have become crucial to the development of electric vehicles, artificial intelligence data centers, green energy storage and industrial devices. Vanguard, a contract chipmaker focused on making power management chips and driver ICs for displays, is to acquire a 13 percent stake in Episil for NT$2.48 billion (US$77.1 million).
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
RSS