It seems that demand for the Galaxy S6 is not quite what Samsung expected after all.
In announcing its most recent quarterly earnings Wednesday, the Korean electronics giant warned that its handset division would likely face a difficult market environment and said it would be "adjusting" the price of its flagship Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge to "maintain" its sales momentum. The company also said it would release new high-end smartphones as well as middle- and low-end models.
The company declined to describe what the adjustment entails, but a person familiar with the company's plans said a price cut is planned for the smartphones. The news came as the company announced that its second-quarter sales in its IT and mobile division fell 8.4 percent, to 26.06 trillion won ($22 billion), with mobile in particular dropping 7.3 percent, to 25.5 trillion won.
Once the world's largest smartphone maker, Samsung has seen its fortunes dwindle as consumers opt for devices from its rivals, such as Apple. Formerly accounting for two-thirds of Samsung's operating profit, smartphone shipments have been providing a smaller part of company's profit in recent quarters, squeezed in emerging markets by low-cost handset vendors such as Xiaomi and Huawei.
Oh look, another competitor.
(Score: 0, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 31 2015, @09:30AM
Nationalize all phones companies and sell only the ObamaCare brand PatriotPhone. Right now.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Friday July 31 2015, @06:16PM
Sorry, I think you mean the ReaganCare PatriotPhone. Give credit where credit's due.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Marco2G on Friday July 31 2015, @10:25AM
Samsung can go F themselves with their plastic crap.
Here's a mobile phone I'd be willing to spend cash on:
- Display 5.5 inches or above. Don't care about resolution much
- Front facing audio
- 5Ah battery at least (yes make it thick. see next point)
- 15mm thick or more
- Sturdy body. Don't care whether it is aluminum or not but if the plastic creaks, I'm going to be pissed
- Good antenna!!!!!!!! I don't even care if you need to put in a telescopic one like on the old Motorola ones. Heck, if there was a port to attach one that is integrated in an otterbox case or whatever, all the better
- I don't need a front facing camera
- Main camera needs to take pictures... I have yet to find a phone that has a camera too bad for my needs. Put in the cheap shit.
If you put a hardware keyboard into that thing, I'm freaking sold!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 31 2015, @10:29AM
Add the second camera to the back not the front ten we can have stereo images and use the phone as 3d scanners.
(Score: 2) by Bot on Friday July 31 2015, @11:27AM
Yes you might want to patent the design of twin cameras, one that is normally front faced that can extend laterally and face the other side for some 3d effect.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 2) by t-3 on Friday July 31 2015, @12:18PM
I agree 100% and would also add: Put both hold and volume on the right hand side of the phone and stop putting the microusb port in the bottom of the phone, put it on the top or side and with a sliding cover (I had a WP7 phone just like this and it was amazing, and WP7 was an excellent social-device OS, it just lacked the apps and games which I don't use anyways. WP8 is nearly identical in many ways, but somehow ended up less capable and less user friendly).
(Score: 2) by Lunix Nutcase on Friday July 31 2015, @03:24PM
Do you also need a new belt to hang your onions on as well?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 31 2015, @04:56PM
There's a significant difference in speed between typing on a physical keyboard and a touchscreen, even with crutches like auto correct. I bet even you can guess which one is faster, you snot-nosed brat.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by bootsy on Friday July 31 2015, @02:32PM
From the feedback I have heard, the buying public is frustrated that you cannot change the battery easily, so no spares, and the phone will basically be unusable at the end of 2 years without a new one. The lack of expandable SD Card slots in newer phones is also not going down well. I do not wish to save my data in your cloud and I would like to be able to move files from one to device to another by just moving the SD Card.
(Score: 2) by Lunix Nutcase on Friday July 31 2015, @03:25PM
From the feedback I have heard, the buying public is frustrated that you cannot change the battery easily, so no spares, and the phone will basically be unusable at the end of 2 years without a new one.
Oh really? From where did you hear this feedback from the general public and not just a nerd echo chamber?
(Score: 2, Interesting) by StarFall on Friday July 31 2015, @06:24PM
SG S5 HTC One M8 LG G3
RAM 2GB 2GB 3GB
ROM 16GB 32GB 32GB
Rez 1080x1920 1080x1920 1440x2560
Removable
Battery Yes No Yes
mAH 2800 2600 3000
SD Card
Slot Yes Yes Yes
Price ~$200 ~$200 $1
Guess which one I picked...and it wasn't the Samsung or HTC. Basically, why would I pay more money (lots more) for lower specs?
I miss the slightly smaller size of the SG SIII, but not a big deal. Overall, I've been very happy with the LG G3.
(Score: 2) by bootsy on Monday August 03 2015, @09:26AM
Amongst other places I hear it frequently from my wife's friends and mums who attend her toddlers group.
They don't want to buy a new phone every time the battery runs out and they are not generally on contracts that give you a new phone every 18 months. They end up with lots of photos on their phone and want to get them off easily. If they do change phone they want to transfer them over to the new device. MicroSD cards are great for this. Plugging an Android device into a random USB port doesn't always seem to work judging by the amount of requests I get to help someone get their photos.
Most of my tech friends and colleagues seem to use Apple with the odd Cyanogen modded generic Android phone chucked in.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by joshuajon on Friday July 31 2015, @05:42PM
I have to agree. Replaceable battery, SD card slot, and water/dust resistant case designs were three of the best features in the S5. I think the first two were popular in older Galaxy S series devices as well. Samsung decided to scrap the features that their users wanted to chase some me-too strategy of making a metal phone. The galaxy S6 does feel very solid, but without expandable storage and a replaceable battery, I'm personally not even going to consider it.
(Score: 2) by Dr Spin on Friday July 31 2015, @10:12PM
As another proud S3 owner (Cyanogen modded), due for an upgrade, I too am busy not considering an upgrade to the S6.
My wife also has an S3, and we have a stack of ready charged S3 batteries in a draw available for use at a moment's notice.
Yes, as a matter of fact we do go to 3rd world countries where the electricity often does not work for days, and yes, our son does
have a iPhone, and yes, his damn battery is often flat for days on end. "But it just works" -
well, as they used to say "it all depends what you mean by work".
Warning: Opening your mouth may invalidate your brain!