Samsung Elec seeks China comeback with first metallic smartphones

Monday, 3 November 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Reuters: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. unveiled two mid-tier handsets with a premium design as it prepared to deliver a riposte to its low-priced Chinese rivals and reclaim its title as the top brand in the world’s biggest smartphone market.

Samsung’s smartphone woes began late last year and persisted through July-September, with its global market share down on year for the third straight quarter and its profit scraping at a three-year low. Its struggles were prominent in China, the world’s biggest smartphone market, where Samsung was dethroned by local upstart Xiaomi Inc as the top smartphone maker in the second quarter. It does not help that Samsung’s lower-end products are too expensive and not sufficiently distinctive compared to those touted by Xiaomi and Lenovo Group Ltd, analysts say. The Galaxy A3 and A5 are seen by analysts as Samsung’s first counter-strike. Initially launching in China in November, they will be Samsung’s first devices to feature fully metallic bodies and its thinnest smartphones to date. In size, the A3 and A5 are comparable to those of the top-of-the-line Galaxy S5, though of lesser screen resolution quality. “I think improving specs on the mid-tier products by using features like a full metal body is something that Samsung needed to do to respond to the Chinese rivals,” said Seoul-based IBK Asset Management fund manager Kim Hyun-su, who holds Samsung shares.

Smartphone woes drag Samsung Elec Q3 profit to more than 3-year low

Reuters: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd saw its July-September quarterly profit fall to the lowest level in more than three years, as a decline in earnings from its smartphone business set the South Korean giant on track for its worst year since 2011. The global smartphone leader has lost market share in annual terms for the past two quarters, lagging behind Apple Inc in the premium market and overtaken by rivals like Lenovo Group Ltd and Xiaomi Inc at the bottom end. Samsung on Thursday said its third-quarter operating profit fell by an annual 60.1% to 4.1 trillion won ($ 3.90 billion), matching its guidance issued earlier this month and marking the weakest result since the second quarter of 2011. Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, Samsung said it ‘cautiously expects an earnings increase, driven by strong seasonal demand for TVs and continued growth momentum for the memory business’. However it said the mobile division’s outlook remained uncertain. Analysts expect Samsung to record its weakest annual operating profit in three years despite the launch of new gadgets like the Galaxy Note 4 phablet. A mean forecast from a Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S survey of 41 analysts tips 2014 profit at 26.4 trillion won, down from last year’s record 36.8 trillion won.