Samsung, to actively respond to the low and middle priced smartphone market
Samsung Electronics announced the performance presentation for 3Q held on the 30th of October. IM (mobile) division recorded KRW 24.580 trillion, a quarter-on-quarter decrease of 14% and the business profit was KRW 1.75 trillion, a quarter-on-quarter decrease of 60%.
The 3Q business profits of IM showed the largest drop compared to the previous quarter since 2012, and it was the first time falling under KRW 2 trillion. It is due to fierce growth of Chinese electronic companies and a month delayed announcement of Galaxy Note 4 than the previous model, having little influence on the performance of 3Q.
Robert Yi, chief of the firm’s investor relations team said, “We failed to quickly respond to the market flow of smartphones which is changing its focus towards price competition.” In view of that, Kim Hyun-joon, a senior executive at its mobile division, said “We will increase the profitability as actively response to the low and middle priced market” and the competitiveness will be reinforced as differentiating display and materials, and improving camera, AP system, etc.
Samsung Electronics unveiled the Galaxy A series targeting the low and middle priced market, on the 31st, only a day after unveiling the strategy regarding the low and middle priced market. With full metal body design, ‘Galaxy A5’ and ‘Galaxy A3’ are the slimmest Galaxy smartphones to the thickness of 6.7mm and 6.9mm respectively. Furthermore, Galaxy A5 and A3 is equipped with the 5-inch and 4.5-inch correspondingly, and front camera of diverse selfie functions and the very first five million pixels, targeting young consumers who are the most frequent selfie mode users. The price range is expected to be about 400 – 500 million won, and it will begin to release in November at the selected countries including China.
There is much attention towards whether Samsung Electronics will bring about good results with the full metal bodied Galaxy A series at the heart of China’s enormous price competitiveness.