That's exactly what I would say. Samsung is always going to face fierce competition. If anything this will only force them to up their game with their 2014 offerings. I'm confident they'll address two main complaints with the S5. A redesigned TouchWiz and a more premium feel to their flagship. You seem to want to harp on the fact that Samsung is in dire trouble in the near future and I really don't see it. The only true hit that Samsung will take is when the larger iPhone comes in Q3. By then though they will still will have had a 6 month window (April - September) to sell millions of S5's and even a larger iPhone doesn't mean doom for their flagship.
Samsung is itself warning of a slow first half of 2014 as per reports..God only knows what apple plans in 2014..and remember we could all shift to a new product category and that could really blow things wide open..What if apple launches a Killer wearables technology which goes viral and then people just want the next iphone because it will work seamlessly with this wearable? (Could happen with the samsung watch as well)..
The only true hit that Samsung will take is when the larger iPhone comes in Q3
The thing is that a few months window (5-7 months) is not going to make the year or 2 or 3 for you..Apple has IOS8 in the pipeline, wearables perhaps 2 new phones, and the Iphone 5S is going very strong.Samsung has only a Touchwiz skin which is perhaps the most critisized thing among android afficandos...Google still has Android for its own and they can really play up the Nexus family in 2014 given that expanding would also be on their agenda. Samsung has fierce competition within the android dommain from the likes of Google/Moto, HTC and LG and this competition extends beyond market share into profit margins..If apple does plan to enter the Phablet market then who knows when they plan of launching the device and what happens leading up to that..Despite of having tougher competition from Samsung apple has been able to significantly up its sales YOY and it seems they are only now looking towards a strategy to expand its product lineup now that they have consolidated the iPhone family for some years. No matter which way you spin it, a stronger apple portfolio (and apple has actually increasing sales, profits and revenue) coupled with fierce competition (at both ends of the market) from within the android space can only mean lower margins for Samsung. Of course they can surprise us by showing that X factor which others lack..A brand new Operating system from their top secret vault that no one else has, or a Brand new CHIP that finally ditches the performance benchmark of the snapdragon family..or a technology that no one has access to for a year or more..can change all of that..Lets see what they deliver vis-a-vis the competition. Remember the middle of the year has traditionally been the SLOW end of the market in terms of sales.
If Samsung is going to enjoy the first half because apple would not have a larger competitor then i don't see much good comming of that. They have enjoyed all of 2013 with the BIGGER product. And remember its just not Samsung that is refreshing its premier line of phones. LG and HTC are doing so as well. And Samsung also had the GN3 in the last quarter of 2013 (A brand new device)...and even that could not save it from seeing a profit decline compared to last quarter
I could be wrong but I thought I read an article earlier today that stated that the S4 sales don't count the other variants. (Mini, Zoom, Active.)
Samsung announced the S4 in March last year and released it in April. The current rumor from SamMobile is that the S5 will be announced at the end of February and released in April, just like last year.
Perhaps they dont count it..That said, they still sold fewer phones than the same quarter last year despite of the S4 (which wasnt their earlier) and the GN3, both products largely considered to be superior to the ones they replace...Compare that to a damn near bumper quarter that is expected for apple even compared to a very lucrative quarter same time last year..Q4 is largely considrered the most profitable quarter of the year in the business with the most volume...Doing well here does wonders to your bottom line.
In yet another rambling reply you ask what will Samsung do to set themselves a part from other OEM's. Maybe they don't need to do anything.
Doing nothing will take them nowhere..When the competition heats up, you either step up or get eaten up. Doing nothing wont be an option for them. Something has to set them apart compared to other OEM's that have access to the same high performance chips and software OS.
Their current strategy has been doing quite well to date.
When it comes to flagship (S4), they themselves admit that they expected much better performance, and the market analysts think their flagship has underperformed by as much as 20%.
Your replies are insanely long and it's like you want Samsung to fail.
On the contrary I want them to do something that sets the mobile world on fire. I am a very (extremely) happy owner of many samsung products ( My smart TV being the latest) and work for a shipping company that does large volumes of business with them.
No matter what you keep going on about Samsung had a really strong 2013 and there is no reason to think it won't continue in 2014.
They have ended the year with not only lower profits YOY but lower sales as well. This despite of having a new high end device launched towards the end of the year (GN3) and entering a new market category (wearables). Market works on trends and forcasts..And things arent looking very peachy with company itself warning of flat performance in the first half of 2014.
Just imagine if apple launched a new iPhablet and new iWatch in Q4 2013 and despite of this their sales of mobiles and profits would have declined compared to same quarter last year. Would you have been saying that they are doing well? I definitly would not..Definitly not if despite of this "dissapointing" performance the company warns of flat performance in the first of next year.
