Samsung may have taken a beating from Apple in 2014 for the disappointing sales performance of its Samsung Galaxy S5 flagship smartphone released last year. The Korean tech giant has obviously recovered big time with the groundbreaking improvements of the Samsung Galaxy S6 and the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge launched in March this year.
While there are no official sales figures as of yet, it seems like the Samsung Galaxy S6 and the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge are doing quite well in the markets these days that the three consecutive quarters last year where Samsung experienced a drop in income are already things of the past.
Samsung is obviously on course to recovery, not for losing money actually, but for losing its status as the world’s No. 1 smartphone maker to Apple last year.
With the Samsung Galaxy S6 and the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, it seems likely that Samsung is well on course to a better year in terms of flagship smartphone sales performance and overall revenues.
Learning its lesson
Apparently, the Korean tech company has learned its lesson about conservative updates on its flagship smartphones.
When it released the Samsung Galaxy S5 in March last year that featured minor updates from the Samsung Galaxy S4, the company’s flagship smartphone for 2013, consumers were turned off by Samsung’s seeming lackadaisical attempt at raising the bar of its flagship smartphone. As a result, Samsung users shifted to the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus.
Samsung does not want that to happen again so while its Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge were just released to the global retail markets four months ago, the Korean tech company is said to be busy working on the next iteration of its flagship, the Samsung Galaxy S7.
There have been reports that the Samsung Galaxy S7 will be a foldable smartphone, but the Korean tech giant has yet to come out with a statement to either confirm or deny those speculations.
Now on its testing phase
The Samsung Galaxy S7 has been reportedly codenamed ‘Jungfrau’ and is now on its testing phase. There were also reports saying that Samsung might be using the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor for its upcoming flagship smartphone, but there are also reports saying that the Korean tech company will be using its very own Exynos chipsets. However, there is a possibility that Samsung may use both.
According to the International Business Times, the development of the Samsung Galaxy S7 is now quicker because the company has switched to the widely-used methodology called ‘Agile.’
Because of this reported faster development process, there are now reports saying that the Samsung Galaxy S7 will be ready before the end of 2015. However, Samsung will not launch it this year but early next year to give both the Samsung Galaxy S6 and the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge their customary one-year market cycle.
That’s in addition to the fact that releasing the Samsung Galaxy S7 towards the end of the year will have the smartphone compete with the Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 Edge in the same market, which would be counter-productive for the company both in the short and long term.
Samsung is said to be trying out both Qualcomm Snapdragon and its own Exynos chipsets. The current testing is being made in relation to the upcoming Android M, the latest mobile operating system from Google.
Apparently, a leaked document indicated such testing and it reportedly involves the Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset guised through a codename. However, there is another chip in codename too in the same document and many believe that it is an Exynos chip.
I am unsure if it would really be counterproductive to break the 1 year cycle of its flagships’ devices as those S6 sales seemingly aren’t going according to plan. Samsung denied formal that there were going to be price cuts as with the S5. Four months later, however, we have one and not a small one either so I guess it isn’t selling as hoped for and maybe it is better to patch the bleeding of the fourth sales quarter with the release of the S7. I remember it worked out great for LG who replaced the G3 just over 6 months after the G2.
I wonder when Samsung will show its cards but somehow I feel we are in for a bit of a surprise. Who knows, maybe that Christmas tree might become a very appealing time to look forward to ;)