Samsung plans to release a premium mobile device this year as a way to gain ground in the mobile market. Apart from equipping the phone with special features, the company is also prepping up to release a slim device belonging to the mid-range genre.
In the first quarter of the year, Samsung said it will release the Galaxy A3 and A5 on a global scale. Both devices are currently available in India.
Another product that the company intends to release is the latest Galaxy S6 which is designed to compete with Apple's iPhone 6. Touted as the next flagship device from the Galaxy lineup, Samsung will preview the Galaxy S6 at the Mobile World Congress in March which is set to take place in Spain. The device will likewise be released in the same month.
"We will increase our lead in the market by equipping our premium smartphones with special functions and our mid-range smartphones with a slim design and an AMOLED display," said by Samsung when it attended a seminar for investors.
Samsung also has plans to spend over $21.4 billion this year to allow it to produce chips and display in order to supply the demand from Apple and Chinese manufacturers. The company will increase its capital expenditure and beat the $2.1 million it spent during the previous year. The increase will help boost its output of the processor chip and perhaps help to increase its earnings which fell for three consecutive quarters. The need to spend more came after a tie was determined between Apple and Samsung in the biggest smartphone maker category wherein shipments have reportedly reached 20 percent.
"It's getting harder to make a killing from smartphones competing head on with the rivals, but competitors including Apple will have more Samsung chips inside," said Seoul-based analyst Ko Jung Woo from BS Securities Co. Ltd.
Samsung and Apple have both shipped 74.5 million smartphones in the quarter that ended in December. Both manufacturers also had a market share of 19.6 percent. For Samsung, the rate was 10 percentage points lower than the market share it gained in 2013.
Samsung is placing a high bet on the next Galaxy S model which the company hopes to turn around its earnings from smartphones. Its shipment of 317.2 million smartphones in 2014 has dropped from the 319.8 million it made in the year prior to that.
"The Galaxy S6 smartphone is a very important phone for Samsung this year," said analyst Lee SeungWoo from IBK Securities Co.
