Samsung Electronics unveiled its latest high-end smartphone, focusing on powerful cameras on Wednesday, in a test of brand strength as the mobile phone market is experiencing an unprecedented contraction. ever had.
Analysts say the Galaxy S23 series of smartphones, with camera and faster chips than its predecessor, could still face weak demand as consumers spend less amid rising inflation amid a troubled global climate. economy.
Acknowledging that challenge, Samsung’s head of mobile experiences, aka MX Business, told reporters in a post-event press conference that there was a “remarkable shift to the segment.” premium segment” in developing and emerging markets. “We plan to focus on the premium segment in developed markets as well as some of the countries where we are seeing solid growth,” he said.
The smartphone manufacturer showed off the performance of the S23 Ultra at the event SAMSUNG Unpacking event in San Francisco with excerpts from two films, “Behold” by Ridley Scott, director of “Gladiator” and “The Martian” and “Faith” by Korean director Na Hong-jin, both Filmed with a flagship Galaxy smartphone.
This is Samsung’s first 200-megapixel camera sensor, and the lineup uses Qualcomm Inc’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 mobile processor. Qualcomm said that with the S23 series, 100% of the processors used will be from Qualcomm.
At the event, executives from Samsung, Qualcomm and Alphabet group Google gathered on stage to highlight their partnership in the XR space, which includes virtual and augmented reality.
Anshel Sag, an analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, said the three worked together in the XR space about a decade ago, but this reboot to the partnership comes as Apple Inc is expected to. will launch mixed reality headsets this year.
“I think it’s designed to give both Samsung and Google a little more prestige in the XR space, because both have been pretty absent from the hardware side for a long time,” Sag said.
In the US, the base Galaxy S23 will start at $799, and the two higher-spec versions, the S23 Plus and S23 Ultra, will start at $999 and $1,199, respectively. Samsung kept prices at the same level as for last year’s model despite the increase in component costs.
However, global smartphone shipments showed their biggest drop ever in a single quarter between October and December, when they fell 18.3% from a year earlier at 300.3 million units, according to data released by research firm IDC last month. These numbers cast doubt on forecasts of a modest recovery in the mobile phone market this year.
In that harsh environment, analysts say Samsung’s mobile strategy will focus on profitability through premium products, including the S series and foldable phones.
“Samsung cannot focus on volume expansion anymore,” said Liz Lee, vice president of research firm Counterpoint.
“They have to boldly simplify mid-range and low-end products, parts of the market that Chinese competitors have largely caught up with.”
Samsung said on Tuesday that the decline in sales of low- and mid-range smartphones in the fourth quarter was larger than expected.
