Samsung’s upcoming pair of flagship smartphones are distinguished by their form factors. The Galaxy S6 edge is almost identical to the US$650 Galaxy S6, but, for an additional $100, users get a display that spills over its sides, allowing notifications to appear along its marquee-like edges, without rousing the handset’s display in full.
Reviews of the S6 and S6 edge have been warm all around, holding true to a trend that’s been going on for several Galaxy releases.
It’s the best Android Phone available today and likely will rank as the No. 1 smartphone in many people’s opinions, according to Business Insider’s Steve Kovach.
The S6 and S6 edge offer stunning design, flawless camera experiences and superb day-to-day performance — and the wraparound display on the S6 edge is beautiful, according to Engadget’s Chris Velazco.
However, both versions of the smartphone lose points for battery life, the absence of a microSD slot, lack of a removable battery, and susceptibility to water, he said. Those last three elements were cut in the transition from the S5 to the S6 models.
No More Assassins
To compare the Samsung S6 line to Apple’s iPhone 6 line is fair, but gone are the days when any particular device could be thought of as a killer product, remarked Tuong Huy Nguyen, principal research analyst for consumer tech and markets at Gartner.
“I think when you look what the market is today, it’s not so much about a single product being better than another single product,” he told TechNewsWorld. I think it has to be a bit more encompassing of the broader ecosystem.”
The “ecosystem” goes beyond the apps or services people often associate with the word, Nguyen said. It’s the ability of any device to integrate with all the other hardware and software in a consumer’s digital life.
That’s what commands brand loyalty, he noted.
The Big Squeeze
Samsung’s profit margins have been falling, even as Apple’s have been as strong as ever.
Apple nearly tied Samsung’s number of units shipped in the fourth quarter, according to IDC Research. Apple doubled its sales in BRIC (Brazil Russia India China) and saw about a 44 percent increase in the U.S.
The brand loyalty Apple’s ecosystem creates can be seen on the ground in most places, noted Andy Abramson, CEO of Comunicano.
Samsung undoubtedly offers attractive features, but Apple has been growing a community of users, and that tactic is continuing to pay off, he told TechNewsWorld.
“All one has to do is look around at how the older segment in society — seniors and those over 50 who are still working — are embracing the iPhone,” Abramson suggested. “Every day, I hear from people who were using Android devices that they are switching or have switched to an iPhone.”
Samsung is being squeezed in every tier of the market, and it has been feeling it from Apple at the high end, HTC and LG in the mid range, and disrupters like Xiaomi on the low end, Gartner’s Nguyen pointed out. That assault has been wearing on Samsung.
The company will be facing even tougher times if the Galaxy S6 series doesn’t meet expectations, said David F. Giannetto, a consultant, and author and speaker.
“Will it be possible for them to revitalize a brand that isn’t that old in consumer’s minds to begin with? Probably not,” he told TechNewsWorld. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Samsung isn’t a major player in the smartphone market just five years from now.”
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Samsung I think first made an announcement of folding phone. But these sleek features makes people enjoy more of their Android app experience.
I can’t believe anyone in their right mind is even touting Galaxy Devices ever being copies of the Greatest iCopyist in the Technology History of the World. Xerox would beg to differ and tell the truth on that!
Remember this, Apple copied Samsung SGH-Z610 introduced in January 2006 a year before iPhone and 4 yrs before iPhone 4 got introduced. Samsung invented the first 3.5" Multimedia Gesture Based Touchscreen smartphone w/o a keyboard in that device. It had a single round physical button as HOME Button (which Apple copied). Dual front n back cameras like Apple didn’t have until iPhone 4. Full GPS (not fake Google one)and 3G not just 2G in iPhone, rounded corners and the design UK courts forced Apple to apologize for publicly for calling them the Copyist! haha
It also had a removable battery. Which meant it couldn’t have physical keyboard Apple claimed every phone before iPhone had. Besides having a Stainless steel band around it and across the back used as External Antenna w/ auto switch internal patent, Samsung offered Apple for iPhone 4. Which instead they faced AntennaGate over! 😀
Needless to say copying Samsung’s Power Button Placement on right side of all Galaxy phones the iCopyist iPhone 6 and iNote 6+ ripped off. But… in all reality, button, port, speaker placement is a matter of Function over form. So every company has the right to place functional design features wherever they choose! ….hence you’ll never see the lawsuit you’re asking for!
btw…. as to insinuating that Apple could sue Samsung in the first place? That’s a real laugh! …..since Apple still hasn’t gotten any money from previous lawsuits years later and most likely never will. Plus the fact that Steve Jobs’s Thermonuclear Weapons Patents were all declared DUDS by the USPTO!
Apple also may have gotten smart about trying to sue a Global Conglomerate the size of Samsung Group out of business. Who they depend on for parts! lol… since it’s a Privately held consortium of companies that dwarf Apple with just their #1 Electronics Division alone (one of 80 companies). Which was recently ranked #13 by Fortune’s Global 500 vs all of Apple ranked at #15 on that list now!!! 😀
Looks like Samsung may get sued again for copying Apple.
Its bends just like the iPhone6 at the same pressure, although the Samsung is prettier as the screen cracks as well.
Class action lawyers are most likely this time.
Google Square Trade and Samsung for link