After years of record profit growth, tech giant Samsung (SSNLF, Financial) has launched its new Galaxy S5 smartphone in 125 markets around the world including U.S., Europe, Latin America and Asia last Saturday. The newest model, a subtle challenge to Apple’s (AAPL, Financial) 5S, has been suggestively designed to capture market interest worldwide. For this purpose the S5’s price is comparatively on the lower end of the spectrum, in comparison to Samsung’s other models, and so far it seems to be working.
What’s New in This Android Smartphone
The company’s new S5 device is undoubtedly a much improved product with plenty of innovative interface. The phone features the fastest processor including water resistance and a heart rate sensor. The most interesting feature is that it provides a fingerprint reader instead of security passcodes. The screen of the phone has been increased to 5.1 inches diagonally which makes it slightly larger than its previous products. The screen serves with full HD super AMOLED display. The rear-facing camera is also upgraded to take 16 megapixel image from a13 megapixel sensor.
The innovative device consists of quad core2, 5 GHz processor, 2 GB OF RAM and a 2800 mAh battery. Though Samsung S5 is more complex to use than Apple’s iPhone, its flip side is more customized providing the ability to unlock a phone only by drawing a pattern on the screen without using any passcode.
What The Critics Have to Say
We have seen a mixed reaction among critics. Most of them claimed that the new smartphone design is lacking in premium feel. According to their opinion though the phone carries some special features such as a waterproof device, fingerprint scanner and heart rate monitor, yet there is nothing impressive that makes us go mad after it. Most of the tech websites published negative reports about the phone.
Regarding the waterproof innovative features, the Wall Street Journal stated, "It can swim, but it won't make any waves." Overall it is clear that the reviewers are quite disappointed with this smartphone as they anticipated the device would be absolutely different from its predecessors.
What Samsung Lacks
Launching new phones every few months seems to be the Samsung thing. The company fails to realize the magnitude of the damage that is causing. Consumers spend a huge chunk of money buying premium phones because they believe the device adds to their social quotient, and many love the fact that the device has an exclusive feeling. But that feel-good factor totally fades away when the consumer sees that a new device has replaced their gadget.
In contrast, what Apple does is launch a new phone every year and keep that phone exclusive for at least a year. This way the Apple users get to have the latest and the greatest iPhone with them for an entire year. What Apple has also done is it has created a brand identity for itself. Even an old iPhone is of great value because consumers perceive it to be. Samsung gradually needs to incorporate these changes in its offerings. Otherwise, though the Korean giant will continue to be the market leader in terms of volume, it will continue to play second fiddle to Apple in terms of brand aspiration.
