Samsung still market leader despite Galaxy Note 7 woes in the third quarter

Samsung announced its third fiscal quarter earnings today and it truly became evident just how much financial damage the Galaxy Note 7 recall has caused. The handset had the potential of further extending Samsung’s lead in the mobile market but unfortunately its potential can never be realized. Nevertheless, despite its Galaxy Note 7 woes, Samsung remained the leader in the global smartphone market this past quarter. Latest data from research firm International Data Corporation shows that smartphone vendors shipped a total of 362.9 million units worldwide in the third quarter with Samsung accounting for 20 percent of all shipments.

Data shows that Samsung shipped 72.5 million units in the third quarter which gave it a 20 percent share in the global smartphone market this past quarter. The company’s shipments declined 3.3 percent from the same time last year when it shipped 83.8 million units to command 23.3 percent of the market. Despite the recall and all of the negative publicity associated with the Galaxy Note 7, IDC finds that continued sales of the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 edge helped maintain volumes for Samsung. The affordable Galaxy J series also played its part in driving volumes in both developed and emerging markets.

Samsung is still far ahead of its rivals when it comes to unit shipments. Apple retained its second place on the list with shipments of 45.5 million units in the third quarter to clinch 12.5 percent of the market. It’s followed by Huawei, Oppo and Vivo in the remaining top 5 places with 9.3 percent, 7.0 percent and 5.8 percent of the market respectively.

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Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 investigation will go beyond batteries

Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 investigation will go beyond batteries, reveals Reuters. The South Korean company will examine every aspect of the faulty handset, including hardware, software and the manufacturing process to pinpoint the specific cause of the fires that led to it being forced to issue a second of recall all units in circulation and discontinue the device.

During a shareholder meeting held on Thursday, Samsung Co-Chief Executive J.K. Shin announced that the firm had distributed 1.47 million replacement models of the Galaxy Note 7 following its first official recall on September, 15. Since then it has been able to obtain 90 of the 119 devices involved in a fire, of which 55 have already been identified to be relevant to a battery issue.

It’s not only Samsung looking into the root cause of the Galaxy Note 7 explosions, though. The South Korean government is also conducting its own probe on five units that were involved in explosions in the country. The research is being conducted in the Korea Testing Laboratory, where X-rays and tomography are being used to determine exactly what caused the handsets to burst into flames.

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Sprint variant of the Galaxy J3 (2017) receives Bluetooth certification

On Tuesday, the long-rumored Galaxy J3 (2017) passed through the United States of America’s official certification authority, the FCC, and now a Sprint-branded variant of the handset has been granted Bluetooth certification in the region, which leads us to believe that Samsung is in the final stages of gathering the documentation required to launch a new smartphone on the open market.

The Sprint model of the Galaxy J3 (2017) that surfaced on the official Bluetooth SIG website earlier today carries the same model number as the device that made a pitstop at the FCC — SM-J327P. Unfortunately, the certification paperwork doesn’t reveal anything new about the unit, so the only information we have with regards to its specifications comes from a week-old listing on a benchmark database.

If the Geekbench entry is anything to go by — and they’re usually pretty reliable — it looks like the Galaxy J3 (2017) will pack a 5-inch display, a 1.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor, 2GB RAM, an 8MP rear-facing camera, a 5MP selfie shooter and a 2,600mAh battery. It’s also expected to ship running Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow, but will likely be on the list to receive the Android 7.0 Nougat update.

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Samsung to invest $24 billion in production facilities for its display and semiconductor business

Samsung has today revealed that it’s going to spend the remainder of the year focusing on growing its display and semiconductor business by investing a record 27 trillion won ($24 billion) in production facilities. It’s believed that around half of the money will be dedicated to beefing up the assembly of V-NAND flash memory chips and upgrading the production lines, while the remainder will be used to maximize the yield of flexible organic light-emitting displays (OLED).

This news comes shortly after the South Korean company reported that its third-quarter operating profit had been slashed by 29.7 percent to 5.2 trillion won ($4.5 billion) from a year ago, which is primarily due to the safety concerns surrounding the Galaxy Note 7 and its decision to discontinue the device following repeated reports of units spontaneously bursting into flames. Revenue also fell 7.4 percent to 47.8 trillion won ($41.9 billion).

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Here’s what Samsung will do to bounce back from one of its worst quarters yet

There’s no sugarcoating the fact that Q3 2016 turned out to be one of Samsung’s worst quarters. It actually had the potential to be one of the company’s best quarters but then the Galaxy Note 7 happened and the rest, as they say, is history. Samsung’s mobile division saw its operating profit drop to the lowest level since the fourth quarter of 2008 as it barely avoided its first-ever loss. It weighed on the company’s overall profit which is at a two-year low itself.

So how does Samsung bounce back from here and improve performance in the fourth quarter for which it has already forecasted a $3 billion hit due to missed sales of the Galaxy Note 7? It’s going to go all out on the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 edge. Samsung will continue to push the 2016 flagship and expects that it will help recover the mobile division’s earnings “to a similar level with that of the fourth quarter of 2015.” Samsung posted revenues of KRW 53 trillion ($44 billion) and operating profit of KRW 6.14 trillion ($5.1 billion) in the fourth quarter of last year. Samsung expects smartphone and tablet demand to increase in the fourth quarter due to the holiday season.

Samsung’s plan for 2017 involves expanding sales of new flagship products that will be launched with “differentiated design and innovative features,” it also points to regaining consumers’ confidence as one of the objectives for next year. Samsung will play on its strengths by enhancing software services like Knox, Samsung Pay and other cloud-related and artificial intelligence-related services. Samsung “anticipates” a turnaround next year as it launches new flagship smartphones and also expands Samsung Pay to additional markets across the globe.

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Samsung shareholders approve heir apparent’s board membership

Samsung formally appointed heir apparent Lee Jae-yong for a seat on the company’s board of directors about a month ago. Currently the vice chairman, he also happens to be the son of ailing Samsung Chairman Kun-Hee Lee and is widely believed to take on a more prominent role in one of the biggest companies on the planet before eventually being elevated to his father’s position. An extraordinary general meeting of shareholders was called by Samsung on the very same day it announced its third quarter financial results. The meeting was attended by nearly 400 people including individual shareholders and institutional investors.

Shareholders approved Lee Jae-yong’s board membership through a show of hands. He is the first member of the Lee family to join the board in nearly eight years so it’s a significant moment for the company as well as Samsung’s founding family which still maintains a tight grip on the conglomerate despite its single-digit ownership stake. As a member of the board, the heir apparent will have sway over top management and strategic decisions which include but are not limited to asset sales, restructurings and mergers.

One of the biggest challenges the younger Lee faces immediately is an open proposal by activist investor hedge Elliott Management that’s calling for Samsung Electronics to be split into two, add independent directors and even dole out a special dividend of $27 billion to shareholders. Market analysts suggest that the scion is going to speed up restructuring efforts at the company, his plans for Samsung will only become evident once he starts making some big decisions.

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Samsung will make ‘significant changes’ to quality assurance processes after the Galaxy Note 7 fiasco

The entire Galaxy Note 7 fiasco has raised some serious questions about quality assurance processes over at Samsung. Many accepted the first recall since recalls are not an anomaly and happen in every business, but when Samsung said that the replacement devices were safe and they started catching fire as well, it really made the company look bad aside from all the financial damage that it caused.

Samsung does have to come together and ensure that this never happens again. Its brand value has already suffered a lot as a result of the Galaxy Note 7′s recall and subsequent discontinuation. It recognizes that fact and soon be taking some important steps. The company has said in a press release that it’s going to make “significant changes” in the quality assurance processes to make sure that it only puts out safe and reliable products so that customers’ confidence can be regained. Samsung did not go into the details of what further steps it will be taking to ensure safety and reliability.

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Samsung Pay Canada launch expected early next month

Just yesterday, Samsung said that it’s going to expand Samsung Pay to three new countries by the end of this year but there are still some that it has named but hasn’t expanded its mobile payment service to yet. However, it appears that Samsung Pay might go live in Canada in the very near future, possibly early next month. Twitter user Saifali Maknojiya asked Samsung customer service through the built-in app about when Samsung Pay would be launched in Canada, a representative for the company said that it will be available in the country from the first week of November.

Samsung already confirmed earlier this year that Samsung Pay will be launched in Canada at some point in 2016 so it’s not like people are not already waiting for it there. The Samsung representative said that Samsung Pay will first be launched with support for CIBC Visa cards in Canada and it can’t be said for sure right now how long it would take for other Canadian banks and payment providers to get onboard. Samsung Canada is yet to officially confirm this so we do await official word on Samsung Pay’s Canada launch.

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Samsung’s third quarter results show the Galaxy Note 7 eviscerated mobile division’s profit

Samsung’s earnings guidance prior to the Galaxy Note 7′s demise suggested that the company would carry the momentum forward from its record-breaking second quarter as the new flagship looked poised for success. Then the Galaxy Note 7 had to be discontinued and Samsung later had to revise its guidance to show an immediate impact of about $2.3 billion. Samsung today released its full third quarter earnings and we now get a clear picture of just how devastating the Galaxy Note 7 has been for the company’s operating profit.

In line with its earnings guidance, Samsung’s revenue for the third quarter ended September 30 2016 was KRW 47.82 trillion ($41.9 billion). a 7.5 percent decline of about KRW 3.87 trillion ($3.4 billion). The company today posted its worst operating profit in two years. Samsung Electronics posted KRW 5.2 trillion ($4.5 billion) in operating profit which is a decline of 30 percent year-over-year.

The true impact of the Galaxy Note 7′s discontinuation is evident in the operating profit posted by Samsung’s mobile division. It posted an operating profit of only KRW 100 billion ($87.8 million), a staggering decline of 95 percent and the lowest it has posted in almost eight years. Samsung says that its mobile business saw earnings decrease significantly due to the effects of the Galaxy Note 7′s discontinuation but points out that shipments remained solid due to “continued stable sales” of the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 edge, it also saw steady growth in the mid-range segment with the Galaxy A and Galaxy J series.

 

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Samsung Z2 is now available via Flipkart and Snapdeal in India

Trying to get their new Samsung Z2 into as many pockets in India as possible, Samsung has teamed up with popular e-commerce companies Flipkart and Snapdeal. The Tizen-based smartphone is priced at Rs. 4,590 ($70) but customers can take advantage of the early ‘Diwali’ sale that Flipkart has going on. With this deal, Axis Bank Buzz credit card users will receive a 5% discount and users of both credit and debit cards from Citibank will receive a 15% cashback bonus. Snapdeal has a trade-in offer for your older smartphones. Both companies will sell the black and gold variants of the Samsung Z2. Additionally, the Z2 can also be purchased on Amazon India and Paytm.

Launched back in August, the Samsung Z2 has a 480 x 800 4 inch TFT display, a 1.5 GHz quad-core Spreadtrum processor with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal memory that can be expanded via micro SD. Fueling the device is a 1500 mAh removable battery that will get you up to 8 hours of talk time and up to 50 hours on standby. The Samsung Z2 has a 5-megapixel rear camerae with flash and a 0.3 megapixel front-facing camera. In addition, the Z2 is 4G LTE enabled and has VoLTE support for voice calls, making it the only Tizen-based smartphone to have these capabilities. Check out our full review of the Samsung Z2 if you’re interested in finding out more about this handset.

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Leaked Galaxy A5 (2017) renders hint at design changes

We exclusively confirmed about two months ago that Samsung is working on the 2017 iteration of the Galaxy A3, Galaxy A5 and Galaxy A7. The first dubious images of the metal shell meant for the Galaxy A5 (2017) surfaced soon after our report. Today, purported CAD renders of the Galaxy A5 (2017) have been leaked online which hint at some design changes that Samsung might make.

The existing Galaxy A5 (2016) has a design that’s partly similar to the Galaxy Note 4 as it has flared corners and scalloped sides and partly to the Galaxy S6 as both handsets look quite familiar from the back. These leaked renders suggest that the Galaxy A5 (2017)’s design will actually be quite similar to that of the Galaxy S7 and it will even have the same rounded edges on the back.

Samsung’s next mid-range handset is said to have a 5.2-inch display, measuring in at 145 x 71 x 7.8 mm, if that really is the case then the Galaxy A5 (2017) will be almost identical to the existing handset in terms of size. It’s also said that the Galaxy A5 (2017) is going to have a completely flush camera lens as well as a side-mounted speaker.

As far as the specs are concerned, sightings of the Galaxy A5 (2017) suggest that it will be powered by Samsung’s Exynos 7880 processor with 3GB RAM, 16GB internal storage and a 3,000mAh battery. Samsung is expected to launch the 2017 Galaxy A series at some point early next year.

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Wallpaper Wednesday: Scenery

Welcome to the latest edition of Wallpaper Wednesday. This week we’re focusing our attention on five scenic backgrounds. All images are available in a FHD resolution, which is a perfect fit for the Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 edge, Galaxy Note 5 and other flagships, but they can, of course, be used on different smartphones too.

If any of the following images float your boat and you want to download and set one as your wallpaper, simply tap on a photo to maximise it, then click and hold to save it. Once the picture is stored locally, open up Settings, locate and select Wallpaper, then just tap the newly-saved image to set it as your background.

Alternatively, you can download a ZIP file containing all of this week’s backdrops by hitting the Download button at the very bottom of this post.

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Bridge

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Desert

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Iceberg

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Sea View

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Skyline

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Download

Note: We’ve tried our best to identify the creators of all of the wallpapers featured in this week’s column. However, the images appear to lack copyright information, artist signatures or any real trace of origin. If you created a wallpaper we’ve posted and would like credit, or would rather we remove the image, kindly contact us.

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Samsung patents fingerprint scanner with swipe functionality

A patent application made by Samsung in South Korea has been published today, it reveals that the company is thinking about bringing swipe functionality to fingerprint sensors. This feature will make the fingerprint sensor even more useful as users will be able to get certain things done by simply swiping in a particular manner. We’ve already seen an implementation of this functionality in Google’s new Pixel handsets, users can view notifications by simply swiping down on the fingerprint scanner that’s located on the Pixel’s back.

Samsung has patented something similar though it merits mentioning here that this patent was filed nearly two years ago and it has only just now been published. One example mentioned in the patent demonstrates how users can jump straight into a specific application by placing their finger on the sensor to unlock the phone and swiping it to automatically launch the app. The possibilities here are endless.

Just because Samsung has patented this functionality doesn’t mean we’re going to see it in a smartphone anytime soon. It may be out of the question entirely for the Galaxy S8 since the next flagship is expected to be the first smartphone to feature optical fingerprint recognition technology which will be baked inside the display itself.

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Galaxy J7 (2016) now receiving September security patch in Europe

Just a matter of hours after it started distributing this month’s security patch for the Galaxy J5 (2016) in Europe, Samsung has begun rolling out a similar update for the Galaxy J7 (2016) in the region. What’s strange, however, is that the upgrade is dated September 1 and not October 1, which means that it includes all of the fixes included in last month’s release.

We’re not entirely sure why Samsung has opted to push an older release to the Galaxy J7 (2016), but we’re guessing that it will issue another OTA later this month to bring the patch in line with the other handsets in the J series. In the meantime, if you’d like to see if the update is ready for your unit, you can do so by heading into Settings » About Device » Download Updates Manually. 

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The Gear S3 is still on schedule to launch next month

Over the course of the past few weeks, many rumors have been bandied around claiming that the Gear S3 would miss its November release as Samsung is believed to have put a hold on future projects while it identifies the exact reason for the Galaxy Note 7′s unfortunate demise. However, popular online blog Tizen Experts has obtained information that suggests quite the opposite.

According to its “Samsung insiders,” the Gear S3 is still on schedule for its November launch and will go on sale on separate dates in different markets as originally planned. Unfortunately, an specific dates remain unknown at this precise moment in time, but we’ve put out the feelers with our reliable sources to try and uncover some additional details.

In the meantime, be sure to check out our exclusive interview with Samsung where we received comprehensive answers to ten of the most popular questions our readers had about the Gear S3 classic and Gear S3 frontier, including how the firm settled on their design, software features and internals. We also touched on the technology behind Samsung Pay and how the company was able to integrate MST into the wearbles.

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Daily Deal: Save on select SmartThings smart home products today

Many brands have started pushing smart home appliances and IoT products since the past couple of years, and Samsung is one of them. If you’ve been thinking to try out some of the smart home products from Samsung, now is a good chance. Amazon is offering discounts on a bunch of SmartThings products in the US.

The Home Monitoring Kit from SmartThings, which usually retails for $249, is being offered for just $199. The Motion Sensor from the company, which is usually priced at $39.99, is now listed with a price tag of $31.99. The SmartThings Outlet, which retails for $54.99, is now being sold for $43.99.

If you want to start off with a smart home without burning a hole in your pocket, you can grab the Hub from SmartThings from Amazon and add compatible products later. It is now being sold at a discounted price of $74.99, which is usually priced at $99. Amazon will ship these products only to addresses within the US, though.

• SmartThings Motion Sensor: $31.99 vs. $39.99 (Original)
• SmartThings Home Monitoring Kit: $199.99 vs. $249 (Original)
• SmartThings Outlet: $43.99 vs. $54.99 (Original)
• SmartThings F-Hub US-2 Hub: $74.99 vs. $99 (Original)

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China finally bans the Galaxy Note 7 from flights

When the Galaxy Note 7 was recalled for the first time Samsung said that customers in China were not affected by it as they were given units with safe batteries. Despite countless reports of Galaxy Note 7 units catching fire in the People’s Republic, Samsung only formally recalled the handset in the country after it confirmed that the Galaxy Note 7 was being discontinued. Samsung’s insistence that Galaxy Note 7 handsets shipped in China were safe was heavily criticized with the country’s state broadcaster even saying that Samsung had an arrogant attitude towards Chinese customers. We’ve already seen other countries take this step and now China has announced that Galaxy Note 7 handsets will no longer be allowed on flights.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China has announced today that starting tomorrow no one will be allowed to take a Galaxy Note 7 handset onboard a plane. The use and charging of Galaxy Note 7 onboard flights was already banned last month, now units can’t even be kept inside checked bagged. Galaxy Note 7 users in China will have to look to other modes of transportation if they want to travel with their handset.

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Galaxy J5 (2016) update brings October security patch

Samsung has started rolling out a minor update for the Galaxy J5 (2016) in Europe. The handset already runs on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow so it’s not like the update will bring any major changes to the Galaxy J5 (2016). What it does bring is the October security patch which contains patches for 68 crucial bugs identified by Google and 7 patches for vulnerabilities identified by Samsung.

Software version MMB29M.J510FNXXU1APJ3 is now being rolled out for the Galaxy J5 (2016) model number SM-J510FN in The Netherlands. It’s only a matter of time before this update is also rolled out to other countries across Europe. Samsung is rolling out this update over-the-air in the country so it might take some time to go live for everybody. Users can head over to Settings > About Device > Software Update > Update Now to check if the update is available for their handset. Those who are okay with manually flashing firmware on their handsets can also download this update from our firmware section.

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Samsung Display betting on virtual reality panels to increase share in mobile OLED market

Samsung Display is looking to further improve its share in the mobile OLED market by betting on panels for virtual reality and augmented reality, one of the company’s top engineers said at a display seminar in South Korea today. Park Won-sang, Samsung Display’s principal engineer, was speaking at the International Meeting on Information Display in Seoul, he said that the company expects the mobile OLED market to grow as virtual reality and augmented reality applications become more popular.

Park said that Samsung Display is working to increase energy efficiency for high power consumption of VR panels. It’s a major obstacle but Samsung is working to overcome this technical limitation. Samsung Display is also attaching importance to augmented reality, “We are viewing the augmented reality market as very important,” Park said, adding that it allows for innovative applications that combine the digital and real world. He said that Samsung Display is working to solve eye problems that AR users often complain about, users complain about eye strain and dry eyes as they have to focus on panels from a short distance in a dark environment. That’s one of the augmented reality pain points that Samsung is working to address.

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Galaxy S8 will be the first smartphone with optical fingerprint recognition

Samsung is expected to introduce some major hardware changes with the Galaxy S8, a recent report suggested that the next flagship is going to be truly “full-screen” as the display will be curved on the top and bottom edges as well. We’re now hearing whispers out of China that the Galaxy S8 is going to be the world’s first smartphone to feature optical fingerprint recognition technology. It will eliminate the need for the company to place a fingerprint scanner beneath the home button.

We’ve previously heard rumors that Samsung is going to integrate the Galaxy S8′s fingerprint scanner inside the display itself. An optical fingerprint scanner works when the finger is placed on a glass plate, or in a smartphone’s case, on the glass display. We’ve not seen this implementation in any other smartphones yet so the Galaxy S8 is certainly going to be the first smartphone to feature optical fingerprint recognition, which is both more accurate and faster than ultrasonic fingerprint recognition. It’s said that presently the yield of optical fingerprint recognition components for the Galaxy S8 is not high but since the handset is more than three months away, there’s ample time for yield issues to be addressed before the Galaxy S8 is released early next year.

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