Samsung leads the premium smartphone segment in India

Samsung has been battling strong competition from the Chinese OEMs in the Indian smartphone market. In particular, Xiaomi with its ruthless pricing has posed a major threat to Samsung’s dominance in India. Depending on which market research firm you believe, Xiaomi was either ahead of or close to Samsung’s market share during the second-half of 2017 in India.

So far, Q1 2018 also seems to be following the same trend, despite Samsung’s efforts. Last week, Canalys published Q1 smartphone shipment numbers for India, placing Xiaomi at the top of the vendors’ list with 31% market share. Prior to that, Counterpoint Research also crowned Xiaomi as the largest vendor in India in the first quarter of 2018.

Demand for the Galaxy S9/S9+ pushed Samsung to the top

However, in the premium smartphone segment, Samsung seems to be doing well despite the competition from Apple, OnePlus, and others. According to the data published by Counterpoint Research for Q1 2018, Samsung regained the top spot in the premium smartphone segment (Apple held it in Q4 2017) with around 50% market share and 16% YoY growth. The upsurge is driven by the strong demand for the recently launched Galaxy S9, Galaxy S9+, and Galaxy A8+.

Even in the premium smartphone segment, which the Counterpoint Research pegs at 4% of the overall Indian smartphone market, Samsung is facing heat from a Chinese brand known for its aggressive pricing. While Xiaomi is the Samsung’s main rival in the budget segment, another Chinese company, OnePlus, is shaping up to be a major contender in the premium smartphone market by holding on to the second place in market share since Q3 2017.

In fact, Counterpoint Research crowns OnePlus 5T as the best-selling premium smartphone in the last quarter which, to be frank, sounds dubious given its limited availability and marketing spend. Apple settled for the third spot as the euphoria around its new phones begins to fade.

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Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ with 128GB and 256GB storage launched in the US

Customers in the United States can rejoice because Samsung just announced that it has launched the Galaxy S9 and the Galaxy S9+ with 128GB and 256GB of internal storage in the country. It’s going to start taking pre-orders for these variants from tomorrow, May 1, and the units will be shipped out to customers later this month.

These variants will be exclusively sold by Samsung

Samsung has confirmed that both the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ will now be available in 128/256GB storage variants to customers in the United States. They will be able to use all of this additional internal storage to store more multimedia content, including those gorgeous Super Slow-mo videos.

Just because these variants have more internal storage doesn’t mean they’ve lost support for external expansion. Just like the other variants, they too support external expansion up to 400GB via microSD cards. While we’re on the subject of microSD cards, here are some of the best microSD cards for the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+.

Samsung and its partners have only sold the variant with 64GB of internal storage in the United States so far. It’s good that customers in the country will now have more options but it’s not like this is the first time these variants are being rolled out. Samsung has already been selling the 128GB variant in India.

Pre-orders for these variants will open tomorrow and they will be sold exclusively through Samsung.com. No other retailer or carrier will offer these variants. The 128GB and 256GB Galaxy S9 will cost $769.99 and $819.99 respectively while the Galaxy S9+ will be priced at $889.99 and $939.99 respectively. Both variants will be available in Coral Blue, Lilac Purple and Midnight Black colors.

Remember, these variants will be exclusively sold through Samsung’s own website. The company won’t be selling these variants through any of its retail and carrier partners in the United States.

Samsung will begin shipping units to customers on May 18.

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Galaxy A8 (2018) Android 8.0 Oreo development is underway

In an ideal world, any smartphone that is launched at least a month or two after the newest version of Android has been officially released by Google should come running that version of Android out of the box. In the practical world, and certainly in Samsung’s galaxy (pun intended), that’s not the case. The Galaxy A8 (2018) and Galaxy A8+ (2018), for example, hit the market with Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box in January this year, and there’s still no word on when the Oreo update for these handsets will be released. Android 8.0 Oreo for these phones is on the cards, though, and we can now confirm that Samsung has started working on the Galaxy A8 (2018) Oreo update.

Galaxy A8 (2018) Oreo update is in the making

The news that Oreo development has begun for the Galaxy A8 was broken by GalaxyClub, and we have been able to confirm the same from our own sources. Sadly, Samsung seems to have only just started working on the Galaxy A8 Oreo update. The Galaxy A (2017) phones started receiving the Oreo update recently, which makes it further disappointing that the newest, best, and priciest of Samsung’s mid-range lineup are still sitting on an older version of the OS. The first major OS update for Samsung’s previous Galaxy A series phones have usually debuted between July and August, and we can expect a similar time frame when it comes to Android 8.0 Oreo for the Galaxy A8 (2018) and A8+.

The current Oreo test build for the Galaxy A8 has the firmware version A530FXXU2BRDx. The build number for the latest official Nougat firmware for the device is A530FXXU2ARD3, and the jump from A to B in the middle of the build number is what suggests that the firmware under development is based on Android 8.0 Oreo. Such letter changes can also sometimes happen for major software updates that bring new features and changes without changing the version of Android, but that is unlikely to be the case for recent phones such as the Galaxy A8 (2018) and A8+.

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T-Mobile’s latest Galaxy S9+ update includes the May 2018 security patch

There have been a couple of instances where a software update for one of Samsung’s devices brought with it the next month’s Android security patch ahead of the patch’s official release and announcement by Google, and it’s happening again. T-Mobile is pushing out an update to the Galaxy S9+ (and we’re assuming the regular S9 as well, though we can’t confirm at the moment) that includes the May 2018 security patch. The update has been available since late last week, and the build number is G965USQU2ARD9.

May 2018 security patch is out early

This would be the first time in many months that a new security patch will be released for a flagship Galaxy before a mid-range or budget ones device. T-Mobile’s software update page for the S9 and S9+ doesn’t mention the newest update yet, so it’s possible the update may have been pushed out a bit too soon. In addition to the yet unannounced security patch, the update brings a new splash screen for when the phone boots up. That’s pretty much it for the noticeable stuff introduced by the update, and we should have information on the kind of vulnerabilities fixed by the May security patch in a couple of days.

Is the new update available on your Galaxy S9 or Galaxy S9+ on T-Mobile? To check, open the Settings app on your phone, tap Software update, then tap Download updates manually.

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Galaxy S9 sales reportedly hit record lows in South Korea

Samsung expects Galaxy S9 sales to outperform the Galaxy S8 but it seems that its home country of South Korea might not help it that much in achieving this aim. A new report out of the country claims that Galaxy S9 sales in South Korea have plunged to record-low levels compared to its predecessor. The report is based on industry data received by ET News.

Galaxy S9 sales

Sales figures from South Korea’s top three mobile carriers – SK Telecom, LG Uplus and KT – reveal that the Galaxy S9 sold more than 707,000 units over the past two months. Samsung released the handset in March. This is said to be the lowest-ever figure for a flagship Galaxy S handset.

That’s a considerable decline compared to the almost 1 million units that the Galaxy S8 sold in South Korea in the same period after its launch. Galaxy S9 sales were reportedly cut in half this month as only 231,000 units were sold compared to 476,000 units in March.

This isn’t the first time that we’re hearing about the Galaxy S9 proving to be a tough sell in South Korea. It was reported not too long after the handset was released that South Koreans don’t seem to be that interested in the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ as they’re not significantly different from their predecessors. The report also mentioned that it was actually the Galaxy A8 (2018) that was Samsung’s best-selling smartphone in its home country currently.

Industry watchers cited in this latest report also point toward the lack of significant changes as one of the main factors behind sluggish sales of Samsung’s new flagship smartphone. The high price is said to be another factor.

Perhaps Samsung can find solace in the fact that the iPhone X has not been doing any well either. The report claims that sales of Apple’s flagship handset are at record lows as well. The iPhone X has reportedly sold only 475,000 units in South Korea since its November 2017 launch. They’re also said to be the lowest-ever figures for a new flagship iPhone launch in South Korea.

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SamMobile Firmware Update Magazine: April 30, 2018

Welcome to the latest edition of our weekly Firmware Magazine. You can think of it as your go-to resource to find out which of your Samsung devices has received a new update or if it’s going to receive a new firmware update in the near future.

To keep things interesting, we present the Firmware Magazine in new designs every week. It will always include the important details about firmware updates such as the firmware versions, device model numbers, Android OS versions and the country where said update is out already.

SamMobile Firmware Update Magazine

Keep in mind, however, that these firmware details are based on the firmware that are available in our database, and in some cases, the latest updates might not show in the same week as the full firmware files take additional time to make it to our database.

The purpose of this magazine is to bring all of that important information about firmware updates to you, the reader, in a manner that’s easy to comprehend—so even if you’re new to the world of firmware, you’ll have no trouble making sense of it all.

Click on the image below to grab the latest firmware magazine!

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Oreo for the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge should be out in a couple of weeks

It’s unclear as yet precisely when Oreo for Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge is going to be rolled out. Samsung hasn’t provided a precise date so far but recent reports suggest that the update could be out by mid-May. A notice posted by the company in the Samsung Members app for Korean users reiterates the possibility that Oreo for Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge should be out by mid-May.

Oreo for Galaxy S7

It won’t be long before the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 edge are updated to Android 8.0 Oreo. Both handsets were recently certified by the Wi-Fi Alliance running the new firmware so it’s only a matter of time. All U.S. carrier variants have also been certified on Oreo.

Guncelmiyiz, a website run by Samsung Turkey, provides timeframes for firmware updates and the website was recently updated with a new schedule which stated that Oreo for Galaxy S7 will be out by May 18.

However, the schedules on this website tend to change often without notice so many might not have taken the information at face value. It’s a good sign, though, that the notice on the Korean Samsung Members app tells a similar story.

A machine translation of the notice reveals that the company is “doing its best” to have Oreo for Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge out by mid-May. That’s the plan now and hopefully, Samsung will stick to it if no issues are discovered in the update prior to release.

Updates for some other Samsung devices are in the pipeline as well and they’re slated to receive Oreo in the first half of this year. These devices include the Galaxy A5 and Galaxy A7 (2017) as well as both Wi-Fi and LTE variants of the Galaxy Tab S3.

We’ll surely let you know as soon as Oreo for Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge starts rolling out. It can reasonably be expected that the release timeframe won’t extend beyond mid-May now.

Thanks, Razvan!

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Full Galaxy A6 and Galaxy A6+ specs revealed in new leak

A new Galaxy A6 and Galaxy A6+ leak has surfaced online which leaves nothing to the imagination. While we have seen countless leaks already which have revealed some specs of the upcoming mid-range handsets, the latest gives us a pretty good look at the specs sheet and also brings official images of the devices.

The Galaxy A6 and Galaxy A6+ are two new mid-range smartphones that Samsung has in the pipeline. They’re going to slot in below the Galaxy A8 and Galaxy A8+ (2018). Much like their more expensive siblings, they also feature a flat Infinity Display panel.

Galaxy A6 specs

The Galaxy A6 has a 5.6-inch 18.5:9 aspect ratio Infinity Display with 1480×720 pixel resolution. The bezels are fairly narrow on this HD+ panel but it’s still not quite as “bezel-less” as other Samsung handsets with the Infinity Display.

The handset is going to be powered by the Exynos 7870 processor coupled with a Mali T830 GPU and 3GB of RAM with 32GB storage. However, in some markets the handset will also be offered with 4GB RAM and 64GB of storage. External expansion up to 256GBs with a microSD card will be possible.

The Galaxy A6 features a 16-megapixel rear camera with f/1.7 aperture and a similar camera up front with f/1.9 aperture. The front camera gets its own LED flash. There’s support for Bluetooth 4.2, NFC and Samsung Pay. All of this is powered by a 3,000mAh battery. The Galaxy A6 is expected to cost between 300 and 340 euro.

Galaxy A6+ specs

Both new mid-range handsets look quite the same but the Galaxy A6+ has a larger 6-inch 18.5:9 aspect ratio Infinity Display with 2220×1080 pixel resolution. The fingerprint sensor on both handsets is placed at the back below the camera sensor.

Samsung has opted for the Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 chip for this handset and it’s also going to ship with 3/4GB RAM and 32/64GB of storage depending on the market. External expansion up to 400GB is supported as well.

The dual camera system also sets this handset apart. It has 16-megapixel and 5-megapixel sensors at the back with f/1.7 and f/1.9 aperture respectively. The second camera is used to achieve depth of field effects also known as bokeh. There’s a 24-megapixel camera on the front with f/1.9 aperture and its own LED flash.

The Galaxy A6+ also has support for Bluetooth 5.0 and comes with a 3,500mAh battery. Both devices will ship with Android 8.1 out of the box. It’s expected to cost between 360 and 400 euro. The new handsets also have support for Bixby Vision, Home and Reminder but not Bixby Voice.

Samsung is yet to confirm when the Galaxy A6 and Galaxy A6+ will be officially released but this report claims that the handsets will be out in May.

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