Samsung Pay Card launched in South Korea

Samsung Electronics has launched the Samsung Pay Card in South Korea earlier today in collaboration with Samsung Card and MasterCard. It’s a physical credit card that’s specifically designed for Samsung Pay users, and it brings along plenty of benefits. Customers can apply for the Samsung Pay Card and manage it only via the Samsung Pay app.

Users can check the card number, discounts, payment amount due, and performance of the card using the Samsung Pay app. They can also block overseas payments using the app. Samsung Pay card offers a 1% discount when purchases are made in offline stores and a 1.5% discount when transactions are done on online websites.

Until December 31, Samsung Pay Card will offer a 0.5% additional discount for Samsung Pay payments. A 2% discount will be offered when purchases are made on online shopping websites. When payments are made at the Samsung Pay coupon shop, users would be eligible to receive a 3% discount. There would be a 2% discount for postpaid transportation payments.

International payments can be done with the Samsung Pay Card. The company has announced that it is offering international payments in stores around the world that have NFC terminals. When international transactions are done via Samsung Pay, the company will offer a 5% discount (limited to KRW 100,000 per month).

Samsung claims that Samsung Pay currently has over 19 million users, and they have done more than KRW 80 trillion worth of transactions as of August 2020. The company had launched the Samsung Pay Card in the UK in partnership with Curve and Samsung Money card in the US in collaboration with SoFi.

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Samsung sells dying LCD business to China for $1 billion

Just as Samsung’s LCD divestment was about to break some new records in corporate deliberateness, the tech giant suddenly shifted into overdrive by finalizing a blockbuster factory sale to China. Newly emerged reports out of South Korea claim Samsung found a buyer for its LCD plant in Suzhou. Located in the Jiangsu Province on the eastern shore of mainland China, the said plant represents a significant chunk of what remains of Samsung’s LCD business. As a reminder, the company has been actively winding down its in-house LCD manufacture since last year as part of a strategic shift to OLED products.

That endeavor is now continuing with the sale of the Suzhou factory that will net Samsung $1.08 billion, industry insiders claim. The buyer is China Star Optoelectronics Technology (CSOT), the display division of Chinese consumer electronics juggernaut TCL. CSOT’s billion-dollar splurge was enough to secure a 60% stake in the business, while its parent reportedly purchased another 10% of the plant. The remaining third will soon be taken over by the city of Suzhou, as per the same report.

Samsung leaving the LCD industry with a bang after all

Overall, this is a pretty stellar turn of events for Samsung seeing how the Suzhou plant has been nothing more than a giant money sink for the company since spring. Which is when Samsung pretty much shut down shop in response to the initial coronavirus outbreak, laying off 1,700 people in the process. Prior to this year, the Chinese facility was responsible for roughly 27% of Samsung Display’s annual LCD output.

While Samsung remains all too happy to offload its LCD assets to anyone who asks, it’s worth remembering that 2020 actually boosted its LCD profits one final time. Given the abudance of economic uncertainty and the huge hit to forecast TV revenues stemming from the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics 2020, Samsung could have hardly hoped for a better summer on the LCD front. Even prior to its last shutdown, the Suzhou factory hasn’t been consistently operating at capacity since the turn of the year. And that’s just the tip of the COVID-19 iceberg that’s been weighing down on Samsung for a while now.

As massive as this sale may be, Samsung’s deal with CSOT is far from one-sided. South Korean media hence reports that Samsung display is taking a 12.33% stake in TCL valued at $739 million as part of the same transaction.

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Samsung slips to second position in Southeast Asian smartphone market in Q2 2020

Samsung’s smartphone market share has been dropping over the past few years due to the continued onslaught from the Chinese vendors like OPPO, Realme, Vivo, and Xiaomi. Now, a new report claims that the South Korean firm dropped to the second spot in the Southeast Asian market during the second quarter of 2020.

According to a new report from market analysis firm Counterpoint Research, Samsung was the second-largest smartphone brand in Southeast Asia with a market share of 19.5 percent. OPPO edged out Samsung during Q2 2020 with a market share of 20.3 percent. Vivo (17.9 percent), Xiaomi (14 percent), and Realme (12.8 percent) took the third, fourth, and fifth spots, respectively.

This isn’t the first time that Samsung has lost its top position to OPPO, though. In Q4 2019, OPPO earned the top spot after selling more smartphone units than Samsung. However, the South Korean firm recaptured the number one position in Q1 2020. Counterpoint Research said that Samsung’s market share dropped because consumers preferred to buy affordable smartphones amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Smartphone shipments in Southeast Asia dropped 22 percent year-on-year to 24 million units during the second quarter of 2020. Overall, Samsung was still the market leader in worldwide smartphone shipments during Q2 2020. However, it suffered the sharpest year-on-year decline among the top five smartphone brands.

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Galaxy S20 Fan Edition 5G’s pricing appears to have leaked

The Galaxy S20 Fan Edition is expected to be launched as a spiritual successor to the Galaxy S10 Lite. We had exclusively confirmed the phone’s existence three months ago. Its design and specifications have been leaked already, and the device appears to be coming in both LTE (SM-G780) and 5G (SM-G781) variants. Now, the phone’s pricing for the 5G variant appears to have leaked alongside its color variants.

Going by a leaked image, the Galaxy S20 Fan Edition’s 5G variant could cost CAD 1,148.65 (around $878). The device could debut in as many as six colors: lavender, navy, orange, red, sky green, and white. These are the same colors that were visible in an image leaked by Evan Blass (@evleaks). There’s no concrete information around the price of the LTE variant of the device and the launch date, though.

Galaxy S20 Fan Edition specs

The Galaxy S20 Fan Edition could sport a 6.5-inch Super AMOLED Infinity-O display with Full HD+ resolution, HDR10+, and a 120Hz refresh rate. It could also feature an in-display fingerprint reader, similar to the rest of the devices in the Galaxy S20 series. It could use an Exynos 990 or a Snapdragon 865 processor, depending on the market. The Galaxy S20 Fan Edition features 6GB/8GB RAM, 128GB internal storage, and a microSD card slot.

Samsung appears to have cut some corners on the camera front. It has a triple-camera setup with a 12MP wide-angle camera, a 12MP ultrawide camera, and an 8MP telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom. The phone could feature a 32MP selfie camera and IP68 rating. Running Android 10 with One UI 2, the phone will be powered by a 4,500mAh battery that supports up to 45W fast charging.

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Samsung foldables have kickstarted the industry’s design renaissance

Whether you love it, hate it, or you’re on the fence about Samsung’s Galaxy Fold lineup, there’s no denying that the Galaxy Fold and its upcoming sequel, the Galaxy Z Fold 2, have already changed the mobile landscape. Regardless of whether or not flexible display technology is the future, the Galaxy Fold’s arrival to the market appears to have persuaded other OEMs to think outside the box, and this is something that smartphone enthusiasts, whether they’re Samsung fans or not, have been waiting for years.

You’ve heard this before and you’ve observed this phenomenon yourselves, but the mobile market has been stagnating for nearly a decade when it comes to design, or at the very least, OEMs have stopped exploring new and interesting concepts. Every hardware and software component has gotten better over the years and, granted, even exterior designs have constantly refreshed as well but they’ve done so without straying too much from the path laid forth by the first-gen smartphones. In other words, they’ve all remained ‘candy bar’ smartphones even though they have received iterative design updates every year.

Then the Galaxy Fold became a reality

The Galaxy Fold and subsequently the Galaxy Z Fold 2 have thrown the established design paradigm out the window and their existence alone appears to have persuaded a few other OEMs to explore new designs as well. Even more interesting is that a few OEMs have been thinking outside the box to reinvent their smartphones even without the use of flexible display technology. For example, Microsoft has developed the Surface Duo while LG has released the Q8X ThinQ along with a dual-screen accessory. The latter company is now working on a true dual-screen device – called LG Wing – that features a rotating screen on top of another.

In other words, Samsung’s flexible display technology and the Galaxy devices that use it have already kickstarted a mobile renaissance. Even if they don’t have access to flexible displays like Samsung does, other OEMs are now trying to break the mold through clever and unique designs, and it all seems to have begun with the launch of the Galaxy Fold.

The mobile landscape is no longer exclusive to the candy bar form factor; instead we’re starting to see new and interesting designs cropping up even if they’re not based on foldable display technology. Granted, the candy bar form factor is still dominating the scene by a large margin, but if these other, bolder devices are successful then we can expect to see more of them in the coming years.

OEMs have been playing the mobile game too safely for too long, but now they have a reason to step outside their comfort zones and this is a winning scenario for every smartphone enthusiast who appreciates design diversity. There’s a feeling of rekindled imagination in the mobile industry, something that was missing only a couple of years ago, and I think it’s only fair to thank Samsung and the Galaxy Fold for it.

Galaxy Fold

• Model: SM-F900F
• Dimensions: Folded: 160.9 x 62.8 x 17.1 mm
  Unfolded: 160.9 x 117.9 x 6.9 mm
  
• Display: 7.3 inch / 185.42 mm Dynamic AMOLED Display
• CPU: Snapdragon 855
• Camera: 16MP

More specifications

Galaxy Z Fold 2

• Model: SM-F916B
• Dimensions: Folded: 159.2 x 68 x 16.8 mm
  Unfolded: 159.2 x 128.2 x 6.9 mm
  
• Display: 7.6 inch / mm Dynamic AMOLED 2X
• CPU: Snapdragon 865+
• Camera: 12MP

More specifications

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Galaxy M51 is finally official and available for pre-order in Europe

Nearly half a year after we exclusively confirmed that the Galaxy M51 is in development, Samsung has finally and officially acknowledged the mid-range device without much fanfare. The Galaxy M51 is now available for pre-order in Germany in two color options, black and white, for the price of 360 euro. The phone’s estimated shipping date is September 11.

Spec-wise the Galaxy M51 meets our expectations and the mid-range phone does indeed pack a monstrous 7,000mAh battery. It’s the largest battery Samsung had ever fitted on a smartphone and it should be capable of fully charging in around 2 hours thanks to 25W fast charging.

Samsung isn’t as generous on the software side

The Galaxy M51 has plenty of hardware components worth pointing out aside from the large 7,000mAh battery, such as its quad camera setup and its 32MP selfie shooter. The phone packs 128GB of expandable storage, 6GB of RAM, a 6.7-inch Super AMOLED Plus Infinity-O display, and an octa-core processor that remains unmentioned in Samsung’s promotional material but should be none other than the Snapdragon 730 / 730G SoC.

What is mentioned in Samsung’s promos is the software, and it’s a little bit surprising as well as disappointing. Despite earlier expectations, the Galaxy M51 doesn’t ship with One UI 2.5 or even One UI 2.1/2.0. Instead the phone runs One UI Core, i.e., a stripped-down version of One UI designed primarily for lower-end phones. It does come with Night camera mode and it might also include Hyperlapse and Pro Mode, but for all intents and purposes, the phone won’t deliver the full-fledged One UI experience.

The Galaxy M51 is now available for pre-order in Germany for 360 euro but it’s also expected to hit the shelves in India and other countries. We’ll keep you posted once we find out more.

• Pre-order the black Galaxy M51 from Samsung Germany
• Pre-order the white Galaxy M51 from Samsung Germany

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Samsung promotes Galaxy Z Fold 2 Thom Browne Edition in 1-minute film

Samsung partnered with New York City-based fashion designer Thom Browne earlier this year, leading to the creation of the Galaxy Z Flip Thom Browne Edition. The partnership appears to have worked out for both parties as Samsung confirmed a second Thom Browne-labeled device at Galaxy Unpacked 2020, namely the Galaxy Z Fold 2 Thom Browne Edition.

Exact launch and pricing details remain unknown but Samsung is bound to reveal more at Unpacked Part 2 on September 1. Until then, Samsung seemingly wants to keep the hype going with the release of a new promotional video starring the Galaxy Z Fold 2 Thom Browne Edition. It’s not labeled as a promo but as a 1-minute-long ‘Official Film’ called ‘A story in symmetry.’ And in true Thom Browne fashion, the video focuses less on the device itself and more on conveying a particular mood. You could say that the promo is as unique as the collaboration itself.

The Thom Browne Edition is a complete flagship package

The gorgeous Galaxy Z Fold 2 is only briefly shown in the latest promotional video but Samsung already confirmed earlier this month that the Thom Browne Edition consists of a Galaxy Z Fold 2, a pair of Galaxy Buds Live, and a Galaxy Watch 3, all of which carry the fashion designer’s Americana stripe and color scheme.

These accessories are not shown in the latest promo but they will ship along with the foldable device. This means that although the regular Galaxy Z Fold 2 is expected to go on sale for around 2,000 euro, the Thom Browne Edition will likely cost somewhere between 2,500 and 3,000 euro. The Galaxy Z Fold 2 itself won’t be manufactured in very large quantities so the Thom Browne Edition will be even rarer. Given enough time, it could become a collector’s item.

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Samsung’s affordable foldable phone confirmed for Indian market

We had exclusively revealed last week that Samsung is working on a cheaper foldable smartphone and that it bears model number SM-F415. A couple of days later, the device appeared in the Wi-Fi certification database, hinting towards its impending launch. Now, the South Korean tech firm has confirmed the existence of the device and that it will be launched in India.

Samsung has listed a support webpage for the SM-F415F/DS on its website for the Indian market, confirming the foldable phone. Samsung uses ‘F’ in the model number of its foldable smartphones. For reference, SM-F700, SM-F900, and SM-F916 are model numbers for the Galaxy Z Flip, Galaxy Fold, and the Galaxy Z Fold 2, respectively. The model number also reveals that the device will feature dual-SIM functionality, at least in the Indian market.

Previous rumors point towards a Galaxy Z Flip-like clamshell design for the SM-F415F. It could use the Snapdragon 7xx processor and a sub-$1,000 price tag. That’s everything that we know about the South Korean smartphone giant’s upcoming foldable device.

Samsung has already launched the Galaxy Fold and the Galaxy Z Flip in India. It is also planning to launch the Galaxy Z Fold 2 in India next month, and the device has been listed on the company’s website. However, there’s no information about the availability of the Galaxy Z Flip 5G in India.

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Samsung starts mass production of 16Gb LPDDR5 DRAM chips at Pyeongtaek Line 2 plant

Samsung has announced that the second production line at its Pyeongtaek plant in South Korea has commenced the mass production of the industry’s first 16Gb LPDDR5 DRAM for mobile devices. These chips are being fabricated using the company’s third-generation 10nm-class EUV technology (1z).

The South Korean tech giant is the leader of the global DRAM market. It claims that its new LPDDR5 DRAM chips boast the highest mobile memory capacity and performance. Samsung’s 16Gb LPDDR5 DRAM chips are 16% faster than 12Gb LPDDR5 DRAM chips, thanks to their data transfer rates of 6,400Mb/s. 16GB packages made using 16Gb LPDDR5 chips can transfer 51.2GB of data in one second.

Thanks to the 1z process, the LPDDR5 package is 30% thinner than its predecessor. The 1y process required combining twelve chips (eight 12Gb chips and four 8Gb chips) to make a 16GB RAM package. However, the same capacity can be achieved with the 1z process using just eight chips (eight 16Gb chips). This means it becomes easier to make smartphones with 5G, foldable screens, and multi-camera setups.

Samsung is also planning to bring LPDDR5 DRAM chips for automotive applications, offering extended temperature range and reliability standards for tough environments. The facility that manufactures 10nm EUV LPDDR5 DRAM chips spans more than 128,900 square meters (over 1.3 million square feet). It is also Samsung’s biggest semiconductor production line to date.

Jung-Bae Lee, Executive Vice President of DRAM Product & Technology at Samsung Electronics, said, “The 1z-based 16Gb LPDDR5 elevates the industry to a new threshold, overcoming a major developmental hurdle in DRAM scaling at advanced nodes. We will continue to expand our premium DRAM lineup and exceed customer demands, as we lead in growing the overall memory market.”

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