Samsung did really well in the smartphone segment in the third quarter of this year. It managed to beat Apple in the US and dethroned Xiaomi in the Indian market. Now, it is being reported that the company managed to achieve its highest profit share in the global smartphone market.
According to a report from Strategy Analytics, Samsung narrowed the gap with Apple in terms of smartphone profit share. The South Korean tech giant’s profit share was 32.6% during Q3 2020, which is up from 18.8% that it achieved in Q3 2019. These are Samsung’s highest numbers in over six years since it had a 37.9% profit share in Q2 2014.
Apple is still the world’s most profitable smartphone brand with a 60.5% profit share, but its share was down from 66.9% that it had last year. The company’s operating margin dropped with the release of the iPhone 12. In contrast, Samsung’s operating margin increased to 14% from Q3 2019’s 11%.
Samsung’s global smartphone revenue share was 22.6%, while Apple’s revenue share was 29.5% during Q3 2020. In terms of smartphone shipments, Samsung’s market share was the highest, at 21.9%. The Chinese firm Huawei had a market share of 14.1%, and Xiaomi’s market share was 12.7%. Apple slipped to the fourth position with a market share of 11.9%.
It’s been over three years since we were introduced to DeX, initially called the Samsung Desktop Experience. But the curious-looking accessory didn’t stick around for long. It gradually made way for a fully software-based phone-to-PC solution which is now baked into every modern flagship Galaxy smartphone and tablet running One UI and simply called DeX. And somewhere along the way, that titular experience actually became good. Or the app’s name stopped being a joke, depending on how bitter of a taste the original solution left you with.
I can’t tell you when exactly that happened, though. Because I dismissed DeX as a gimmick with potential that would likely remain unfulfilled back when it released. Little did I know, only a year or so later, someone at Samsung apparently said “hey, our software is terrible” with enough expletives and at a sufficient volume for that observation to be taken seriously. Which is an assumption based solely on me seeing 40 minutes of a Steve Jobs biopic with Ashton Kutcher that one time.
But even if Samsung’s product design process doesn’t start with rich eccentrics having psychoses in an elevator, I’m fairly confident I got the time period right. The very name of the app is evidence of that, seeing how it’s basically a relic by now. Because something called the “Samsung Desktop Experience” made way more sense back when Galaxy devices were running the “Samsung Experience.” And that much-awaited Touch Wiz replacement was so short-lived – replaced by today’s One UI launcher – that it can serve as a pretty specific frame of reference for figuring out exactly when DeX became so amazing.
The current state of DeX is pretty miraculous relative to how bad the vanilla release was
Not only does the latest version of this productivity suite offer a pretty decent desktop experience most easily comparable to Chrome OS, but it’s also arguably the easiest way of exchanging files of any sort between your smartphone and desktop of choice – regardless of whether the latter uses Windows, macOS, or Linux.
The fully wireless DeX experience isn’t there just yet, but it’s passable in combination with a decent router and still offers more polish than the first generation of Samsung’s tech. Of course, wire-free DeX support is bound to become more worry-free in the near future. It’s actually one of the first things that come to mind when thinking about the earliest direct benefits a jump to the Wi-Fi 6 specification will offer to owners of contemporary Samsung smartphones.
The current state of DeX is, therefore, a far cry from that 2017 mess Samsung presented us with. This ugly duckling turned into a well-rounded swan by the time Android 10 debuted. But it’s not unfathomable to suspect quite a few people remain oblivious to that fact – much like I was after a bad first experience with the app – and are needlessly avoiding DeX, in its entirety, even today. Well, it may be time for you to give DeX another chance, especially if you happen to be moving large files between your mobile device and laptop/desktop on the regular.
By now, the platform evolved into a remarkable, intuitive, and extremely consistent service. Obviously, it would have been preferable if Samsung has gotten things right the first time around, but it’s worth remembering how even the company’s largest evangelists agreed that DeX wasn’t a PC replacement in any shape or form just a couple of years back. So… yeah, things have already turned out better than expected.
DeX hence managed to live up to its potential and then some, ultimately becoming a unique selling proposition that’s impressively universal, seeing how it’s supported by the majority of Samsung’s current mobile portfolio. Or, better said, it would have become an amazing USP had Samsung decided to position it front and center at any of its subsequently organized product events. Which hasn’t happened as of yet, but let’s see what 2021 has in store for us. Meanwhile, have you checked out DeX recently?
The Galaxy A01 will soon be succeeded not by the Galaxy A02 but by the newly-announced Galaxy A02s. It’s scheduled to hit the European market in February, roughly one year after the launch of the original Galaxy A01.
Once again, a single year has made a lot of difference for Samsung’s budget smartphone series. The Galaxy A02s comes with a larger display, more RAM and built-in storage, an additional rear-facing camera and a considerably larger battery.
15W fast charging is the new standard
Samsung has improved its budget phone formula for 2021 in more than just one way. Aside from the newer internal hardware, the addition of 1GB extra RAM, and the inclusion of a macro camera, Samsung has also brought one mid-range feature to the new budget phone, namely fast charging.
The Galaxy A02s might be Samsung’s most affordable phone of 2021 to boast a 5,000mAh battery with 15W charging. In contrast, the Galaxy A11 lacks fast charging capabilities altogether for its 3,000mAh battery.
The extra 2,000mAh capacity is partly required because of the larger display. The Galaxy A02s features a 6.5-inch display, a size that has become very popular among Samsung’s mid-range phones. The larger display has a resolution of 1520 by 720 pixels.
If there’s one area that hasn’t been improved over the course of one year, that area is biometric authentication. Like the smartphone it’s supposed to succeed, the Galaxy A02s lacks fingerprint scanning technology and as a result, it lacks features such as Samsung Pay.
Below you will find a side-by-side view of the Galaxy A01 and Galaxy A02s through our new device comparison widget. Will you make the Galaxy A02s yours next year or will you skip it? It’s scheduled to go on sale for the starting price of 150 EUR.
Samsung has taken the lead in the foldable phone niche. It has brought the idea to life in two different form factors. Many expect Samsung to have more up its sleeve. There have been rumors about multi-fold and even stretchable displays that could be used for future smartphones.
Now, it appears that Samsung wants to spark our imagination. It’s doing that with some renderings that show how displays of the future can be used to make our lives better.
What a future Samsung foldable phone might look like
The renderings have been posted on the Korean blog of Samsung Display, the company that supplies displays for Samsung’s smartphones. The posts are part of a series that showcase the opportunities for innovation.
One such rendering shows off a tri-fold panel that allows the user to have a full smartphone interface on one side and a tablet interface on the other. The hinges would allow this device to be compacted into basically a smartphone.
As futuristic as this may seem, it’s within the realm of possibility. Samsung has already been toying with this idea for years. The company has dozens of patents for tri-fold display panels in its arsenal. So it’s only a matter of time before we see something like this from Samsung.
The other rendering makes us imagine what it would be like to have a device with a rollable display. It appears to be a cylindrical stick from which an OLED display panel can be rolled out. This is another idea that Samsung has been working on for some time now. The company does have patents for this as well.
It’s not impossible for such a device to be made. LG made an entire TV out of a rollable OLED panel so the same can certainly be achieved on a smaller scale. This will likely be a tablet replacement because it would be absurd carrying a device like this in your pocket.
Samsung already unveiled a couple of budget Galaxy A phones meant to hit the market in early 2021 but both the Galaxy A12 and the Galaxy A02s are limited to LTE connectivity. Meanwhile, Samsung’s most affordable 5G phone of 2021 might be the unannounced Galaxy A32 5G. It first surfaced in the summer and it has now reached our headlines once again after a series of case renders have revealed its alleged design.
Assuming that the renders are accurate, what we’re looking at is a unibody phone rather than a glass-sandwich design. Interestingly enough, the renders suggest that the three rear-facing cameras are not enclosed in a square or rectangular camera bump. Instead, each of the three sensors pass through their own independent, circular cutouts on the back panel.
Then again, these are rough schematics, according to the source, so perhaps the camera module will look different in the final product. Whatever the case may be, previous reports hint at a triple camera setup which should include a 48MP main shooter and possibly a 2MP depth sensor.
Infinity-U display and side-mounted fingerprint scanner
The renders at hand suggest that the Galaxy A32 5G will be equipped with an Infinity-U display, unlike the Galaxy A12 and A02s, both of which follow the Infinity-V design language. In addition, the renders reveal that the Galaxy A32 5G should feature a side-mounted fingerprint scanner.
The volume keys reside on the right edge of the phone and the bottom edge accommodates a USB-C port flanked by a speaker grille and a 3.5mm audio port.
Keep in mind that the renders don’t originate from Samsung but from a third-party case maker who should have the right specs and dimensions but might not know all the fine details pertaining to the Galaxy A32 5G’s design. Therefore, some details seen in these renders might not be accurate, and at the end of the day, the images don’t offer a guarantee that this will be the phone’s final design.
Samsung’s 970 EVO Plus SSD solution has been available at a generous discount for about a week now, but if you’re looking for a discount on the latest 980 PRO SSD then you’re in luck. Amazon has prepared a Black Friday deal for the Samsung 980 PRO SSD and customers can now buy the 500GB model for 20% off.
The offer is valid only for the 500GB variant and it doesn’t apply to the 250GB or 1TB models. Nevertheless, the 500GB variant now costs $119 instead of $149. The one caveat to keep in mind is that the offer is going to end very soon. As of this writing, you have under 17 hours left to take advantage of this deal.
One of the fastest SSD solutions on the market
The Samsung 980 PRO PCIe NVMe Gen4 M.2 SSD was released in September as a high-end storage solution. It’s capable of topping read speeds of up to 6,900 MB/s while Samsung’s cutting-edge thermal control algorithm is handling heat management during extended usage.
The SSD at hand is a great choice for PC users looking for a high-end solution, but in theory it should also be compatible with the latest gaming consoles from Sony and Microsoft, i.e., the PS5 and the Xbox Series X/S.
Keep in mind that the latest Samsung 980 PRO deal is going to end in less than 24 hours so make sure you refer to the link below if you don’t want to miss it.
Getting sued by every patent troll under the capitalist sun kind of goes with the territory when you’re an international conglomerate innovating across dozens of industries. Be that as it may, it would appear Samsung’s tolerance for such low-effort extortion attempts from the so-called “non-practicing entities” has finally reached its tipping point. As the company is now moving on an offensive against two such bad-faith actors, South Korean media reported Thursday.
What’s more, Samsung employed quite an aggressive legal strategy in the creation of its countersuit against one Longhorn IP and an affiliated firm called Trenchant Blade Technologies.
Samsung intends to send a message with this pushback
More specifically, the litigation it instigated in the Northern District of California last Friday has been framed in a way that should set a number of precedents meant to disintegrate a wide variety of patent trolling avenues, including the ones employed by the aforementioned duo. Within the scope of the United States and its common law framework, naturally.
The development was reportedly prompted by a letter from Trenchant in which the company admitted to infringing on Samsung-owned semiconductor tech. While that is just one case out of more than 200 apparent instances of patent-trolling filed against Samsung since 2012 (as documented by KIPRIS), Korean media reports Samsung intends to send a message with this pushback because such bad actors have been multiplying in recent months. Particularly when it comes to chipmaking IP, a highly convoluted field even before accounting for malicious actors trying to abuse a given legal system
The Galaxy Watch 3 in Europe is now getting the same firmware update that was released by Samsung in South Korea a couple of weeks ago. Carrying firmware number R8xxXXU1BTK1, the latest update adds voice guidance in a couple of scenarios, such as when exercising with the smartwatch while having a wireless headset connected. Voice guidance is now also provided for traveled distance and HR data when the Auto Lap feature is enabled.
But perhaps more importantly, the latest Galaxy Watch 3 update improves the system’s overall stability and reliability, all the while improving blood oxygen measurement which is one of the Galaxy Watch 3’s main features and selling points.
The update is now rolling out in Europe
The update at hand debuted in South Korea earlier this month and it is now rolling out in Europe, but of course, if you haven’t received firmware version R8xxXXU1BTK1 in your region yet then sit tight as Samsung should be expanding the update’s availability to more markets soon.
And if you don’t own the Galaxy Watch 3 but you’re considering buying it then this might be the perfect time to do so; not only because the user experience has been improved with the latest update but also due to the fact that Black Friday is upon us and you’re bound to find some attractive deals somewhere.
The Galaxy Watch 3 now benefits from a hefty discount in the USA, while in European countries such as the Netherlands you can now buy it for the starting price of 299 EUR.
Samsung had first unveiled its lifelike artificial humans called NEON earlier this year during CES 2020. Since then, the company has showcased several use cases, including in the banking, news, and retail sectors. Now, the company is hinting that we might get to see NEON on smartphones really soon.
Pranav Mistry, the CEO and President of STAR Labs, has mentioned on Twitter that he is currently using NEON on his smartphone. He also said that the company is testing its artificial humans on smartphones right now, and others can see it before Christmas. So, Samsung may showcase NEON on Galaxy smartphones sometime in December 2020.
There is no clear indication from Samsung if NEONs would one day come pre-installed on Galaxy devices and if they would be available on devices from other brands. NEONs are powered by STAR Labs’ Core R3 and SPECTRA technologies. SPECTRA offers emotions, intelligence, learning, and memory to Core R3, which Samsung claims can pass the Turing test once it is ready.
NEONs feature AI-generated virtual avatars that are indistinguishable from human beings, and each one of them has his/her own unique personality. Samsung’s website mentions that the artificial humans can be customized as per the client’s requirement. They can be used as a service representative, financial advisor, concierge, healthcare provider, or just as a virtual friend.
Are you excited about NEON and using it on your smartphone, or do you think it is just a hype machine? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
Samsung is the leader in the DRAM and NAND flash semiconductor markets, and it has managed to maintain its lead in the previous quarter. According to a new report from market research firm TrendForce, Samsung was the biggest NAND flash brand in the world with a market share of 33.1%, which is higher than its market share from Q2 2020.
During the third quarter of 2020, Samsung’s revenue from its NAND flash business was $4.8 billion, which is a 5.9% quarter-on-quarter improvement. However, the company’s ASP (average selling price) dropped 10% as the overall demand was affected by inventory reduction efforts by its clients. The company managed to offset the price decline by increasing the shipments.
Kioxia, which is Samsung’s biggest rival, had a market share of 21.4% in Q3 2020. Western Digital’s market share was 14.3%, SK Hynix’s market share was 11.3%, Micron’s market share was 10.5%, and Intel’s market share was 7.9%.
Huawei was compelled to buy NAND flash chips for one last time before it was cut off from Samsung following the US sanctions. Even Apple made a huge order of storage chips before the launch of the iPhone 12 series, which benefitted Samsung’s business.
A majority of the company’s revenue still comes from its 92-layer NAND flash chips that come from its V5 line, but the company is stepping up efforts to get more clients for its 128-layer SSDs and UFS chips. The transition from Samsung’s V5 to V6 lines will be more pronounced in 2021. The company will continue to expand its Xi’an manufacturing base and it has plans to manufacture 176-layer and 192-layer chips.
