Samsung’s profit jumps 44% in Q1 2021, thanks to strong Galaxy S21 sales

Samsung Electronics has announced its earnings guidance for Q1 2021, and it is all good news for the company. The South Korean firm said that its profit will see a considerable jump due to strong sales of its latest flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S21. The company’s semiconductor division saw a decline in profits, though.

The consolidated sales for Q1 2021 are around KRW 65 trillion (around $58 billion), while consolidated operating profit is around KRW 9.3 trillion (around $8.3 billion). That’s a 17.48% jump in sales and a 44.19% jump in operating profit compared to Q1 2020. These are not the final numbers, though, and the company will post the final figures at the end of this month.

Samsung’s impressive growth was led by its mobile division. It is being reported that the sales of the Galaxy S21 were strong and it also helped that the company launched its Galaxy S series flagship phones a couple of months earlier than usual. Analysts expect the mobile division to have contributed more than KRW 4 trillion (around $3.5 billion) in operating income. The TV and home appliances division is also said to have done pretty well in Q1 2021 due to pent-up demand.

Despite record-high demand for semiconductor chips, Samsung’s semiconductor division posted its lowest profits in years. It is being reported that the profitability was affected due to high running costs of the new 5nm EUV process and the cost of new facilities. Even the recent power outage at Samsung’s Austin chip plant hurt the company. The prices of memory chips have improved, so the division is expected to lead the profits in the near future.

In Korean Won	Q1 2020	Q4 2020	Q1 2021
Sales	55.33	61.55	65
Operating Profit	6.45	9.05	9.3

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Galaxy Z Fold 3 display size(s) just leaked and… that’s it?

Be careful what you wish for: we finally got our hands on some fresh industry insight concerning the Galaxy Z Fold 3 – and things aren’t looking all that exciting. Primarily on account of the fact that Samsung seems to be downscaling the outward display by quite a bit compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 2.

While last year’s flagship offered a 6.2-inch display, its successor is now said to be sporting a 5.4-inch Super AMOLED panel. Its slim aspect ratio (25:9) and resolution (2,260 x 816) are both unchanged compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 2, as per the same source.

Is this the price of the S Pen?

Now, a 120Hz upgrade to the front-facing display would go a long way toward making up for this reduction in screen real estate. And while that’s more or less what several other sources have been claiming since late 2020, the industry-wide Galaxy Z Fold 3 coverage remains less than consistent, to put it mildly. For starters, it still remains to be seen if the S Pen is to be blamed for this largely flat generational upgrade, size-wise.

Given how this is the first tidbit of information on the Galaxy Z Fold 3 to emerge in nearly a month, its implications make for a rather underwhelming report. Being able to pocket tablet-like display surfaces has been one of the main allures of foldable smartphones since way before Samsung managed to commercialize them. But today’s leak suggests the company’s already pulling the brakes on the display expansion.

That isn’t to say a foldable smartphone must be humongous to compete; the Galaxy Z Flip hardly struggled to impress across both of its 2020 iterations. But it would seem that cutting costs is Samsung’s number one priority right now. We can only hope this strategy also leads to meaningful price decreases across the foldable niche.

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Samsung monthly patches: April 2021 bulletin isn’t joking around

Samsung today shared the full security bulletin detailing the Android patch level dated April 1st, 2021. The said software bundle has been rolling out to more than a dozen of smartphones and tablets for over a week by now.

Whereas the March update was largely geared toward a single chipset, this month’s firmware is targeting a wider array of devices and types of vulnerabilities. And that’s putting it mildly, because Samsung’s software teams have been quite busy over the past few weeks, based on the volume of vulnerabilities the April 2021 patch managed to address.

Can Google and Samsung maintain this tempo?

Not accounting for Google’s involvement, Samsung resolved 21 exposures and vulnerabilities spanning a multitude of potential attack vectors aimed at its devices. From encryption algorithm oversights to unexpected behaviors stemming from specific execution policies being configured in a particularly unfortunate way. Either way, the April 2021 security update isn’t kidding around when it comes to the sheer volume of solutions it incorporates.

Staying true to that sentiment are Google’s own contributions, around 30 of which have been labeled as high-severity items, with an additional five carrying the topmost “Critical” designation. From a pure output standpoint, it seems unlikely that Samsung and Google will manage to maintain this level of tempo in the coming months. But it’s not like we’ve never been positively surprised by Samsung’s dedication to bettering its software support practices, so let’s see what next month will bring.

As for this spring release, the full security patch bulletin detailing the OTA implementation is freely available from SamsungMobile.com, as per usual. And if you own a Galaxy device released within the last two years, chances are you’re either running the newest upgrade already or are just about to.

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Galaxy A51 5G catches up with the 4G model and gets One UI 3.1 update

As many of you probably know by now, Samsung began updating the Galaxy A51 4G in Russia to One UI 3.1 at the end of March. The company has now turned its attention to the Galaxy A51 5G model in South Korea where the Android 11-based One UI 3.1 firmware is presently rolling out over the air.

The update is reportedly being released only in South Korea but Galaxy A51 5G owners elsewhere will probably have an opportunity to acquire One UI 3.1 sooner rather than later. Availability will expand gradually but the rate of expansion is unpredictable. Nevertheless, if the initial rollout goes on without a hitch then other markets should join soon.

Galaxy A51 5G owners in South Korea can identify the latest One UI 3.1-based update by firmware version A516NKSU3CUC8. Anyone can attempt to trigger the update by opening the Settings app on the Galaxy A51 5G, accessing Software update and tapping Download and install.

As usual, SamMobile readers can keep an eye on our firmware archive where new updates are being added on a regular basis. Once the Galaxy A51 5G receives One UI 3.1 in other markets outside of South Korea, you can refer to our firmware archive, search for your model number and country, and download the firmware to install it manually on your phone using a Windows PC.

Thanks for the tip, Amin!

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The Galaxy Chromebook 2 got discounted one month after it went on sale

It’s only been a little over a month since the Galaxy Chromebook 2 was released in the USA and Samsung is now offering the lightweight notebook at a discount. Samsung’s latest deal drops $100 off the full retail price for both variants and color options. The deal is available at Samsung’s online store in the USA as well as Best Buy.

With the latest discount in tow, the Galaxy Chromebook 2 equipped with an Intel Celeron CPU now costs $449 instead of $549. The other variant powered by an Intel Core i3 processor is now available for $599, down from $699. Of course, trade-in deals are also available. They offer an opportunity to lower the entry-level price of the Galaxy Chromebook 2 all the way down to $179.

Galaxy Chromebook 2 quick recap

The Galaxy Chromebook 2 is a low-cost solution and it’s equipped with low-cost chipsets, but the Celeron 5205U model is even cheaper as the CPU is paired with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of built-in storage. For an extra $150, the Intel Core I3 10110U model offers 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.

This is Samsung’s, and indeed the world’s first Chromebook to have a QLED display. It has a 13.3-inch diagonal and a FHD+ resolution. The display is connected via a 360-degree hinge.

Other specs include dual 5W speakers, a 720p webcam, a backlit keyboard, a microSD card slot, 2x USB-C ports, as well as Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity. The components are powered by a 45.5WHr battery that promises around 13 hours of usage on a single charge. Refer the links below if you want to check the latest deal.

• Buy the Galaxy Chromebook 2 at Samsung
• Buy the Galaxy Chromebook 2 at Best Buy

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Galaxy A71 starts receiving April 2021 security update

The Galaxy A71 just became part of the April 2021 security update rollout. Select variants of the device started receiving the new patch mere hours ago. We tracked down its first iteration – build version A715FZHU4BUC1 – all the way to Hong Kong. And while it hasn’t yet expanded to additional countries, expect that to happen any day now.

The LTE models were given the nod ahead of the Galaxy A71 5G siblings this time around and are the first members of this mid-range lineup to have began receiving the new software.

Is the Galaxy A71 still serving you as well as it did in the beginning?

A similar pattern has been observable on a monthly basis for a while now, going back to at least late 2020. So, expect the Galaxy A71 5G to join the fold by mid-April. And if you’d like to try speeding up the actual waiting period start by attempting a manual installation of today’s OTA package. Just go to Settings, tap Software update, and follow through with the Download and install option if tapping it yields any results.

Failing that, you can either flash a set of full system images containing the new security patch level – dated April 1st – to a compatible Galaxy A71, or just take it easy and let the update come to you.

All of this is happening not long after Samsung upgraded its 2020 value range to Android 11, so many Galaxy A71 owners should still find the experience pretty fresh, regardless. Speaking of which, it would appear some extra bells and whistles could be part of this month’s download, as well, going by the aforementioned name of the package.

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Galaxy S9 dropped from monthly to quarterly update schedule

Samsung had launched the Galaxy S9 and the Galaxy S9+ in February 2018 with Android 8 on board. The phones have received two major Android OS updates (Android 9 and Android 10) and monthly security updates over the past three years. However, going forward, the Galaxy S9 series won’t receive monthly security updates.

The Galaxy S9 and the Galaxy S9+ would now get one security update every three months. The change in the update schedule was spotted via Samsung’s dedicated webpage for software updates. The two smartphones have now joined the likes of the Galaxy Note 8, Galaxy S8 series, and various other Galaxy A and Galaxy M series smartphones in terms of security update frequency.

The two smartphones had recently received the April 2021 security patch. They will likely receive their next security update in July or August 2021 and they will be moved to a biannual update schedule next year.

Samsung has improved a lot in terms of software updates over the past couple of years. It has promised three major Android OS updates to all its high-end devices and some mid-range phones. The company has also promised four years of security updates for most of its smartphones and tablets. More often than not, the company releases security updates earlier than Google does for Pixel devices.

Galaxy S9

• Model: SM-G960F
• Dimensions: Bar: 147.7 x 68.7 x 8.5 mm
  
• Display: 5.8 inch / 147.32 mm Super AMOLED Display
• CPU: Exynos 9810
• Camera: 12MP

More specifications

Galaxy S9+

• Model: SM-G965F
• Dimensions: Bar: 158.1 x 73.8 x 8.5 mm
  
• Display: 6.2 inch / 157.48 mm Super AMOLED Display
• CPU: Exynos 9810
• Camera: 12MP

More specifications

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Galaxy S20 FE 4G could soon switch from Exynos 990 to Snapdragon 865+

The Galaxy S20 FE comes in two variants: Galaxy S20 FE (4G) with the Exynos 990 processor and Galaxy S20 FE 5G with the Snapdragon 865 processor. A few days ago, a new variant of the Galaxy S20 FE appeared with model number SM-G780G, and we confirmed that it is an LTE variant with the Snapdragon 865 processor. It is now being reported that Samsung could end the production of the Exynos 990-equipped Galaxy S20 FE.

According to a recent tweet from leakster Ice Universe (@UniverseIce), Samsung will end the production of the Exynos 990 variant of the Galaxy S20 FE and launch a Snapdragon 865+ version. It is still not clear if Samsung would launch the Snapdragon 865+ variant in all the markets where it is selling the Galaxy S20 FE. For example, it might not make sense for the company to launch the Snapdragon 865+ version where it is already selling the Galaxy S20 FE 5G.

Samsung faced a lot of criticism last year due to the Exynos 990’s poor performance, overheating, and battery life issues. The Exynos 990-equipped Galaxy S20 series smartphones showcased slower performance and shorter battery life than the Snapdragon 865-equipped variants. Many consumers then started demanding Samsung to launch the Snapdragon version of the Galaxy S20 FE, and it looks like the company has finally heard their prayers.

We can expect it to feature the same 6.5-inch 120Hz Super AMOLED Infinity-O display as that of the regular Galaxy S20 FE. Other specs could include 6GB/8GB RAM, 128GB/256GB internal storage, a microSD card slot, a 32MP selfie camera, a 12MP+12MP+12MP rear-facing camera, stereo speakers, IP68 rating, an in-display fingerprint reader, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0, USB Type-C port, and a 4,500mAh battery.

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