Samsung’s growth in the US smartphone market was modest in H1 2021

Samsung is the world’s number one smartphone brand, and the US is one of its most important markets. The South Korean firm’s main competitor in the US is Apple, but OnePlus could also become a threat in the coming years, especially after LG’s exit from the smartphone market.

According to the latest report from market research firm Counterpoint Research, Samsung’s growth in the US smartphone market was modest compared to its rivals Apple, Motorola, and OnePlus. The South Korean firm saw a 17% year-over-year growth in the first half of 2021. According to analysts, Samsung could’ve had better growth if it had the inventory to satisfy the demand. Apparently, the Galaxy A32 5G was a big hit in the US, thanks to T-Mobile’s ‘5G for All’ campaign.

OnePlus emerged as the fastest-growing smartphone brand in the US, with year-over-year growth of a whopping 428%. That’s 4.28x sales in the first of this year compared to the first half of 2020. However, we need to keep it in our minds that OnePlus had a minuscule market share in the US, and growing at 4.28x might still not help the company enough. It could still pose a significant threat to Samsung over the next few years. The OnePlus N100 and the OnePlus N10 5G were the best-selling OnePlus phones in the country. LG’s exit from the smartphone market helped OnePlus.

Motorola showed an 83% year-over-year growth, while Nokia also saw a shift in momentum with 35% growth in the first half of 2021. Apple’s year-over-year growth was 53%, which is impressive, especially considering that it is the market leader in the US smartphone market. It acquires more than half the market share and ships twice as many smartphones as Samsung does. Google’s market share declined 7% when compared to the first half of 2020, while LG’s exit meant that its market share decline was 35%. ZTE’s market share declined 77% in the US.

Senior Analyst Hanish Bhatia said that the current chip shortage problem has tightened the smartphone supply in the US, and Samsung has prioritized shipping high-end smartphones instead of Galaxy A series devices in the country. This move could help the company in increasing its profitability. Samsung will unveil the Galaxy Z Flip 3 and the Galaxy Z Fold 3 on August 11, which could help it improve its growth in the second half of this year.

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Galaxy S21 Ultra long-term review: Is this still an amazing phone?

With Samsung skipping a new Galaxy Note this year, the Galaxy S21 Ultra is going to remain the top-of-the-line flagship from Samsung for the rest of 2021. Well, the top-of-the-line flagship that doesn’t fold, to be more precise. We found the Galaxy S21 Ultra to be quite amazing back when we first tested it, but how has the phone held up after all this time?

That’s exactly the question we set out to answer in our latest video, which you can find below. Spoiler alert: The Galaxy S21 Ultra is still amazing, and if foldables aren’t your thing and you’re looking for a new flagship phone, the Galaxy S21 Ultra should be on your list. Yes, you miss out on features like a microSD slot or proper Samsung Pay support, but if you can live without those, the S21 Ultra will give you no cause for complaint.

Hit the play button below to watch our long-term Galaxy S21 Ultra review, and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel so you don’t miss out on any of our future content!

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Find that under-display camera in these new Galaxy Z Fold 3 renders!

Samsung’s new foldables are two of the worst-kept secrets ever, thanks to constant leaks that are refusing to stop. We saw fresh new Galaxy Z Flip 3 renders earlier this week, and some Galaxy Z Fold 3 renders have now been published by the folks over at WinFuture.

There’s nothing new to extract from these renders, though they are a neat reminder of how the Galaxy Z Fold 3 will have a hidden camera under the foldable screen. It’s not completely hidden in the pictures, but we’re assuming that’s only because a black wallpaper is applied. The camera is likely to be completely invisible in practice, or at least we hope it is, because it would be kinda disappointing otherwise.

Not as disappointing as the low megapixel count of the camera, though. Rumors suggest the under-panel camera is a 4-megapixel unit, and while the lower resolution doesn’t necessarily mean the output will be poor, we are keeping our expectations low until we can test the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and put it through its paces.

Galaxy Z Fold 3 is almost here

For those wondering, there will still be a proper selfie camera on-board the Z Fold 3. A 10MP camera is said to reside on the cover screen, same as what you get on the Galaxy Z Fold 2 and the original Fold. Plus, you could always use the rear cameras for high-quality selfies by unfolding the phone and using the cover screen as a preview, a feature that is quite handy on the Galaxy Fold and Z Fold 2.

The Galaxy Z Fold 3 will bring numerous attractive features to Samsung’s foldable lineup. It will support the S Pen and will be IPX8 rated for water resistance (and so will the Z Flip 3), a first for any foldable on the market, and all of it will come at a lower price than the Z Fold 2.

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Guess the Samsung device quiz 11: See if you can get them all right!

This is a fun new activity that we have put together for our readers. Think you can correctly identify all Samsung devices? Take part in our quiz below and let’s see how many you can get right!

We’ll create a new visual quick every week for you to participate and hopefully learn more about the many Samsung Galaxy devices. Do share the results of the quiz with your friends and see if you can compete against them for higher scores and bragging rights.

Remember, if the quiz isn’t loading properly, please access the non-AMP version of this webpage.

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It may get easier to transfer WhatsApp from iPhone to your Samsung Android phone soon

WhatsApp is one of the world’s most popular cross-platform messaging apps. It’s much loved for its simplicity and useful features like WhatsApp Web. However, it presents a big challenge to those who switch from iOS to Android. There’s no official way to transfer WhatsApp from iPhone to Android.

This leaves users at the mercy of dubious third-party apps. Or they just have to live with the fact that their chats can’t be transferred. Fortunately, it appears that WhatsApp is working on a fix for one of its biggest annoyances.

It could become easier to transfer WhatsApp from iPhone to Android

You can easily transfer a backup of your WhatsApp chats between devices running on the same platform. The entire chat history moves effortlessly from one iPhone to another and one Samsung Galaxy device to another, for example. It’s not possible to move the chat history between different platforms, though.

WABetaInfo has spotted a new “Move chats to Android” feature in WhatsApp for iOS. The feature is currently under development. The screenshots do reveal how this feature is going to work. The process might involve hooking up the iPhone to a PC via the data cable. The user is prompted to keep WhatsApp open and the iPhone unlocked while the transfer takes place.

This transfer WhatsApp from iPhone to Android feature is reportedly going to be available for beta testers soon. That’s when we can expect to get more information about how it actually works. When it ultimately does arrive, this feature is going to make life easier for a lot of people.

Those who rely on WhatsApp heavily for personal and professional communications would not have thought about shifting from iOS to Android if they couldn’t take their chats along. A feature like this would make them more open to the idea.

Thank you @xdadevelopers for your recent discovery about the "Switch to Android" app, to migrate WhatsApp chat history from iOS to Android.
These screenshots show how the process works. This feature is under development and it will be available in a future update. https://t.co/FmZbXi33L2 pic.twitter.com/w7GiCUHSuS

— WABetaInfo (@WABetaInfo) July 28, 2021

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Galaxy S21 likely to get One UI 4.0 beta in September

Although we’ve talked about the One UI 4.0 update for Samsung phones for quite some time, there isn’t a whole lot of information about it outside of leaks and rumours. Given that most of the Android 12 features have existed within Samsung phones for quite some time, One UI 4.0 will offer little more than a cosmetic overhaul.

We now have a rough idea about the One UI 4.0 beta launch date. It was reported earlier today that perhaps the Android 12 One UI 4.0 beta would arrive as soon as next month. However, that may not be the case.

Galaxy S21 One UI beta program may kick off in September

It seems like one community manager at Samsung Korea jumped the gun and leaked some details about the One UI 4.0 beta, only to delete the post shortly after. It is expected to commence in September starting with the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21+ and Galaxy S21 Ultra.

The Galaxy S20 series will get the software sometime in October. However, the aforementioned rollout is for South Korea only. Global variants of the smartphones will probably get it sometime in October.

It is unclear as to when Google plans to launch Android 12 for Pixels, but the launch usually happens in the first week of September. The beta tests will likely persist well through October and November, before rolling out in December.

However, Samsung has done a stellar job of pushing updates to its high-end devices quickly, so a late November rollout is well within the realm of possibilities.

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Samsung’s Intel problem just got worse because of Qualcomm

Samsung has been investing heavily to improve its position in the global foundry market. TSMC is the undisputed leader with a 56% share while Samsung comes in a distant second with an 18% share.

Not too long ago, Intel announced that it’s going to be seriously competing in the foundry space now. That announcement gave Samsung cause for concern. As if that wasn’t enough, Samsung now has to navigate the potential impact of a new deal that Intel and Qualcomm have struck.

Intel wins Qualcomm has its first client

Intel is spending $20 billion to build two brand new chip foundries in the United States. The investment has been announced around the same time as Samsung’s $14 billion initiative to build a new foundry in Austin. TSMC is already building a $12 billion foundry of its own in the US.

Intel announced this week that Qualcomm is one of the first clients that it will make chips for. The new chips will be produced by 2024 based on Intel’s 20A (2nm) process technology. Intel will utilize state-of-the-art technology to manufacture these chips.

This deal could cause problems for Samsung. Qualcomm is one of the world’s largest chipmakers that use third-party fabs for their products. It’s already known to split orders between both Samsung and TSMC. This means that Samsung will now have to compete against one more player in the market.

The new 20A process that Intel has developed is a further advancement of the 3nm process that Samsung might adopt for its new US chip plant. The majority of Samsung’s chip production is currently on the 5nm process.

Intel will source EUV scanners from Netherlands’ ASML Holdings to manufacture these chips. These machines will now be harder to come by as ASML is the world’s only manufacturer of EUV machines. Samsung also sources them from ASML which is only able to produce around 40 units per year.

ASML has pending orders worth €17.5 billion, its largest-ever amount. The demand for these machines is so high that an order placed in 2021 is not going to be delivered before 2026.

Samsung remains committed to increasing its share in the global foundry market. It’s investing tens of billions of dollars every year to achieve this aim. However, the Intel threat is now looming large. With political considerations also casting a shadow on the semiconductor market, it’s really not going to be an easy ride.

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SamMobile Weekly Giveaway: Get a move on with the Galaxy Fit 2!

Time to get active this summer with the Galaxy Fit 2, one of Samsung’s best activity trackers. You now have a chance to get your hands on one for free by participating in this SamMobile Weekly Giveaway.

The Galaxy Fit 2 comes with advanced tracking features in addition to automatic detection for five different activities. It can perform sleep tracking as well. The Galaxy Fit 2 lasts for up to 15 days on a single charge.

Follow the steps highlighted in the widget below to submit your entry for this giveaway. The winner will be announced on August 4, 2021.

Samsug Galaxy Fit 2 international giveaway!

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[Result] SamMobile Weekly Giveaway: Win a pair of the Galaxy SmartTag+!

SamMobile Weekly Giveaway returns this week with Samsung’s new object tracker on offer. The Galaxy SmartTag+ was unveiled earlier this year alongside the Galaxy S21 series.

The SmartTag+ is a premium object tracker that supports UWB (Ultra-Wide Band) technology. That enables the tracker to provide you with more precise location and direction information with added support for Augmented Reality.

Two lucky winners will win a pair of the Galaxy SmartTag+ each. To enter, simply follow the steps mentioned in the widget below. The winner will be announced on July 28, 2021.

Result: Congratulations to Charlie Rydholm and Florea Beghian for winning a Galaxy SmartTag+ Double Pack each! Your prize will be on its way to you soon. For everyone else, there’s always the next weekly giveaway.

2x Galaxy SmartTag+ Double Pack international giveaway!

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Leak reveals Samsung Android 12 One UI 4.0 update changes

Samsung fans are looking forward to the One UI 4.0 beta that will give them a glimpse of Android 12 as well. The company is yet to launch the beta. It appears that the beta may be launched much earlier than expected.

Some information about the next major update has now surfaced. It reveals some of the cosmetic changes that Samsung is going to introduce with One UI 4.0.

Big cosmetic changes claimed for One UI 4.0

Samsung does make some cosmetic changes to every major release of One UI. So it was already expected that visual enhancements will be part and parcel of the One UI 4.0 update. Precisely what these changes will were previously a mystery.

According to a new leak, One UI 4.0 will include changes to the app icons and color scheme. It will apparently be somewhat similar to the vanilla Android 12 look. It’s even claimed that Samsung will adapt the Android 12 Material You UI for its custom One UI skin.

Software optimizations will be made for improved performance with the Snapdragon 888 and Exynos 2100 shipments. Samsung will make minor Knox improvements as well. A major update for the Samsung Notes app is said to be in the pipeline as well. That might be due to a lot more Samsung devices supporting the S Pen now.

Do keep in mind that none of this has been officially confirmed as yet. We’ll only come to know for sure about all of the One UI 4.0 changes once the beta goes live. It has emerged from Samsung’s own official forums today that the Android 12 One UI 4.0 beta could go live in about a month or so.

The beta is going to be limited to select Samsung devices. The company will eventually make the update available to all One UI 4.0 compatible devices once the public release takes place.

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Here’s how much the powerful Galaxy A52s could cost in Europe

Three weeks ago, it was revealed that Samsung has been working on a new Galaxy A52 model. It was reported that the Galaxy A52s could soon be launched in South Korea. It is now being reported that the smartphone would also be launched in European markets, and its pricing has been revealed.

According to a new report from 91Mobiles, the Galaxy A52s will be launched in Europe with a price tag of €449. The device will be available in a 128GB storage variant, but there could be other variants as well. Two days ago, it was confirmed that the Galaxy A52s would come equipped with the flagship-grade Snapdragon 778G processor.

The Snapdragon 778G chipset features four ARM Cortex-A78 CPU cores, four ARM Cortex-A55 CPU cores, and the Adreno 642L GPU. It is a 6nm processor that’s made by TSMC. It can drive Full HD displays at 144Hz and comes with a fully integrated 5G modem that supports both mmWave and sub-6GHz networks. It also features GPS, WI-Fi 6E, and Bluetooth 5.2.

The Galaxy A52s was spotted in Geekbench’s database, revealing that it will run Android 11 out of the box. It had scored 771 points in the single-core CPU test and 2,788 points in the multi-core CPU test. The phone will come in two variants, one with 6GB RAM and the other with 8GB RAM. It could carry the same display, camera, and battery specs as that of the Galaxy A52.

 

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