“Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s biggest maker of smartphones, posted its second straight decline in quarterly profit as stalling demand lowers prices for Galaxy devices and components,” Jungah Lee reports for Bloomberg. “Operating profit fell to 8.4 trillion won ($8 billion) in the three months ended March from 8.8 trillion won a year earlier, the Suwon, South Korea-based company said in a statement today. The result compares with the 8.3 trillion-won average of 29 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.”
“Sales of high-end products are slowing because of market saturation and the debuts of new Apple Inc iPhones, curbing earnings as the company focuses more on lower-priced devices,” Lee reports. “Samsung unveiled the 5.1-inch S5 smartphone with a fingerprint reader in February and plans to make it available outside South Korea starting April 11, as the company seeks to fight back against the iPhone 5s and 5c, released in September.”
“Samsung will release its next large-screen Note device in the second half of this year, Lee Young Hee, executive vice president of the mobile business, said in a Jan. 6 interview. The newest Note may use a three-sided display so messages can be read from an angle,” Lee reports. “The company’s grip on the large-screen market it pioneered with products such as the 5.7-inch Galaxy Note 3 faces new threats from other producers. Apple is developing new iPhone designs including bigger screens, a person familiar with the plans said last year. Such a move may hurt Samsung’s earnings and market share, according to Nomura.”
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