“Samsung Electronics shares fell over 4 percent after the South Korean electronics giant warned of a tough environment in 2016 amid weak global economic growth and increased competition in its key business units,” Arjun Kharpal reports for CNBC.
“Co-chief executive Kwon Oh-Hyun told employees in the company’s annual New Year’s address that issues such as emerging market financial risks could weigh on global growth. He also said that some of Samsung’s core products – including smartphones, televisions and memory chips – will face intensifying competition,” Kharpal reports. “Kwon said that in order to make sure their customers stick with their products, the company needs to change from a focus on hardware to software. ‘The territories of industries are collapsing,’ Kwon said. ‘We have to compete in a new way that we’ve never experienced in the past… The competition landscape is changing to software and platforms, so we need to build a new system and competence.'”
“Samsung’s operating profit is expected to come in at 6.8 trillion won ($5.7 billion) for the fourth quarter,” Kharpal reports, “8.1 percent lower than the 7.4 trillion won recorded in the third quarter, according to a mean estimate of 36 analysts’ forecasts compiled from a survey by Thomson Reuters.”
Shackled to Android, Samsung has no point of differentiation. Apple will continue to take unit and the rest of the profit share from Samsung in the market segment in which they compete, and the bottom feeders will continue to take unit share as well. Tizen was Samsung’s only real hope, but they couldn’t manage to pull off such a large undertaking or, really, much of anything beyond mass producing inferior iPhone knockoffs. The world now sees: iPhone is the dream. If they have to settle for an Android phone until they can achieve iPhone, they can get the same thing Samsung offers at much lower prices from myriad Chinese Android handset assemblers (who are also knocking off Apple iPhones’ trade dress left and right).
Unfortunately, AAPL is also affected because there are many clueless investors who don’t understand Apple’s success and think that if Samsung is failing then Apple must be failing too.
I’m not sure the s6 edge is “an inferior iPhone knockoff” it looks like no other phone and has more technology than the iPhone. Wireless charging. Fast charging, better camera, curved screen,better looking, better screen, I own Apple and android so I don’t buy into to these blind fanatical Apple posts. They are both good in their own way.
Unfortunately, AAPL is also affected because there are many clueless investors who don’t understand Apple’s success and think that if Samsung is failing then Apple must be failing too.
You nailed it!
(0_o) (o_0) ‘oh noooo!’
The world-wide Depression/Recession is beginning to take its toll. See the Chinese stock market closed today.
It’s like they say: If you have 2 CEO’s, you have no CEO’s..
♬♬ MUSIC ♬♬
to our ears.
Soooo screwed.
I’m not sure the s6 edge is “an inferior iPhone knockoff” it looks like no other phone and has more technology than the iPhone. Wireless charging. Fast charging, better camera, curved screen,better looking, better screen, I own Apple and android so I don’t buy into to these blind fanatical Apple posts. They are both good in their own way.