In a bid to correct its position as the under-fire market leader, Samsung looks to be finally planning a dramatic shift in its smartphone strategy for 2015. The company plans to reduce the amount of devices to be released next year anywhere from a quarter to 30%.
For years, Samsung employed what many called the kitchen sink approach: sell smartphones of basically every size and at every price point, and you’re bound to get a few models that sell well. What it didn’t do was to then focus on improving those devices in newer iterations, resulting in a market spam of Samsung devices that eventually diluted its name. And then came the Chinese smartphone makers. Already agile from years of intense competition within the Great Wall, these companies – Xiaomi in particular – iterate quickly and delivered competitive products at stunningly low prices.
As a result, Samsung posted its first-ever drop in quarterly profit in three years.
Now, the South Korean giants will look to streamline its smartphone portfolio for next year, and it has been rumoured that the company will actually take the fight to Xiaomi. According to the Wall Street Journal, Samsung will focus more on the low- to mid-range market, where Xiaomi in particular has had tremendous success. It isn’t clear which smartphones will be culled from next year, but it is unlikely that the flagship Galaxy S and Galaxy Note series will be much affected by this change.
Flagship products such as the Galaxy Note series is unlikely to be affected
Another move Samsung will reportedly take is to increase the amount of shared components across different models, which should reduce manufacturing costs. Though it looks like a practical move, it doesn’t look like this move will reduce brand dilution that the company currently faces.
Regardless, it looks like Samsung is preparing for war in 2015 – and the outcome should be one that will really be exciting, as the winners will be the consumers.
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