Samsung Electronics Co. - the world's largest handset maker has
unveiled a smaller version of its flagship Galaxy SIII smartphones,
which has received huge success worldwide. The latest galaxy range
of smartphones is expected to bring stiff competition for
Apple Inc.'s
(
AAPL
) iPhone 5. However, the price and launch date are yet to be
declared by the company.
Samsung SIII Mini is powered by a dual-core 1 GHz processor
along with 8/16 GB internal storage options and possesses a 5MP
camera instead of an 8MP camera in its bigger siblings. The most
notable feature of the phone is that it has a smaller 4-inch super
AMOLED screen instead of a 4.8 inch screen of its predecessor and
runs on
Google Inc.'s
(
GOOG
) latest Android offering Jelly Bean.
On September 12, this year, Apple, the second largest smartphone
manufacturer in the world, launched iPhone 5 with a 4-inch screen
instead of a 3.5 inch screen in its bigger version. Reducing its
screen size is a strategic decision by Samsung to make it a much
more handy set thereby putting it in direct competition with
Apple's latest offering as these two are the biggest smartphone
players in the U.S.
According to research firm IDC at the end of the second quarter
of 2012, Samsung shipped 50.2 million smartphones and has a market
share of 32.6% as compared to Apple's 26 million shipments with a
market share of 16.9%.
Nokia Corporation
(
NOK
), which is facing market share slide due to increased completion
from iPhone and other Android-based smartphone manufacturers, comes
at a distant third position with a market share of 6.6%.
This is the first real attempt by the South Korean giant to
compete with Apple's iPhone 5 after its much-hyped launch. We
believe that Samsung which has recently lost a crucial patent
battle to Apple could price the SIII Mini attractively it could
really put the tech giant into some discomfort. However, unlike
iPhone 5, SIII Mini doesn't support LTE, which could be a major
downside for the phone as the data hungry customers nowadays expect
fastest network on premium smartphones.
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