Samsung with modest expectations for the Galaxy S5 sales, to refocus on mid-range and tablets next year
Samsung has allegedly done a next year forecast for its mobile business, says a Korean publication, where it pegs the total expected phone sales at 360 million units. This is a huge number and a 20% increase year-on-year, but still the slowest growth since the beginning of the smartphone boom.
The lower expectations have apparently been derived from the performance of the Galaxy S4, which still sells like hot cakes, but not as much as Samsung expected in its yearly predictions in the previous forecasting season.
Therefore Samsung has allegedly trimmed its sales figures for its next year flagship - the Galaxy S5 - which it now doesn't expect to sell in quantities that will beat the increase from the Galaxy S III to the S4 numbers. If the rumors for a 64-bit Exynos processor in a metallic chassis, 4 GB of RAM and OIS camera pan out, the S5 might beat a modest forecast, but for now Samsung is eating humble pie, it seems.
In fact, Samsung is planning to focus more on low- to mid-range handsets, claims the source, as well as tablets, where it smells much more opportunity for growth, and expects just 35% of its phones sold next year to be "premium models".
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