Samsung's New Metal Phones in China To Take on Xiaomi

BENGALURU: Samsung Electronics flaunts its two new mid-tier handsets which were recently released with a premium design as it prepares to fight back its low-priced Chinese rivals and make a comeback with the title as the top brand in the Smartphone market, reports Indiatimes.

Galaxy A3 and A5 are Samsung's first ever devices to feature complete metal bodies and are its thinnest Smartphones so far. They are comparable to the top-of-the-line Galaxy S5, but with a lower screen resolution.

Samsung is set to sell the two devices in China in November and also in some other select markets.

This announcement, along with the hopes for an earnings recovery and bigger dividends, pushed Samsung's shares to a two-month high in Seoul in midday trade.

This push in shares comes as good news to Samsung, a day after it reported its worst quarterly operating profit in past three years. Its handset division earnings slumped to a record low of 73.9 percent from a year earlier.

Senior Vice President Kim Hyun-Joon said, "For our mid to low-end Smartphones we will enhance product competitiveness by differentiating our displays and materials as well as upgrading camera functionality."

According to Strategy Analytics, the world's Smartphone leader is recuperating as it lost market share in annual terms for the third straight quarter in July-September.

Apple's iPhones moved past Samsung in the premium segment and Chinese rivals like Lenovo and Xiaomi undercut the South Korean giant at the bottom end.

Analysts said that the company will likely accept lower margins going forward to preserve market share and growth volume. However it is very unlikely that it will recover until mid-2015 or a little beyond that.

"A lineup change is a costly process, just like re-doing your home interior design," said KTB Investment analyst Jin Sung-hye.

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