Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, two
of the world’s biggest smartphone makers, are gearing up for the next big
battle with Apple as they are likely to unveil new smartphones before the
much-anticipated release of the California-based firm’s iPhone 6 in September.
Rumour
has it that Samsung Electronics plans to roll out a new smartphone - reportedly
named Galaxy S5 F or Galaxy S5 Alpha - sporting a premium metal body, Samsung’s
Exynos 5 Octa chipset, a 6-mm thick frame and a 4.7-inch Super AMOLED.
The new
smartphone received Bluetooth certification in July, which most handset
products are required to attain before their release.
The
latest development came after the Korean tech giant unveilled the Galaxy S5
broadband LTE-A, an upgraded variant of the Galaxy S5, in June.
So far,
Samsung is denying any plans to launch new phones.
“The
new smartphone, known as the ‘card-phone’ for its slenderness, will soon be out
on the Korean market and some foreign markets as well,” said some industry
sources quoted by Korean news outlets.
LG
Electronics, the world’s fourth-largest handset maker by sales, recently flexed
its muscles with the G3, which boasts the world’s first quad-HD display. It is
now planning to release a new variant of the G3, named the LTE-A G3 Cat. 6,
which will be fitted with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 805 chipset supporting the
faster LTE-A service.
Bestshop,
the retail chain run by LG, started receiving preorders from Friday and it is
said the new smartphone will be delivered to customers from the coming Friday
in Korea.
The G3
Cat. 6, however, will not be shipped overseas since the broadband LTE-A network
is currently only available in Korea.
LG
began selling the G3 through the four major mobile network operators in the US,
including AT&T, T mobile and Verizon, earlier this month.
Riding
on a positive market response for its flagship product, LG Electronics’ marquee
product will be able to achieve a quarterly revenue of 5 trillion won ($4.9
billion) in the July-Sept period, according to market analysts.
The
firm is also expected to sell up to 13 million units of the smartphone down the
road, compared to 6.5 million units for the previous smartphone model G2, which
was released in August 2013.
The
latest moves of the Korean firms are considered last-ditch efforts to cushion
the possible impact caused by Apple’s iPhone 6.
The
iPhone 6 is expected to come in two different versions, with 4.7-inch and
5.5-inch displays. The high-end model is said to feature a dual-core 64-bit A8
chip which will be supplied both by Taiwanese chip maker TSMC and Samsung
Electronics.
Apple
has recently been trying to wean itself off Samsung for the production of
smartphone chips.
Starting
in 2007, Samsung was the sole provider of the mobile processor for the US
firm’s iPhone lineups, but Apple decided to diversify its supply chain in
recent years in the wake of patent battles with Samsung.
Amid
the challenges posed by the Korean tech firms, Apple is said to have doubled
the number of initial orders for the upcoming marquee smartphone.
Kim
Young-won
Business & Investment Opportunities
Saigon Business Corporation Pte Ltd (SBC) is incorporated
in Singapore since 1994.
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