₦airaland Forum

Samsung is being attacked from two different
angles, and the results aren't pretty. The
company warned investors that a downturn in
sales of its smartphones and tablets wreaked
havoc on its quarterly earnings, which it expects
to be about 60% lower than the year-ago
period. Samsung is prepared to record its worst
quarterly profit since the first half of 2011 and is
on track for an earnings drop for the fourth
quarter in a row. Some believe the company's
best days are behind it.
Samsung said sales of its flagship device, the
Galaxy S5, were softer than expected. Further, it
saw margins shrink due to lower average selling
prices and high marketing costs. The company
has a tepid outlook on the important fourth
quarter but predicts the Note 4 smartphone,
which goes on sale in the US next week, will
help lift its numbers a bit.
The company is facing pressure on two fronts.
First, Apple's new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus arrived at
the top of the market last month and have so
far sold in big numbers: 10 million devices in
just the first weekend.
Second, while Apple's resurgence is impacting
sales of Samsung's high-end devices, Chinese
vendors are eating into sales of the company's
low-end devices in the world's largest market
for mobile phones. Companies such as ZTE,
Meizu, and Xiaomi have churned out
inexpensive, high-quality handsets that Chinese
consumers are snapping up in droves.
[Google Glass may find a niche in the
workplace, but it's striking out with
consumers. Read Google Glass And
Consumers: Nothing To See Here
.]
Aleksi Aaltonen, assistant professor of
information systems at Warwick Business
School, told us:
A large part of the growth in smartphones
comes in countries where [ZTE, Meizu, and
Xiaomi] are strong. The change in the market
dynamics has been coming for a few years. It is
important to understand that smartphones have
matured as a technology remarkably quickly. A
few years ago, it was an engineering marvel to
put together a fairly usable smartphone,
whereas today it is common practice.
Most consumers don’t really need more
megapixels and gimmicky features. The screen
size has reached its usable limits. Therefore it
will require more marketing to convince people
to buy a new smartphone apart from replacing
a broken one. This means that the competitive
advantage from being able to manufacture
relatively affordable, yet very capable
smartphones, is vanishing.
Samsung didn't spell out how much it has spent
on marketing over the last few months, but you
can be sure it was a significant amount. The
company has seemingly spared no expense to
poke fun of Apple with TV commercials,
billboards, and guerrilla marketing campaigns at
places such as JFK International Airport.
Sales of smartphones account for approximately
60% of Samsung's overall revenue. With low
sales and high marketing costs, the company is
relying on its other business units, such as
memory chips, to pick up the slack. Earlier this
week, Samsung announced plans to invest $
14.7 billion in a manufacturing facility for mobile
chips. The investment won't help its fourth-
quarter numbers but may help down the line.
At this point, it looks as if Samsung needs all the
help it can get.
Considering how prevalent third-party
attacks are, we need to ask hard questions
about how partners and suppliers are
safeguarding systems and data. In the
Partners' Role In Perimeter Security report,
we'll discuss concrete strategies such as
setting standards that third-party
providers must meet to keep getting your
business, conducting in-depth risk
assessments -- and ensuring that your
network has controls in place to protect
data in case these defenses fail. (Free
registration required.)

Link source: www.informationweek.com/mobile/mobile-business/samsung-smartphone-sales-take-a-beating/d/d-id/1316422?_mc=RSS_IWK_EDT

Tbillz:
Samsung is being attacked from two different
angles, and the results aren't pretty. The
company warned investors that a downturn in
sales of its smartphones and tablets wreaked
havoc on its quarterly earnings, which it expects
to be about 60% lower than the year-ago
period. Samsung is prepared to record its worst
quarterly profit since the first half of 2011 and is
on track for an earnings drop for the fourth
quarter in a row. Some believe the company's
best days are behind it.
Samsung said sales of its flagship device, the
Galaxy S5, were softer than expected. Further, it
saw margins shrink due to lower average selling
prices and high marketing costs. The company
has a tepid outlook on the important fourth
quarter but predicts the Note 4 smartphone,
which goes on sale in the US next week, will
help lift its numbers a bit.
The company is facing pressure on two fronts.
First, Apple's new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus arrived at
the top of the market last month and have so
far sold in big numbers: 10 million devices in
just the first weekend.
Second, while Apple's resurgence is impacting
sales of Samsung's high-end devices, Chinese
vendors are eating into sales of the company's
low-end devices in the world's largest market
for mobile phones. Companies such as ZTE,
Meizu, and Xiaomi have churned out
inexpensive, high-quality handsets that Chinese
consumers are snapping up in droves.
[Google Glass may find a niche in the
workplace, but it's striking out with
consumers. Read Google Glass And
Consumers: Nothing To See Here
.]
Aleksi Aaltonen, assistant professor of
information systems at Warwick Business
School, told us:
A large part of the growth in smartphones
comes in countries where [ZTE, Meizu, and
Xiaomi] are strong. The change in the market
dynamics has been coming for a few years. It is
important to understand that smartphones have
matured as a technology remarkably quickly. A
few years ago, it was an engineering marvel to
put together a fairly usable smartphone,
whereas today it is common practice.
Most consumers don’t really need more
megapixels and gimmicky features. The screen
size has reached its usable limits. Therefore it
will require more marketing to convince people
to buy a new smartphone apart from replacing
a broken one. This means that the competitive
advantage from being able to manufacture
relatively affordable, yet very capable
smartphones, is vanishing.
Samsung didn't spell out how much it has spent
on marketing over the last few months, but you
can be sure it was a significant amount. The
company has seemingly spared no expense to
poke fun of Apple with TV commercials,
billboards, and guerrilla marketing campaigns at
places such as JFK International Airport.
Sales of smartphones account for approximately
60% of Samsung's overall revenue. With low
sales and high marketing costs, the company is
relying on its other business units, such as
memory chips, to pick up the slack. Earlier this
week, Samsung announced plans to invest $
14.7 billion in a manufacturing facility for mobile
chips. The investment won't help its fourth-
quarter numbers but may help down the line.
At this point, it looks as if Samsung needs all the
help it can get.
Considering how prevalent third-party
attacks are, we need to ask hard questions
about how partners and suppliers are
safeguarding systems and data. In the
Partners' Role In Perimeter Security report,
we'll discuss concrete strategies such as
setting standards that third-party
providers must meet to keep getting your
business, conducting in-depth risk
assessments -- and ensuring that your
network has controls in place to protect
data in case these defenses fail. (Free
registration required.)

Link source: www.informationweek.com/mobile/mobile-business/samsung-smartphone-sales-take-a-beating/d/d-id/1316422?_mc=RSS_IWK_EDT

the product life cycle at work then

asuustrike1:
the product life cycle at work then

True.....