NEW YORK/SEOUL: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd unveiled a new Galaxy Note phablet and a larger version of its curved-screen S6 edge smartphone yesterday, marking a fresh bid by the South Korean tech giant to revive momentum in its handset business.
Samsung is the world’s top smartphone maker but its market share fell in the second quarter when its critically acclaimed S6 models launched, squeezed by Apple Inc’s upscale iPhones and cheaper offerings from Chinese rivals such as Huawei Technologies Co Ltd.
The manufacturer responded with S6 price cuts and bringing forward the Note unveiling from its usual early September spot, ahead of the latest iPhone launch widely expected in September.
Samsung has made several hardware changes for the new phablets — the informal name for larger screen phones approaching the size of a tablet — including a faster processor for the Galaxy Note 5 and increasing the screen size of the S6 edge+ to 5.7 inches from 5.1 inches on the S6 edge.
Both are powered by Samsung’s Exynos chips, a person familiar with the matter said. Samsung dropped Qualcomm Inc chips that powered most of its previous handsets, opting to use its own processors for the S6 models.
Reuters
