Currently, Apple Inc. (AAPL, Financial) and Samsung Electronics Co. (SSNLF, Financial)(XKRX:005930, Financial) are the top two players in the smartphone industry. In 2016, Samsung’s image was tarnished due to a serious malfunction that caused its Galaxy Note 7 phones to combust. As a result, the company was forced to kill the Note 7 entirely. Following this event, the company’s South Korean-traded shares plunged over 8%, the biggest daily percentage drop since 2008.
Despite the Note 7 disaster, the stock surged 43% in 2016, which highlights the company’s ability to thrive in difficult times. In addition, the company’s Mobile Communications profit in 2016 was reinforced by robust sales of Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge devices.
Moving ahead, Samsung finally unveiled its latest flagship devices, the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus, yesterday. The standard Galaxy S8 features a 5.8-inch display, while the Plus comes with an astonishing 6.2-inch display. The standard Galaxy S8 also has a curved screen, a feature that was not available in the standard Galaxy S7.
When it comes to comparing high-end smartphone devices, screen size plays a very significant role. Samsung's newest devices feature a larger display than the rivaling iPhone 7 (4.7 inches) and 7 Plus (5.5 inches).
Another new feature is the replacement the physical home button with a pressurized on-screen home button, allowing for a bigger screen and slimmer bezels (higher screen-to-body ratio). It is definitely a massive change for Samsung users.
One thing Samsung users may not like about the new models is the position of the fingerprint scanner, which is on the back of the smartphone, very close to the camera. The company also incorporated facial recognition and a retina scanner to support touch-free unlocking.
The phone's battery, like the previous model, will not be removable. While this may cause concern due to the battery issues with the Note 7, the company claims the battery is safe and will not have the same problems.Ă‚
Apart from this, the company has also introduced a new smart digital assistant called “Bixby,” similar to the iPhone’s Siri, in its latest flagship models that can recognize the context of users' requests. Bixby sounds pretty amazing as it can use the camera to search visually. Although Bixby currently supports only a few native applications, the company has additional plans to upgrade it in the future.
Summing up
Samsung's reputation was damaged in 2016, but 2017 will be a completely different year for the company. Its Galaxy S6 Edge, the first smartphone to feature a curved screen, performed amazingly well when it was released in 2015. After the Galaxy S6, both the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge managed to rank among the world’s most popular smartphones.
The Galaxy S8 models look more attractive than Galaxy S7 models and consist of several major upgrades. As a result, Samsung’s latest flagship device has the potential to help the company repair its brand image after being damaged by the Note 7 fiasco.
Disclosure: No position in the stocks mentioned in this article.
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