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Services. All Rights Reserved.
Docid: 00021346
Publication Date: 2101
Report Type: PRODUCT
Preview
Samsung is not only a leader in the smartphone market but a top contender in
the overall mobile device market. The company may not have been
the first entrant into the smartphone or tablet game, nor has it always
been the most well known, but its steady progress, increasing popularity,
and savvy exploitation of the Android operating system have made it one of the
top smartphone makers on the planet. This report profiles the company’s history marketing mobile
devices, its most popular
current models, and its mobile strategy going forward.
Name: Samsung Headquarters
2 floor, 46 White Street,
New York, NY 10013
(212) 675-1312 Web:http://www.samsung.com/ Type of Vendor: Consumer electronics and PCs Founded: 1938 Service Areas: Global Stock Symbol: 005930 (KOSPI)
Although Samsung did offer smartphones and "Media Phones" prior to
the release of the Android operating system, it was not until the launch
of Google’s mobile OS that the company – and the industry at large – began
producing handsets that would be recognizable as smartphones by today’s
consumers. This began in earnest with the release of the original Samsung Galaxy
S. Following the success of this device, Samsung would go on to grow the Galaxy
name into an entire line of Android-based smartphones and tablets, with numerous
entries on all major US carriers and many others around the world. For all this diversification, the company’s primary offering – and its recurring flagship in
the "mainstream" smartphone category – remains the Galaxy S line. There are, however, other handsets that played an important
role in getting Samsung where it is today. With all this taken into account,
this section focuses on Samsung’s Galaxy S line, its Galaxy Note smartphone
line, and its Google-branded Android offerings.
Display – 4-inch Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 800×480 at
233 PPI
Camera – 5 MP rear camera capable of 720p video recording
Connectivity – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GSM/UMTS, FM radio, 3G (some
models)
Power – 1500 mAh lithium-ion polymer battery
Dimensions and Weight – 122x64x10 mm or 4.82×2.53×0.39 inches
with a weight of 4.2 oz.
Description and Reception – The original Galaxy S
launched as a relative unknown. Although Samsung had previously released the
Galaxy, that device was barely worthy of the smartphone classification and
is hardly remember today. Thankfully for Samsung, the Galaxy S far surpassed
its predecessor, earning glowing early reviews, selling very well, and
putting Samsung on the map as one of the major players in the Android game.
In a practice that would become tradition for the Galaxy S line, Samsung
released the device with a variety of "secondary" names depending on which
carrier it was made for. These included the T-Mobile Vibrant, the AT&T
Captivate, the Sprint Epic, and the Verizon Fascinate. In addition to the
differences in designation, each device also had slightly different
capabilities. The Sprint version, for example, included a slide out keyboard
tray, while the T-Mobile variant did not support a 3G network, which
T-Mobile lacked across most of its coverage area at the time.
Dimensions and Weight – 124x63x11 mm or 4.9×2.5×0.43 inches
with a weight of 4.9 oz.
Description and Reception – Although sales of the Nexus S
would never match those of the Galaxy S II, let alone the Galaxy S III, the
device did serve as an important milestone for Samsung. First, it showed that
Google itself trusted the company’s capabilities in making an Android handset
that it would stake its own reputation on. Second, it showed that Samsung
could indeed make an impressive, high-end Android handset that could compete
with HTC and Motorola’s best offerings. The company parlayed this experience
into its own design philosophies, a move that would eventually result in the
runaway success of the Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note line.
Dimensions and Weight – 125x66x9 mm or 4.9×2.6×0.3 inches
with a weight of 4.1 oz.
Description and Reception – Where the original Galaxy S
made a spot for Samsung in the Android device market, the Galaxy S II gave
the company a shot at being the market leader. The device’s
improved screen, both front- and rear-facing cameras, and enhanced
performance combined to make a handset that many users are still very
satisfied with to this day. Ironically, the device’s sleek new design
would prove both a boon and a curse for Samsung. A boon in that it made
the device aesthetically pleasing and provided a premium feel to
the handset; a curse in that Apple would later use the Galaxy S II’s
design as a major piece of evidence in its never-ending litigation with
Samsung. The rectangular design, 4 app launcher, and absence of all hardware
buttons besides a home button are factors that bear a resemblance to Apple’s
design, enough so that various courts around the world have found that
Samsung infringed on Apple’s intellectual property. Still, as a standalone
device, the Galaxy S II showed that Samsung was more than capable of beating
the former big boys of the Android market, including Motorola and HTC.
Power – 1,750 mAh (HSPA+ version) | 1,850 mAh (LTE
version)
Android Launch Version – 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
Dimensions and Weight – 136x68x9 mm or 5.3×2.7×0.35 inches
with a weight of 4.8 oz.
description and Reception – The Galaxy Nexus was the model that
ushered Android into its modern era. The device launched as the first
handset anywhere with Android 4.0 on board, and remained the only device to
carry the operating system in the US for more than a month. The smartphone’s performance,
aesthetics, and capabilities were immediately obvious to reviewers and
consumers alike, as was the handset’s near "retina-quality" screen,
which looked
just as good as the iPhone 4 or 4S. On top of this, its graphical processing power let it display
the same level of advanced graphics as Apple’s latter model. Despite
launching with Verizon Wireless, the Galaxy Nexus still did not show remarkable sales.
It was the best selling Google device to date, but nowhere near as
successful as Samsung’s own Galaxy S II. Since Samsung was already well on
its way to becoming the most popular Android smartphone maker in the world
by the time the Galaxy Nexus reached market, the ultimate importance of this
device for the company was somewhat negligible.
Description and Reception – The Galaxy Note was launched as a smartphone/tablet hybrid, a
form factor that quickly came to be known as a "phablet" around the
blogosphere. Despite other companies having tried to integrate smartphone
functionality into a small scale tablet device, none experienced much
success. It was for this reason that the Galaxy Note surprised many pundits and reviewers
with its strong sales and positive public reaction. In fact, the original
Galaxy Note reached 10 million units sold in just 9 months. While this
wouldn’t match
the massive sales the GS III would later experience, it by far surpassed even the
most optimistic estimates for this device. Just why the Galaxy Note
succeeded where others failed is a matter for debate. Some believe the gradual
and consistent growth in Android handset sizes over the previous two years had prepared the public for the idea of a 5-plus inch screen; others
simply believe Samsung managed to find just the right size to appeal to
consumers that thought previous "phablets" were either too small to
be an effective tablet or too large to be an effective smartphone. In any
case, this device, with a massive screen and its included stylus, seems like it was
designed specifically to break every aspect of Apple’s design philosophy. But it did so while selling
like hotcakes.
Dimensions and Weight – 137x70x9 mm or 5.4×2.8×0.34 inches
with a weight of 4.1 oz.
Description and Reception – The Galaxy S III may have been the company’s greatest achievement. Not only did the
device match or exceed the hardware statistics of the iPhone 4S (Apple’s
contemporary offering) in all categories, it exceeded the performance of
nearly any other Android device available at its launch, with the only
possible exception being the HTC One X. These facts combined to make the
handset Samsung’s single best selling phone of all time to that point, with more than 30
million units being sold in just five months.1 Not only did this
provide Samsung with massive profits, but it also offered the company the ability to brag that, even if it was only for one month, its
phone outsold the current iPhone – a feat unmatched since before the
iPhone 4’s launch.2 Sales of the Galaxy S III remained strong
for the entire year leading up to the introduction of its successor, the
Galaxy S 4.
Description and Reception – Apparently, Samsung’s engineers
subscribe to the philosophy that "bigger is better," because the second
generation of the Galaxy Note has an even larger screen than its predecessor. On
release, the Galaxy Note II experienced brisk sales and widespread adoption. Although most
original Galaxy Note owners were locked into the contracts that
subsidized their original purchase, the second gen device gathered new
converts to the phablet form factor from former iPhone and Android owners alike.
Updates to the model included double the RAM, a larger battery, and a
"more ergonomic" version of Samsung’s S Pen stylus. However, Samsung
made a seemingly odd decision to lower the horizontal resolution of the screen
from 800 to 720 in this generation, dropping the overall PPI of the display to
267, significantly lower than the iPhone 5 or Samsung’s own Galaxy S
III. Nonetheless, Note owners seemed to be more concerned with screen real
estate than resolution, which the Note II provided plenty of.
Description and Reception – Samsung’s Galaxy S 4 had some
very large shoes to fill when it launched. Although the company had some success
prior to the Galaxy S III, that was truly the jumping off point for Samsung’s
reign as the king of all Android handset makers. Following up on that act, the
company seemingly struggled to come up with something that would wow consumers
again. Reviewers did largely praise the Galaxy S 4 for its impressive internal
components as well as its enhanced display and improved performance. However,
the smartphone was called out for being too iterative. It provided no real
differentiation from its predecessor aside from a more powerful CPU and more
attractive screen. Given the fact that the GS3 still had more than enough juice
to keep even power users happy at the time of the GS4’s release, it seemed like
a weak draw to convince users to spend their precious upgrades on a device that
hadn’t changed nearly as much as people had been hoping for. Despite all this
negativity, the GS4 still had no trouble in the sales department, with the
device selling more than 40 million units in its first six months on the market.
Description and Reception – The Galaxy Note 3 launched as
the largest entry yet in Samsung’s "other" smartphone line. Although
by this time the phablet form factor had proven itself a worthy
option, Samsung continued to push the envelope in an attempt to find the
largest device that consumers were still willing to think of as a phone, and not
simply as a tablet capable of making phone calls. The internal components of the
Galaxy Note 3 were the most impressive released by Samsung to that point, with
the device being more than capable of competing with dedicated tablets thanks
to its Snapdragon 800 CPU and 3GB of RAM. As has become the norm, the Galaxy
Note 3 did very well, although not quite as well as its more mainstream
cousin, the Galaxy S 4.
Description and Reception – The Galaxy S5 was once again a
huge success for Samsung, despite the company having done little with the
update to shake the idea that its flagship line had become very iterative.
Early sales once again beat its predecessors by a comfortable margin and made
the device into Samsung’s best selling handset of all time. Reviewers
largely praised the unit for its performance and unusually high level of water
and dust resistance for a non-ruggedized phone. However, Samsung’s continued
use of its TouchWiz Android overlay did cause some early issues with
performance and stability, a problem that was only partially ameliorated by
Samsung’s subsequent efforts to correct them. However, minor glitches of this
type have, unfortunately, become par for the course in nearly all models of
Android smartphones and tablets that use a "skinned" version of the
operating system, and are in no way limited only to Samsung’s units.
Description and Reception – The Galaxy Note 4 launched into
a market that was much more friendly to the phablet-sized smartphone than any of its
predecessors. At this point, even non-phablet handsets had reached screen
sizes that would have been considered massive just a few years earlier. This
meant that the Note 4 had a much easier time convincing consumers that they
really did need a screen that large, and it showed in the device’s early and
widespread sellouts. Initial reviews of the device praised its massive, bright,
and crisp display, as well as several new innovations added to the S-Pen stylus.
The device’s camera was also well-received, thanks in large part to it being
among the first smartphone units capable of recording 4k video. While the Note 4
did not outsell its slightly older cousin, the Galaxy S 5, the gap between sales
figures for the two models showed a narrowing trend.
Description and Reception – The Galaxy S6 launched at a time when
Samsung was, for the first time in many years, struggling to maintain its
customer base. Due to the wide-scale saturation of the smartphone market by
this time, Samsung was primarily attempting to recapture customers that were
on their second, third, or fourth smartphones. These more experienced
smartphone owners were looking for something that differentiated their next
purchase from their existing smartphones. Since Samsung’s product lines had
remained relatively iterative for several years, the company’s product design
was often called stagnant and unimaginative. Because of this, 2015 would mark
the year when Samsung made a drastic change to its design aesthetics and
device features. Gone were the expandable storage and removable battery,
replaced by a unibody glass and metal design with a premium exterior look and
feel. Although the design aesthetics and build quality were highly praised,
the loss of expandable storage and the freedom to swap out batteries in the
middle of the day or add a larger power pack to the device were lamented by
many. Still, the resurgence of Samsung’s sales figures during the year would
suggest that the GS6 and the devices it launched alongside were a move in the
right direction.
Description and Reception – The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge was
essentially a clone of the standard S6 with a new, novel screen design. The
curved-edge display on this device was not a first for Samsung, which had
already produced the Galaxy Edge. It was, however, the first time this type of
display was introduced to the company’s flagship line. Although the S6 Edge
offered little over and above its more normal sibling, its reception was
seemingly even more positive than the Galaxy S6’s, with early purchase volume
outstripping Samsung’s ability to supply retailers. This was, of course, also
due to the fact that the company’s ability to produce the curved display was unable to match demand, an issue
was corrected in relatively quick fashion. In any case, the new display design was successful enough
that the Edge offshoot of the main Galaxy S line has remained in place since
the device’s launch, with the wraparound display also having been upsized into
a phablet class device.
Description and Reception – Like the Galaxy S6, the Note 5 launched
sans MicroSD card slot and removable battery. However, the loss of these
features caused a bit more of an uproar due to the fact that the Note line was
widely thought of as a device geared specifically towards power users. These
type of users, and their typically heavy workloads, tended to rely more
frequently on the extra storage and power options previously included in the
line. Making matters worse was the fact that Samsung actually chose to include
a smaller battery than that seen on the previous year’s model, despite
doing relatively little to reduce the device’s power consumption. Whether this
was a design decision in order to keep the Note 5’s profile svelte or
a choice based on the reduced power consumption made possible by Android 6.0
(Marshmallow), which the device would later be updated to, remains unclear.
Although these were generally considered to be points against the device, its
new design, narrower bezels, and expanded S-Pen capabilities all played very
well among reviewers and the public alike. The device seemed to remain
somewhat of a niche offering, like its predecessors, but it also showed sure
signs of inching its way closer to the mainstream customer base enjoyed by the
Galaxy S line. This was thanks largely to the fact that many, many other
phablet-class devices had, by this point, been on the market for years, giving
the public time to become accustomed to the idea of a device sized similarly to
the Note 5.
Description and Reception – The Galaxy S6 Edge+ shares the same
relationship with the Galaxy Note 5 as its smaller cousin shares with the
Galaxy S6, meaning the S6 Edge+ is essentially a clone of the other device
with a new screen strapped on. However, unlike the Note 5, the S6 Edge+ does
not include the S-Pen, and is essentially Samsung’s first mainstream entry
into the phablet marketplace to eschew a stylus. The company’s
growing number of massive devices mirrored the market’s growing desire for
them, and resulted in Samsung selling an impressive number of the high-end
handsets. It should be noted, however, that with S6 Edge+’s high-end components
and innovative screen design came an equally high-end pricetag. The phone
launched as one of the company’s most expensive ever, with full-retail pricing
often going as high as $849, or as much as $100 more than the typically
expensive Note line’s latest entry at the time. This is due, primarily, to the
additional cost of manufacturing the curved-edge display on the S6 Edge+. While
Samsung may have worked out the majority of its production flow kinks by the
time this device launched, it was still unable to bring the price of producing
these unusual displays down to the point where it could be sold for a comparable
retail value to the company’s flat-screened line. None the less, the S6 Edge+
received praise equal to, if not greater than, the accolades heaped on Samsung’s
other 2015 redesigns, resulting in a year of nearly unanimous successes for
Samsung’s smartphone business.
Following the success of the Galaxy S6 Edge and Edge+, Samsung decided
to go full throttle on its curved-edge display design philosophy, replacing the
traditional flat screen on their flagship device with the curved-edge
display for the seventh iteration. In another strategy shift, Samsung decided to
shed some of the differentiation previously seen in its Galaxy S, Edge, and
Edge+ product lines, trimming its variations down to a pair of
size choices. For the first time, the S7 and S7 Edge were essentially the same
device on an internal basis. The only differences between the two was their
size and the sizes of their displays. Nearly everything else was the same. This
strategy closely mirrored the one that Apple had been using since the launch of
its iPhone Plus line and was seemingly a move in the right direction for
Samsung, at least as far as the company’s sales figures for this generation
went. Both devices were lauded for feeling great in the hand, despite their
relatively large size, as well as their build quality. Many of Samsung’s power
users were also thrilled that both devices once again included a MicroSD card
slot, making it possible to expand the storage of either smartphone by as much
as 256GB.
Description and Reception – Whereas the S7 and S7 Edge were a high
point for Samsung, the launch of the Note 7 was almost certainly the biggest
unmitigated disaster in the company’s history. Following what seemed like a
great launch, complete with rave tech site reviews, reports began to arise that
several Note 7 devices were overheating and were even catching fire or
exploding. It soon became clear that there was a real and very dangerous problem
with the Note 7, forcing Samsung to issue a recall of the device while it was
still in its infancy. With the problem seemingly resolved, Samsung began issuing
"fixed" units to countries around the world. Unfortunately, these supposedly
safe devices soon began mimicking their predecessors in combusting. The result
this time was unprecedented measures by regulatory authorities, banning the
dangerous devices from airplanes and mandating recalls and special shipping
procedures. The company, while extremely apologetic, still lost a huge share of
the public’s goodwill during these events. In an attempt to salvage its image,
Samsung completely cancelled the Note 7 and took measure to collect any
remaining devices in the hands of the public. This unprecedented move ended what
can only be described as a sad chapter in Samsung’s history.
Description and Reception – As the first major flagship smartphone
launch following the events of the Galaxy Note 7 fiasco, the debut of the Galaxy
S8 and S8 Plus had an immense amount of pressure to succeed. It could be argued
that Samsung’s entire future in the smartphone market hinged on this launch.
Knowing this, Samsung designed the S8 line to include two of the most
technically and visually impressive phones ever released. Not only did both
sizes of device now come with internal components exceeding nearly anything else
on the market at the time, but both included what many described as the most
visually stunning display to ever grace a smartphone. This is because of both
the extremely high saturation levels and detail produced by Samsung’s well-known
AMOLED panels, and the fact that the company had managed to create a form factor
that nearly eliminated all front-facing bezels from both devices. Only a small
sliver of bezel was left at the top and bottom, while the side bezels were gone
entirely, replaced by the curved screen edge Samsung had begun to favor in
recent years. The public and professional reception to the device was immediate
and highly positive, with most reactions including some form of praise for the
nearly borderless screen. Samsung also received a wide rang of compliments for
its build quality, performance benchmarks, and battery optimization. Although no
single device could entirely erase the stain left on the Samsung brand by the
Note 7, the S8 and S8 Plus did as much for the company as any single product
could possible be expected to.
Description and Reception – Some pressure may have been taken off
of the Note 8 by the highly successful launch of the Galaxy S8 line, but the
Note 8 still had the unenviable role of being the direct successor to the
biggest disaster in smartphone history. Because of this, Samsung took a somewhat
safe path with the Note 8, closely mirroring the design of the S8 line, and
choosing to include a smaller, and much, much safer battery within the Note 8
than the one featured in the Note 7. Aside from these cautious, albeit obvious,
choices, the Note 8 held closely to its line’s pedigree. Once again, buyers
received an upgraded S-Pen, allowing them to access the Live Edge features and
stylus improvements that were originally launched with the Note 7, but never
truly experienced by the public due to the phone’s recall. Although the device
received much praise, and, more importantly, no reports of dramatic or explosive
failures, it seemed that the launch of the Note 8 once again marked a return to
this line being a niche device. That is largely because of the increasing size
and feature set of the Galaxy S Plus models. Where consumers would once have had
to buy a Note model to get the best internal hardware, largest screens, or
curved-edge displays, they could now obtain all of those things by choosing the
significantly less expensive S8 Plus. This meant that only the users that
actually require the S-Pen stylus really needed to pay attention to the Note 8.
Still, a large portion of the market continued to appreciated the extra
productivity and creativity options provided by the S-Pen, insuring that the
Note 8 continued to fill consumer demand.
Description and Reception – With its smartphone business
largely back on track at this point, Samsung chose to stay the course with
its 2018 edition of the Galaxy S line. This iteration was very, very close
to its predecessor in external design, once again favoring Samsung’s
curved-edge display and minimal top and bottom bezels. Some complained at
the iterative nature of the release while others took it in stride, noting
that Samsung, like Apple, had fallen into the habit of alternating between
iterative releases and true redesigns. There were some minor tweaks to the
unit, however. These included a new home for the fingerprint sensor beneath
the rear camera, support for 60FPS video in 4K resolution, and the standard
lineup of CPU improvements.
Description and Reception – Having regained its confidence in the
phablet marketplace with the launch of the Note 8, Samsung chose to diverge a
bit from its previous offering once again with the launch of the Note 9.
However, instead of updating the smartphone itself, the majority of Samsung’s
new features for this generation could be found in the updated S Pen. For the
first time, the S Pen included Bluetooth connectivity allowing it to serve as a
remote for the Note 9 from a distance. This allowed for functionality such as
using the S Pen as a presentation remote, as a remote camera shutter, and more.
Of course, the Bluetooth functionality required power, meaning that the S Pen
could, technically, go dead for the first time. Thankfully for users, Samsung’s
charging scheme for the stylus meant that it only needed to spend 40 seconds
stowed inside the Note 9 in order to build up approximately 30 minutes of usage
time. The Galaxy Note 9 is also one of the first Samsung smartphones to adopt the increasing
number of rear cameras the industry was favoring at the time of its release.
This allowed the unit to provide better photo results due to improved depth of
field. Aside from these changes, the Note 9 provided only iterative updates to
its predecessor, once again positioning it as a niche device geared primarily
towards power users that actively require a stylus.
Processor – Exynos Octa-core 2 x 2.73GHz CPUs or Snapdragon Octa-core 2.8
GHz CPU (depending on market)
Memory – 6GB or 8GB of RAM, depending on configuration
Display –
S10 – 6.1-inch Super AMOLED display with a resolution of
3040×1440 at 580 ppi
S10+ – 6.4-inch Super AMOLDED display with a resolution of
3040×1440 at 549 ppi
Camera – Dual12 MP rear cameras capable of 4k video recording
at 60 frames per second and a10 MP front-facing camera
Connectivity – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GSM/UMTS , 4G data, LTE, NFC (5G
also available on the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G variant).
Power –
S10 – 3,400 mAh
S10+ – 4,100 mAh
Description and Reception – Samsung’s trend of growing both the
physical size and the percentage of their smartphone’s front face that are
occupied by screens continued with their 2019 flagship. The Samsung Galaxy
S10 and S10+ almost completely eliminated screen bezels in favor of an
edge-to-edge display. To accommodate a front-facing camera, the unit was
equipped with a "hole-punch" display, with one small circle cut out from the
display to allow a lens to face the user. This, along with Samsung’s first
in-display fingerprint reader, eliminated most of the front-facing hardware
that had taken away valuable screen space in past units. Users and reviewers
largely praised these moves by Samsung, though some did complain that the
fingerprint reader was not as fast or accurate as more traditional
iterations of the security device had been. The company also won points
among many traditional audio fans for its continued dedication to the
inclusion of a 3.5mm headphone port, something most smartphone lines had
eliminated by this point in history. This generation also marked the first
time that Samsung released a 5G variant of its flagship smartphone. The
Galaxy S10 5G was a post-release update made available first in the
manufacturer’s home country of South Korea. Though it did eventually make
its way to the US, the still very limited 5G network availability at the
time made it a very niche device, with little real impact aside from its
status as a first-of-its-kind device.
Description and Reception – For the first time in the history
of the company’s original phablet line, Samsung decided to release two sizes
of the Galaxy Note. Its tenth iteration came in a standard model, which was
actually slightly smaller than its predecessor, and a "+" model that debuted
with a massive 6.8 inch display, as large as some full-on tablets. The
device maker also once again advanced its built-in S-Pen stylus, bringing
additional motion controls and interactivity with more first-party apps to
the accessory. As with the Galaxy S10 line mentioned above, Samsung also
released a 5G variant of the note 10, though it was even more of a niche
device in the US due to the aforementioned lack of widespread network
support at the time.
Processor – Exynos Octa-core 2.84GHz CPU or Snapdragon Snapdragon
855
Memory – 12GB of RAM
Display –
Inner – 7.3-inch Flexible Dynamic AMOLED running at 1536×2152
for 362 ppi
Outer – 4.6-inch Dynamic AMOLED display with a resolution of
720×1680 at 397 ppi
Camera – Two 12MP capable of 4k video recording
at 60 frames per second and a 10 MP front-facing camera
Connectivity – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GSM/UMTS , 4G data, 5G data (in
some markets) LTE, NFC
Power – 4,380
Description and Reception – Samsung long-rumored,
massively-hyped debut of a folding smartphone was originally supposed to
take place in mid 2019. However, the device was eventually delayed to the
third quarter of that year when an initial run of pre-release units that
were sent out to reviewers and influencers for testing proved to be a
miserable failure. All the fears about the fragility and lack of reliability
that flexible display might present seemed to realized when test units began
to fail en masse. Some of these failures were due to factors like users
unwittingly removing what seemed to be a screen protector only to discover
the film had been an integral part of the now-broken display. Other blunders
appeared to rest entirely on Samsung’s shoulders, with reports of debris
actually making it behind the device’s folding display in just a few short
days of use. Critics pointed to obvious flaws in the design, including the
aforementioned screen film, which could easily be peeled off, as well as a
hinge that has relatively large gaps that could allow debris inside the
surprisingly fragile handset. The ultimate result was that Samsung recalled
all units that were out in the wild and began a months-long retooling
process. When the Galaxy Fold finally did release, it did so into a market
that was much more tepid towards folding smartphones, due in large part to
Samsung’s own mistakes. That said, the staggering price tag of almost $2,000
likely meant that this device was only ever going to be a toy of the
technological elite. But, Samsung’s own catastrophic first crack at a
folding smartphone may have set the technology back more than advanced it.
Figure 25. The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip in Three Colors
Description and Reception – Shortly after debuting its
first foldable smartphone capable of transforming from a smartphone form
factor into a small tablet, Samsung debuted its first clamshell foldable.
Designed to directly compete with the revived Motorola RAZR folding
smartphone, the Galaxy Z Flip offered a display size that would once have
been considered on the high end of phablet-sized, while remaining quite
pocketable thanks to its ability to fold down the middle. While the unit was
largely praised for its clever hinge design and generally cutting-edge
internals, it was also panned for its nearly $1,400 price point, which
offered very little in the way of benefit over the company's standard
S-series line of smartphones, aside from the novelty and convenience of a
device that could be folded vertically. That said, many users still
appreciated these benefits enough to adopt the device, if not nearly so many
buyers as might be expected to purchase a standard S-series release.
Processor – Exynos 990 Octa-core 2.73GHz CPU or Snapdragon
Snapdragon 865
Memory – 8/12/16GB of RAM
Display –
S20 – 6.2-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 3040×1440 at
563 ppi
S20+ – 6.7-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 3040×1440 at
525 ppi
S20 Ultra – 6.9-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of
3040×1440 at 511 ppi
Camera –
S20 – A 12MP wide angle, a 12MP ultrawide, and a 64MP telephoto
with a10MP front-facing selfie cam
S20+ – Same as S20 with an added 0.3MP Time of Flight sensor
S20 Ultra – A 108MP wide angle lens, a 48MP telephoto lens with
periscope zoom, a 12MP ultrawide, and a 0.3MP Time of Flight Sensor,
with a10MP front-facing selfie cam
Description and Reception – Samsung chose to jump its
version number 10 ahead with the launch of its Galaxy S20 smartphone line,
bringing the moniker in line with the device's year of release, and denoting
what the company felt was a major redesign for its original flagship
smartphone line. That update focused mainly on two areas: displays and
cameras. On the S20 line's front, Samsung managed some of its smallest
bezels ever, making its new, higher resolution displays look even more
impressive as they wrapped around the edges of the handset. This visual
appeal was joined by some of the company's most impressive photographic
prowess, particularly in the Galaxy S20 Ultra variant. This device featured
an unusually large camera bump which housed a 108MP telephoto camera
equipped with a periscope optical zoom lens capable of up to 100x zoom.
While the practicality of images zoomed in to this degree on a smartphone
was debatable, the accomplishment was, none the less, a major feather in
Samsung's cap at the time. The line was generally very well received,
although Samsung did receive come criticism for launching even the base
model at essentially the $1,000 price point, with the top-end Ultra unit
going for around $1,600 at launch. This complaint was later alleviated
somewhat by the release of the Galaxy S20 FE (Fan Edition), which lowered
the price to just $699 with very few compromises when compared to its
originator.
Figure 27. The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Line in Multiple Colors
Description and Reception – Samsung's 2020 edition of its
original phablet also took up the "20" naming convention. Where previous
Galaxy Note releases were clearly designed with smartphone power users in
mind, touting faster CPUs and upgraded memory figures, the Note 20 was
somewhat more toned down, essentially providing a stylus-equipped
alternative to that year's S-series smartphones with very little in the way
of consistent upgrades over its more mainstream counterpart. Along the same
lines, the Note 20 was also priced more similarly to the 2020 edition of the
S20, beginning at the same price and topping out at a lower $1,299 at
launch. The Note 20 Ultra, despite including the 108MP sensor seen in the
S20 ultra, lacked the massive periscope zoom potential and the 16GB of RAM
option, bringing its price down below the S20 Ultra's $1,600 peak. It was
clear by this point that Samsung had begun merging the design philosophy of
the Note 20 line with its S20 line more and more. That decision would reach
its zenith with the debut of the S21 line early in 2021, which was the first
non-Note smartphone series to support Samsung's S-Pen stylus.
Description and Reception – While Samsung's original
Galaxy Z Fold may have been touted as the beginning of a folding smartphone
revolution, it was widely called out for including some major flaws that
would be deal breakers for most smartphone shoppers, particularly at its
lofty price point. The Z Fold 2 made a point of addressing many of those
flaws by adding a much larger external display, an improved hinge design
that would be more resistant to dirt entering the smartphone, and a set of
internal components that could directly compete with Samsung's best standard
smartphones at the time. Unfortunately, what it did not address was the
massive price gap between standard models and folding options. The Z Fold 2
once again launched at a staggering $1,999, putting it out of reach for all
but the most enthusiastic and affluent smartphone shoppers. That said, the
unit was widely praised for making a folding smartphone seem much closer to
wide-scale viability–in function, if not price–than any before it.
Processor – Exynos 2100 Octa-core 2.8GHz CPU or Snapdragon
Snapdragon 888
Memory –
S21 – 8/12 of RAM
S21 Plus 8/12GB of RAM
S21 Ultra 12/16GB of RAM
Display –
S21 – 6.2-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 1080×2400 at
421ppi
S21Plus – 6.7-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 1080×2400
at 394 ppi
S21 Ultra – 6.8-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of
1440×3200 at 515 ppi
Camera –
S21 – A 12MP wide angle, a 12MP ultrawide, and a 64MP telephoto
with a 10MP front-facing selfie cam
S21Plus – Same as S20
S21 Ultra – A 108MP wide angle lens, a 10MP telephoto lens with
periscope zoom, a 10MP telephoto, and a 12MP ultrawide, with a 40MP
front-facing selfie cam
Description and Reception – Samsung's S21 line was
largely an iterative update. However, it did reveal a shift in focus within
Samsung's pricing and design strategy towards cheaper devices with somewhat
lower-end specs. This can be seen most dramatically in two areas, the S21
line's displays, and its external materials. First, the displays on the S21
and S21 Plus feature a 1080p horizontal resolution, significantly lower than
anything Samsung had launched as a flagship model in several years. While
all three versions did include the company's smoother 120hz refresh rate,
this drop in maximum resolution can only be seen as a downgrade, when
compared to the S21's direct predecessor. Along the same lines, the premium
glass and metal design of the S20 was replaced with a polycarbonate
backplate on the S21, while the 21 Plus and 21 Ultra retained a frosted
glass rear. These changes did knock about $200 off the launch price of the
devices across the line, but they certainly put a dent in Samsung's ability
to claim it had launched the best of the best for 2021. It is also worth
noting that this is the first generation of the S-series to support
Samsung's S-Pen stylus. While none of the trio sport a location to store the
digital pen, Samsung did launch a series of cases that included storage for
the S-Pen within them alongside the S21 line.
Tablets
Samsung currently maintains two different tablet
lines: The Galaxy Tab A and the Galaxy Tab S. The Galaxy Tab A is the company’s
more standard offering, continuing the long-term role of the Tab line, while the
Tab S is something of a replacement for the old Galaxy Note tablet line.. The Galaxy Tab
A line
includes both 8-inch and 10.1-inch versions, while the Galaxy Tab S line
includes a 10.5-inch model.
Launch Date – Cellular Version -November 2012 (exact date varies by
carrier) | Wi-Fi Only Version April 11, 2011
Launch Price –
$299 with carrier subsidies, $299 for later Wi-Fi
only model
Features
System-on-Chip – Samsung Exynos 3110 ARM Cortex A8
Memory – 512 MB RAM
Display – 7-inch LCD panel with a resolution of 1024×600 at 170 PPI
Camera – 3.2 MP rear-facing camera with a 1.2 MP front-facing camera
Connectivity – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GSM/UMTS/CDMA (depending on
version)
Power – 4,000 mAh lithium-ion polymer battery
Description and Reception – The Galaxy Tab
was Samsung’s first entry into the modern tablet marketplace. The device
launched on all four major US carriers within a month of each other and was
originally marketed as a mobile data-centric tablet computer. Samsung did later
release a Wi-Fi only version, but not until the Galaxy Tab had basically reached
its end of life. The Tab launched at a time before Amazon’s Kindle Fire had
opened consumer’s eyes to the 7-inch tablet market, meaning it had a much harder
time proving to potential buyers that they needed a device somewhere in size
between an iPad and their smartphone. Some early reviews found the device
promising, but it should be noted that the Galaxy Tab launched with 2.2.1 on
board, an operating system that was never intended to run a tablet. The results
were poor aesthetics, often mis-sized or mis-shapen graphics, and overall less
than stellar performance. Samsung promised to smooth these rough edges in
subsequent software updates, but the device was never brought past 2.3, meaning
it never received access to Google’s tablet-centric Android 3.2 (Honeycomb).
Description and Reception – The Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus
strongly resembled its predecessor, but improved over the previous model in
several areas. First, the device was considerably more powerful, with an
improved processor and double the memory. This was accomplished while also
reducing the overall size, particularly the thickness of the device. Thanks to
these updates, the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus launched with Google’s Android 3.2
(Honeycomb) operating system. This did provide an improved user
experience but was still not on par with the
likes of Apple’s iPad or even some of the more powerful 10-inch Android tablets. Also
not helping the Tab 7.0 Plus’ case was its $349 price tag, with a
cellular-capable version (only available at T-Mobile) which
costs consumers almost as much as an entry level iPad. Although this model is
still available, it has largely been replaced by the Galaxy Tab 7.7" and Galaxy
Tab 2 7.0.
Display – 7-inch Super AMOLED panel with a resolution of 1280×800 at
197 PPI
Camera – 3.0 MP rear-facing camera with a 2 MP front-facing camera
Connectivity – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, CDMA
Power – 5,100 mAh lithium-ion polymer battery
Description and Reception – With the exception of some
external changes and a slight difference in screen size, the Galaxy Tab 7.7
is very similar to its predecessor, the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus. The primary new
features of the unit were its Super AMOLED screen and a slightly faster
processor. Unlike its older counterpart, the 7.7-inch model also ran on
Verizon Wireless’ cellular network and was available exclusively from that
carrier during its lifespan. The Galaxy Tab 7.7 has been discontinued.
Display – 7-inch panel with a resolution of 1024×600 at 170 PPI
Camera – 3.2 MP rear-facing camera with a VGA front-facing camera
Connectivity – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, CDMA, LTE, IR Blaster
Power – 4,000 mAh lithium-ion polymer battery
Description and Reception – With the launch of the Galaxy
Tab 2 line, Samsung officially made its Galaxy Tab family into the more
budget-minded of its two series. The downgraded cameras, smaller battery,
slower processor, and lower resolution screen are all sacrifices made to reduce
the cost of the unit. Nonetheless, the line has now built up something of a
following with relatively modest but consistent sales. As of the time or
writing, the Tab 2 7.0 was sold out at Verizon Wireless, likely due to the
holiday rush. This is also Samsung’s first 7-inch device to run on Google’s
Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich, the first re-unified tablet/smartphone
version of the mobile platform.
Display – 10.1-inch panel with a resolution of 1280×800 at 149 PPI
Camera – 8 MP rear-facing camera with a 2 MP front-facing camera
Connectivity – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, CDMA, GSM
Power – 6,860 mAh lithium-ion polymer battery
Description and Reception – As with the 7-inch counterpart,
the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 is the company’s budget tablet at its display size. The
device was designed to serve as a cellular-capable counterpart to the Galaxy
Note 10.1, which is available only in Wi-Fi. Although it was by no means a flop,
the Galaxy Note 2 10.1 is lower powered than many of its counterparts, which has
led to most potential Android tablet buyers ignoring the model in favor of the
Google Nexus 10 or one of Asus’ Transformer models.
$499.99 for 16GB of internal storage or $549.99 for
32GB of internal storage
Features
System-on-Chip – 1.4GHz quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor
Memory – 2 GB RAM
Display – 10.1 -inch panel with a resolution of
1280×800 at 149 PPI
Camera – 5 MP rear-facing camera with a 1.9 MP front-facing camera
Connectivity – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
Power – 7,000 mAh lithium-ion polymer battery
Description and Reception – Although the
"Note" moniker began as the company’s phablet line, it has since
been expanded to denote any mobile product Samsung releases for use with a
stylus. Like the Galaxy Note series, the Galaxy Note 10.1 comes with its own version of the company’s S Pen stylus. The interactive writing implement
provides on board buttons for extra functionality, gesture controls, and other
enhanced features. Aside from the presence of the stylus, the Galaxy Note 10.1
is a relatively unremarkable tablet when compared to its current competitors.
Despite being priced at an equivalent level to the iPad, the Galaxy Note 10.1’s
display is much lower resolution, its cameras are not as high quality, and its
connectivity options are much more limited. The device’s unique ability to offer
writing, drawing, and other pen-based forms of interaction earned it an
important spot among those customers that require this type of interaction.
Display – 10.06-inch LCD with a resolution of 2560×1600 at 299 PPI
Camera – rear-facing 5MP camera capable of 720p video recording with
1.9 MP front-facing camera for video chat
Connectivity – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
Power – 9,000 mAH lithium-ion polymer battery
Description and Reception – Ironically, Samsung’s most
powerful and, arguably, most attractive, tablet does not bear its own brand
name. Instead, the company produces the unit for Google’s Nexus family.
Google’s success in the 7-inch tablet market gave it enough confidence to go after
Apple on the home turf of the original 10-inch iPad. Google knew that it
would need a cutting edge device to compete with the iPad juggernaut, and
Samsung delivered with a higher resolution screen than the iPad’s, a more
powerful processor, twice the RAM, and, perhaps most importantly, a price
point $100 lower than Apple’s entry level iPad.
$349 (with 2-year AT&T contract) or $449 (without
contract)
Features
System-on-Chip – Samsung Exynos 4412
Memory – 2 GB RAM
Display – 8-inch LCD with a resolution of 1280×800 at 188 PPI
Camera – rear-facing 5MP camera capable of 720p video recording with
1.3 MP front-facing camera for video chat
Connectivity – Wi-Fi, LTE (AT&T Version), Bluetooth
Power – 4,600 mAh lithium-ion polymer battery
Description and Reception – The Galaxy
Note 8.0 was designed to be a mid-ranged option for those seeking a tablet
somewhere between the company’s phablet offerings and its 10-inch Note and Tab
lines. However, the unit’s 8-inch screen size puts it up against the likes of
Google’s Nexus 7 and Apple’s iPad Mini. In neither comparison does the Galaxy
Note 8.0 fare well. It’s relatively meager resolution, combined with a price tag
that puts it $50 above the base model iPad Mini with Retina display, makes the
device a hard sell. Still, there is a niche market that has adopted Samsung’s
inclusion of its S-Pen stylus as a must-have in their tablet purchases, and this
is where the Note 8.0 has managed to shine. Unfortunately, that particular
segment of the market remains small enough that Samsung’s sales of the Note 8.0
are barely registering on the radar.
Display – 8-inch LCD with a resolution of 1280×800 at 188 PPI
Camera – rear-facing 5MP camera with 1.3 MP front-facing camera for video chat
Connectivity – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
Power – 4,450 mAh lithium-ion polymer battery
Galaxy Tab 3 10.1
System-on-Chip – 1.6 GHz dual-core Intel Atom Z2560
Memory – 1 GB RAM
Display – 10.1-inch LCD with a resolution of 1280×800 at 150 PPI
Camera – rear-facing 3.15MP camera with 1.3 MP front-facing camera for video chat
Connectivity – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
Power – 6,800 mAh lithium-ion polymer battery
Description and Reception – The 2013 refresh
of Samsung’s more budget-minded Galaxy Tab line is one of the company’s
stranger decisions. From the inclusion of both a 7-inch and 8-inch model to
the fact that the 8-inch version has the most high-end components in several
areas, the entire release is somewhat strange. Add to this the fact that
pricing places all three models only slightly below much more established
products from Samsung’s competitors and it is not hard to understand why the
entire line has remained something of a fringe offering for Samsung.
Display – 10-inch LCD with a resolution of 2560×1600 at 298 PPI
Camera – rear-facing 8MP with 2 MP front-facing camera for video chat
Connectivity – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
Power – 8,220 mAh lithium-ion polymer battery
Description and Reception – The Galaxy Note
10.1 launched as Samsung’s highest-end tablet to date and the company’s
first self-branded offering that could compete with Google’s Nexus 10.
Despite the Nexus 10 having been nearly a year old at the time of this
device’s release, and Samsung having been that device’s original
manufacturer, it’s own product lines had yet to include anything that could
match the CPU, RAM, and display resolution of the Google-branded product.
That changed as Samsung put out the 2014 edition of the Note 10.1, thanks to
a brand-new octa-core SoC and a display that was nearly the twin of the
Nexus 10. However, despite being a very close match for Google’s branded
slate, the Note 10.1 launched with a price tag at least $150 higher. This,
once again, pushed Samsung’s offering towards the "nice device" category,
thanks to the fact that it was adopted largely by users who absolutely
required the accuracy and functionality provided by the company’s S-Pen
stylus and were willing to pay the price difference for it.
Description and Reception – Aside from
their varying display and battery sizes, the Tab S 8.4" and 10.5" are
essentially the same device internally. Although this results in a slightly
lower pixel density for the larger of the two, both units are generally much
higher end than their Galaxy Tab line predecessors. That said, while this
generation abandoned the middle-of-the-road components the Tab line was known
for, it did so at the literal cost of a considerable price increase with the LTE
versions of these tablets matching their iPad competition for price. It became
clear during 2014 that the Tab line would now be Samsung’s flagship tablet
series, while it’s Note line would move into a more niche role, specifically
focusing on users in need of a productivity device with pen functionality.
Although generally well received, neither size of the Tab S did much to
differentiate itself from the company’s previous offerings.
Display – 12.2-inch LCD with a resolution of 2560×1600 at 247 PPI
Camera – rear-facing 8MP with 2 MP front-facing camera for video chat
Connectivity – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
Power – 9,500 mAh lithium-ion polymer battery
Description and Reception – The Galaxy Note Pro
12.2 is designed to be both Samsung’s largest mainstream tablet to date and its
most high-end tablet. Although this premium model comes at a premium price,
Samsung has made it clear that it is firmly targeting the sector of users that
require a productivity machine with full pen functionality. This edition
features much of the same, updated S-Pen functionality introduced with the Note
4, further expanding the multi-tasking and mouse-like behavior made possible by
Samsung’s proprietary stylus.
Description and Reception – The Galaxy Tab E 9.6" was
designed to be a budget-minded, larger screened tablet. Like most models in
the Tab line, it does not feature the high-end components or high-resolution
display of its Note line counterparts, but does offer affordable pricing for
tablet buyers on a budget. However, unlike many budget tablets, the Tab E
9.6" does offer an LTE-enabled version running on Verizon Wireless’
network. Unfortunately for Samsung, the device did not seem to gain much
traction, as it was already seeing steep discounts at the carrier before the end
of 2015. It should be noted that a Barnes & Noble-branded variant of the device
was produced as the "Galaxy Tab E 9.6" Nook." It was essentially identical to
the standard version, but included extra software to give consumers direct
access to the booksellers e-reading apps and storefronts.
Display – 18.4-inch LCD with a resolution of 1920×1080 at 119 PPI
Camera – rear-facing 5MP with 2 MP front-facing camera for video
chat
Connectivity – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
Power – 5,700 mAh lithium-ion polymer battery
Description and Reception – The Galaxy View
was the first tablet of its kind from Samsung. Rather than being designed
primarily for portability, the unit was created to be a versatile
streaming media terminal. It’s massive (for a tablet) screen and built-in
stand make it ideal for placing on a coffee table, countertop, or wherever the
user may be to serve as a home for Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, or any other
supported streaming media service. While the device did gain some coverage as a
novel idea, it was not a particular success for Samsung, with most customers
continuing to use more traditionally-sized tablets for their media viewing
needs.
Display – 9.7-inch Super AMOLED with a resolution of 2048×1536 at
264 PPI
Camera – rear-facing 13MP with 5 MP front-facing camera for video
chat
Connectivity – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, options 4G LTE
Power – 6,000 mAh lithium-ion polymer battery
Description and Reception – At the time when the Galaxy Tab
S3 launched, Samsung had gone almost two full years without a major new entry
into the tablet marketplace. With the exception of a few variants and
carrier-specific models, the company’s entries into the tablet marketplace had
all but dried up. To reintroduce itself to the game, Samsung designed the Tab S3
to be decidedly high end, aimed more at competing with the likes of
Windows-enabled tablets and the iPad Pro than with iPad or other Android slates.
The accomplish this goal, Samsung created a tablet with full S-Pen support, as
well as a new feature for the line, an included keyboard cover. This cover
allowed the device to better fulfill use as a laptop replacement, and to capture
a portion of the growing segment of the tablet market that appreciated a
physical keyboard being available as a first-party option. Since the tablet
marketplace was shrinking, as a whole, at this point in history, the Tab S3 may
have flown largely under the radar. Despite this, the unit was generally well
received, being largely described as a very capable, if somewhat pricey tablet.
Display – 10.5-inch Super AMOLED with a resolution of 2560×1600 at
287 PPI
Camera – rear-facing 13MP with 5 MP front-facing camera for video
chat
Connectivity – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, optional 4G LTE
Power – 7,300 mAh lithium-ion polymer battery
Description and Reception – Following the success of its
predecessor, the Tab S3, the Tab S4 upped its screen size slightly and added a
redesigned stylus while maintaining its high-end pedigree. Once again, the
premium tablet also supported a keyboard cover, although it was not included
with the device. This extra cost, on top of the already pricey $720+ retail
value meant that the Tab S4 was priced more closely to tablets with full
desktop-class operating systems that to almost any other competing offering. The
only direct competitor running a mobile OS was Apple’s iPad Pro, but even that
device’s starting price was lower at the time of release. However, it should be
noted that the iPad Pro required the separate purchase of an Apple Pencil for
stylus functionality, bringing the respective pricing of the units into near
lockstep.
8.0 – 8-inch LED display running at 1280×800 for 225 PPI
10.1 – 10.1-inch LED display running at 1920×1200 for 189 PPI
Camera – rear-facing 8MP with 5MP front-facing camera for video
chat
Connectivity – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, optional 4G LTE
Power –
8.0 – 5,000mAh
10.1 – 6,150mAh
Description and Reception – When Samsung decided to revamp its
tablet line in the late 2010s, the company realigned the Tab A line as its
budget-friendly offering. Although it still offered the line in sizes up to 10.1
inches, the internal components were decidedly lower-end, with 2GB of RAM
powering some version, while the company’s high-end smartphone carried as much
as 12GB at the same time. However, the units were priced accordingly, running at
under $300 for even the upgraded models with 4G connectivity. None of these
units were going to revolutionize Samsung’s tablet presence, but they were not
designed to. Rather, their sole job was to keep the company in the budget
category with a new, refreshed entry. By all accounts, they did this job
admirably, serving to compete directly with the likes of the Kindle Fire and
other Android-based budget tablets at the time.
Display – 10.5-inch Super AMOLED Display running at 2560×1600 for
287 PPI
Camera – rear-facing dual cameras (13MP and 5MP) with an 8MP
front-facing camera
Connectivity – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, optional 4G LTE
Power – 7,040mAh
Description and Reception – While the Tab A line available at this
time was geared towards more budget-conscious consumers and those interested in
a tablet primarily for media consumption, the Tab S6 was designed to be a
full-fledged laptop-replacement tablet. To this end, Samsung released the device
alongside a companion keyboard cover and option S Pen accessory. Unlike the S
Pen that shipped with the company’s Note smartphones, this model was a
full-sized stylus with pressure-sensitive input and various ways of remotely
controlling the tablet. The internal components were also on part with the likes
of the iPad Pro line, further cementing the unit’s power user target audience.
S7 – 11-inch IPS LCD display running at 2560×1600 for
274 PPI
S7+ – 12.4-inch OLED display running at 2800×1752 for 266 PPI
Camera – rear-facing dual cameras (13MP and 5MP) with an 8MP
front-facing camera
Connectivity – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, optional 4G LTE and 5G
Power –
S7 – 8,000mAh
S7+ – 10,090mAh
Description and Reception – The Tab S7 was a largely iterative
update to 2019's S6 line, slighting upping the size of the standard model from
10.5 inches to 11 and adding a top-end "S7+" 12.4-inch variant. This larger unit
made the model more able to directly compete with the largest iPad Pro models
being made by Apple at the time. Like the iPad Pro, Samsung also seemed to want
to position the Tab S7 line as laptop replacement tablets, once again including
the S-Pen stylus in the box, although the pictured keyboard dock was still sold
separately.
Display – 10.4-inch TFT display running at 2000×1200 for 224 PPI
Camera – rear-facing 8MP camera with a 5MP
front-facing camera
Connectivity – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
Power – 7,040mAh
Description and Reception – The Tab A7 was released as Samsung's
media-centric tablet for 2020, offering a large battery and high-resolution
screen, while omitting the laptop-like performance of its S7 counterpart. To
further promote this positioning, Samsung also added quad speakers with Dolby
Atmos support and built-in surround sound capabilities.
This section is presented in two
segments: Smartphones and tablets. Each section profiles several aspects of
its given device form factor and compares the offerings from several
companies.
Smartphones
With the
exception Apple’s
iOS, every other smartphone platform, Android included, is installed on numerous
models all on sale at any given time, but with varying specifications, features,
and capabilities. It would be impossible to compare each and every one of these,
and any list of that type would be almost immediately obsolete, in any case.
Instead, this section will look at the most dominant product lines currently
competing with Samsung’s own offerings, including those of Google itself.
Although specific devices may be referenced, the primary goal is to examine the
companies which have consistently provided the most worthy competing products
for a given mobile operating system, including other variations of Android and
iOS.
App and Media Store
Although Samsung’s devices do not
generally run a completely stock version of Android, they do all ship with
access to Google Play, the official app and media store for Android operated by
Google itself. This is also true of nearly all Android handsets from any
manufacturer as the app store is a built-in component of the Android operating
system. Due to this fact, all Android handsets, whether they are made by Google,
Samsung, LG, HTC, or another company, stand on a level playing field in at least
this one area. As for Google Play, it currently boasts more than 3 million apps,
over 12 million books, tens of thousands of television shows, and millions of
songs.
Samsung itself does offer a
selection of applications for the Android operating system, primarily those
designed to allow its mobile devices to network with its other product lines
such as smart TVs and home theater components. This offering is, however, very
much smaller than Google Play or any of its competitors and does not generally
factor into the decision to purchase a Samsung device in any meaningful
way.
Google Play’s primary competitor
in this space is far and away Apple’s iTunes and App Store. Although the maker
of iOS often refers to its media store and app store separately, they are
essentially a single storefront spread across two distinct applications. Like
Android’s Google Play, iOS’ access to the App Store and iTunes is ubiquitous to
all devices. Apple boasts very similar totals at any given moment for the
numbers of apps, books, movies, and music available. Although the company was
previously called out for its heavy use of DRM on downloaded songs, it has since
ended that practice. It does, however, still impose DRM restrictions on
some videos. It should be noted that the Apple App Store is much more tightly
curated than Google Play, a fact that often leads to more restriction in the
types of apps available but which also tends to provide much greater protection
against malicious applications making their way to users.
Finally, there are the wildcard app and media
stores, which are not tied to a specific platform. Although these are extremely
numerous and often less than reputable, there are a few major players actually
having an impact on the mobile device landscape. The most important of these, by
far, is Amazon. Its presence as a seller of Android apps, as well as its
platform-agnostic offerer of movies, music, and books, has undoubtedly put a
dent in the sales figures of all three aforementioned OS makers. Its app store
security is also on par with Apple’s, meaning users purchasing software
from it have little to fear.
Screens and Dimensions
Although Android smartphone screens seem to be growing continually larger
with each successive generation, there remains one distinction between what is
considered average at a given moment and what is considered massive: the title
of "phablet". As the name would suggest, this refers to a device that has a
large enough screen and enough tablet-like features to be considered a hybrid,
falling somewhere between a smartphone and tablet. Samsung practically
originated the phablet category with its Galaxy Note line and has continued to
dominate it with strong sales for every subsequent device released with the Note
moniker, as well as the newer Plus or Ultra variants of its S line. Although companies like LG, HTC, and
others have fully embraced the "bigger is better" philosophy, none have reached
the same level of success as Samsung in this space.
This is one area where Apple has had to play catch-up with
Android. The company entered the phablet market when it released its iPhone 6+
model. While
the device’s smaller cousin continued to feature a screen on par with what can be found in Samsung’s
Galaxy S line – or more mainstream offerings from LG and HTC – the iPhone 6+
sat firmly in phablet territory with a display even larger than Samsung’s
contemporary offering, the Galaxy Note 4. This trend has continued through the
subsequent generations of primary flagship devices for both companies. The fact that Apple finally acquiesced to the growing market
for larger screens shows the massive influence Samsung’s Note line has had on
the mobile phone industry as a whole.
Local and Cloud Storage
This is an area where Samsung’s offerings mirror those of any Android
handset. All manufacturers’ devices are able to access the free tier of
cloud storage made available by Google’s own Google Drive offering. Any Android
device owner can also take advantage of the same cloud-based storage options
provided by Google Play, which will store most media purchased from its shelves
in the cloud until the user is ready to download it.
While Apple does not offer a self-branded storage service in the same vein as
Google Drive, it does provide a similar level of cloud-based storage for files
downloaded from iTunes.
This area is also heavily populated by third party competitors that, in most
cases, are platform agnostic. The most popular of these services is Dropbox,
which is accessible from both major mobile operating systems, as well as from
nearly any device with a desktop-class Web browser.
Browser
Google’s decision to include all components of Android with the versions made
available to third parties places Samsung on an even keel with all of its
Android-based competitors. Although Google’s Pixel line does come
pre-installed with the latest edition of the company’s Chrome browser for
Android, any device running a moderately up-to-date version of the operating
system can download an identical version of the browser. As for the browser
itself, the mobile version of Chrome offers most of the same features as its
desktop counterpart, including advanced bookmark management, tabbed browsing,
rich media playback, and the ability to run advanced Web apps. As with all
versions of Google Chrome, users can also sign in to their Google account while
using the Android App in order to have instant access to their bookmarks,
history, saved passwords, and more.
Apple is Chrome’s greatest competitor here. The company’s Safari browser has
been considered the gold standard for mobile Web browsers since the launch of
the first iPhone. Although Chrome has come to match the original in nearly
every way, it is still a very tight race with each company adding the
occasional new feature in an attempt to innovate past its competitors.
The only other factor in this market is the presence of third-party browsers.
These include mobile versions of Firefox and Opera, as well as a browser
produced by Samsung itself. While some of these browsers boast enhanced security
or other specialized functions, none have anywhere near the market share of
Google’s Chrome or Apple’s Safari.
Price
Samsung’s pricing is difficult to nail down, as it is less standardized than
Apple’s, and tends to fluctuate more from year to year. While the 2020 S-series
relied on a ~$999 price point for the
its flagship models with an approximately 6-inch screen, the 2021 release
dropped that figure by about $200, though it could still stray as high as $1,400
for its top-end ultra variant.
This level of pricing puts the company on par with Apple’s mainstream pricing
of $999+ for its newest generation of iPhone 12/12 Pro devices. That said, the lower-priced iPhone
lines, such as the iPhone 12 Mini, could compete directly with Samsung’s S line, despite not being at the top
of Apple’s catalogue.
Tablets
The following section profiles the features of
the Samsung’s tablet lines in comparison with the flagship offerings of its
closest competitors.
App and Media Store
The app and media store landscape for the tablet market is essentially
identical to its smartphone counterpart, with one notable exception. While all
of the same statistics and digital products on offer are duplicated here, Amazon
has a much, much larger impact due to the availability of its Kindle Fire tablet
line. Although the company’s Android app store and media offerings are still a
third-party option in the smartphone space, Amazon is very much a first-party
provider in the tablet realm. It’s app store may not have the same volume as the
Android-default, Google Play, but its tighter curation and ability to pull down
offerings from nearly all of the most popular app developers still provide it
with a near match for Google’s selling power. Conversely, its standing as a
household name in the media consumption market gives it a leg-up in the sale of
movies, music, and books. After all, the Kindle brand referred to a line of
e-readers before it named a line of tablet.
Screens and Dimensions
As recently a five years ago, Samsung was one of very few companies besides
Google offering tablets in the 7-inch and 10-inch form factors. This, of course,
has changed drastically since then, with Android tablets available in
every conceivable size: as small as 7 inches, and as large as 24
inches. However, the 7/8-inch and 9/10-inch form factors are still the most
popular and are where the stiffest competition lies. Samsung has produced one of the
largest tablet libraries of any major manufacturer, with multiple offerings in its
Tab and now retired Note families at 8-, 10-, and 12-inches. Meanwhile, Apple offers its iPad
Mini line, iPad, and iPad Pro lines to compete with Samsung’s small, mid-sized,
and largest offerings, respectively. In both cases potential buyers are given the choice
between size and power vs. portability.
Although Microsoft’s Windows operating system is also available on a
selection of smaller-sized tablets from the likes of Dell and others, the
company itself seems to adhere to a 10 to 12-inch screen size as being ideal given
its exclusive adherence to that form factor in its Surface tablet line.
Tablets, like smartphones, are quickly reaching the point where resolution on
the displays simply cannot be improved any further because of limitations to
the human eye. Android, iOS, and Windows are all currently available primarily
on models that are HD resolution or better, with some units going as high as
500+ pixels per inch. However, this is one area where Samsung has,
generally,
lagged behind. It is only with the launch of the 2014 edition of the Galaxy Note
10.1 that the company matched the industry standard for what can be
considered a crisp, high-resolution display. Oddly, it was one of the first
manufacturers to be able to compete with Apple’s Retina Display thanks to its
production of the 2560×1600 screen on Google’s Nexus 10. However, it took nearly
a year for the company to release a self-branded device, the aforementioned Note
10.1, with similar characteristics for its display. Samsung’s current tablet
offerings continue to focus on other areas of the user experience, leaving pixel
density levels in the mid to high 200s.
Local and Cloud Storage
The local and cloud storage options for the tablet marketplace are identical to
those found in the smartphone section. Although Amazon is vastly more important
here, its lack of a successful, consumer-facing cloud storage service means that
it is largely limited to the same cloud-based storage of media purchased from
its shelves that is offered by all major competitors at this point.
Browser
Like Samsung’s smartphone lines, its tablets also have free access to the
latest version of Chrome via Google Play. This app behaves nearly identically
to its smartphone counterpart, aside from some adjustments to resolution in
order to fit the larger screens. A similar practice can also be seen in Apple’s
versions of Safari on the iPad family. Microsoft, on the other hand,
runs a full desktop-class version of its Internet Explorer browser on all
tablets, whether they are operating with a full version of Windows or Windows
RT.
Amazon is once again an important entrant into this segment. Its Silk
browser, which is available on all modern Kindle Fire tablets, features a
pre-caching capability that expedites Web browsing by preemptively loading
additional Web pages which the user may visit next in order to shorten page
transition times.
While there are several third-party offerings in this space, the only
platform that has received wide-ranging adoption is Microsoft’s
Windows. Owners of a Windows-based tablet running the full operating system, not
Windows RT, are also able to choose from offerings like the desktop version of
Google’s Chrome and Mozilla’s Firefox.
Price
Pricing in the tablet marketplace is highly
fluid. While smartphone pricing can remain unchanged for years at a time, tablets have no such restriction and are limited solely
by supply and demand. As the tablet marketplace itself was
arguably created by Apple, the standard pricing scheme seems to have also been
their doing. Traditionally, tablets near or at the 10-inch screen size have sold
for between $300 and $500 for their base models, while those at the smaller 7- to
8-inch size were typically between $200 and $300. 12-inch
laptop-replacement tablets with mobile operating systems are currently ranging around the $700 to $1,000 price point. That
said, there are also premium tablets in the 10-inch slot that can run over the
$700 price point due to support for external keyboards and styli.
Market share for smartphones is
usually calculated on two bases: platform market share and OEM (original
equipment manufacturer) market share. The
first measures the total percentage of users currently on a given platform
(iOS, Android, etc), while the other measures the number of a
particular manufacturers’ phones that are in use. Although Samsung has Google to
thank for designing a mobile operating system to drive its hardware, the
company’s dominance in the hardware market is all its own. 3
To more deeply examine the impact Android has had on Samsung’s products
sales, it is necessary to examine the sales figures of the mobile operating
system as a whole versus those of its competitors. Although precise sales
figures for all Android devices are not known, and
Apple is often vague about its own sales figures, there are some important
statistics worth mentioning.
Android
Despite being the "official" Google Android phone line, the
company’s own handsets have actually accounted for a relatively small portion
of Android’s overall sales. Samsung itself called the sales of the
device "miniscule" in a court document filed as part of an
Apple lawsuit.4
Google has tried over the years to expand its presence via multiple
acquisitions, the latest of which was the portion of HTC responsible for
the Pixel smartphone line. However, the company still resides within the
"Others" category on most market share lists.
Despite Google having designed the operating system, the best-selling
Android devices for the past several years have been Samsung’s, with the
company’s Galaxy S line still representing the peak of its sales. In
fact, the Galaxy S8 line sold more than 20 million units in its first
few months on the market, essentially doubling the success of its already highly successful
predecessor, despite being the first major release following the
Note 7 disaster.5
Apple iPhone
In total, Apple sold more than $137.6 billion worth of iPhones during
its 2020 fiscal year.6 Comparing this to the $28.9 billion Apple made during the same
year selling Macs proves
the iPhone is, by far, the most important product for the company.
Tablets
Pinning down sales and market share statistics for the tablet marketplace is
often very difficult. Not only are many manufacturers cagey with their
sales numbers (Amazon in particular), but the marketplace changes so quickly that
a hot new release could completely alter the landscape before the previous
quarter’s sales have even been tabulated.
With that in mind, the most recent tablet marketshare numbers from research
firm IDC show that Samsung has benefited greatly from the surge in tablet use
and sales likely spurred on by the growing number of users at home for extended
periods of time during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
While Samsung’s growth in the tablet space is extremely impressive, it is
nowhere near as dominant as its share is in the smartphone space. However, this was not
always the case. It has,
at times, nearly matched Apple’s
sales figures, and has arguably forced to follow in
its footsteps in the tablet arena. If the launch of the iPad Mini were not
enough evidence that Samsung seems able to pick up on consumer desires for new
tablet form factors more quickly than apple, then the iPad Pro unveiling
should prove the point once and for all. Not only did it launch with the same12-inch screen size as the Galaxy Note Pro, it
was also Apple’s first tablet
to support a first-party stylus, something which the Note line had had for
years at that point.
All that said, Samsung seems to have largely shifted its focus away from
tablets based on mobile operating systems. The company’s most high-profile
launches over the past few years in this space have been laptop-replacement
tablets and convertibles that run desktop-class operating systems like Chrome OS
or even Windows. It is unclear when, or if, Samsung will ever return to the
habit of leading the way on tablets designed, from the ground up, to work on the
same OS as their smartphone counterparts.
Samsung is a consistent leader of the OEM mobile phone market.7
Although this also includes the company’s non-smartphone the vast, vast majority
of the company’s success is being derived from its smartphone offerings. This is
a trend that is guaranteed to continue as more consumers in developing nations
make the transition from a traditional cell phone to a smartphone device.
Samsung, like Apple, is very aware of this fact, and has shifted its focus into
the smartphone space more and more in recent years.
Unfortunately for Samsung, this has left it somewhat vulnerable
as a company, with its fate largely dependent on the success for failure of its
latest mobile phones. This fate is less sure today than it once was, thanks to the
infamous failure of the Galaxy Note 7 and the more recent disastrous initial
debut and subsequent delay of the Galaxy Fold. Both incidents showed how disastrous one bad release
can be. Although
Samsung’s sales figures rebounded both times, the stain of these massive,
seemingly avoidable blunders continue to
tarnish what was once a nearly flawless record. Meanwhile, Google is
strengthening its position in the
smartphone space as a first-party device maker, with its Pixel line featuring
none of the third-party branding previously found on Google’s former
flagship Nexus line. This means that Samsung will have to
contend even more closely with the literal maker of Android. While Google has,
so far, been generous in offering all aspects of Android’s capabilities to all
third party device makers, that could change at any point.
While they may not be as large a part of Samsung’s success or failure, its
tablet offerings also make up a huge part of it mobile device’s business. It has
shown, time and again, that it’s form factors and design decisions can lead the
industry, with even Apple itself having to follow suit in offerings like the
iPad Mini and iPad Pro. As the tablet market slows, and once again trends
towards cheaper models, Samsung may be wise to revise and refresh its lower-cost
offerings to better compete with the ascendant Amazon Kindle Fire product line.
Samsung finds itself in position of increasing strength in the
smartphone market and in the tablet arena. While its
sheer size and long history of devices have helped Samsung to weather recent
years' storms, it is undeniably on shakier ground than it once was thanks to
multiple high-profile blunders in its products and the shaky legal status of its
leadership. It cannot afford another blunder like the Note 7 or
Galaxy Fold if it wishes to continue to maintain an overall upward trajectory.
Even without the remnants of the fallout from black marks like the Note 7 fiasco remaining, other dangers
still exist for Samsung. It must also remain vigilant of what a target its
long-term success has made it. Despite not having designed the Android operating system,
Samsung has been the target of more lawsuits relating to it than Google itself. This is,
unfortunately, all too common in today’s ever-more litigious telecom world. However,
cases against Samsung filed by companies the size of Apple, of which there are
currently several in progress, provide a real threat to Samsung’s livelihood. Potential
injunctions, sales bans (some of which have already occurred on a short-term
basis), and other legal actions must be avoided at all costs. If Samsung can
managed to dodge these legal attacks, then the company’s future should remain
bright.
References
1 "The Samsung Galaxy S III Achieves 30 Million Sales in Five
Months." Samsung Tomorrow. November 5, 2012.
2 Jay Yarow. "For the First Time Since It Launched, the iPhone 4S Is Not
the Best Selling Phone in the U.S." Business
Insider. September 4, 2012.
3 "Gartner Says Global Smartphone Sales Continued to Decline
in Second Quarter of 2019." Gartner. August 27, 2019.
4 Stan Schroeder. "Samsung: Minuscule Galaxy Nexus Sales Didn’t
Hurt Apple." Mashable. August 21, 2012.
5 Jacob Siegal. "Samsung Has Shipped Over 20 Million Galaxy S8
Smartphones." BGR. August 3, 2017.
6 "Apple's iPhone Revenue from 3rd Quarter 2007 to 4th
Quarter 2020" Statista. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
7 Samuel Martinez. "Apple Reports 2020 Mac Record Sales, Thanks
to the MacBook Pro." PocketNow. November 3, 2020.
Michael Gariffo is an editor for Faulkner Information Services. He
tracks and writes about enterprise software and the IT services sector, as well
as telecommunications and data networking.
