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Apple’s iPhone 15 stands tall against Samsung’s foldable phones
Apple yesterday announced the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro series. As the company froze the iPhone 15 series price, Apple made clear its goal of completely dominating the global premium smartphone market, which isn’t possible to be defeated by Samsung’s foldable focus.
Samsung Mobile Chief is pursuing a strategy to strengthen its premium image by highlighting the innovative experience of foldable phones and collaborating with luxury brands, but analyses say that it’s expected to face a tough battle due to Apple’s price freeze.
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Froze price to boost sales
Apple decided to freeze the price of the iPhone 15 series to boost sales. As the iPhone 15 series launched on September 12, consumers looking for premium smartphones are expected to weigh the Galaxy Z Flip and Fold 5 released by Samsung in August this year.
The standard iPhone 15 basic starts at $799, the Plus model starts at $899, and the Pro model starts at $999. As only the iPhone 15 Pro Max loses its 128GB capacity, the lowest price is set at $1,199, which is $100 more than the previous model, and the highest price model reaches $1,599.
Considering that the lowest prices of the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Z Fold 5 are $999 and $1,799, respectively. Meanwhile, the global premium smartphone market (priced over $1,000) is currently dominated by Apple.
Apple’s premium smartphone market share is overwhelming at 96.1% in the first quarter of 2023 and 98.4% in the second quarter. Samsung’s market share was only 1.1% in the second quarter of this year, but is predicted to have increased to 8.3% in the third quarter, thanks to the Z5 series launch.
Demand for premium phones, where Apple is strong, is increasing, especially in emerging regions such as Southeast Asia. However, with the launch of Apple’s iPhone 15 series, there is a greater possibility that Samsung’s market share will fall again in the fourth quarter.
Samsung could shift its investment from the EV battery business in the US. The company plans to adjust its investment in ESS from EVs due to a sluggish market. The move comes after low demand for EVs, particularly bikes, and growing demand for ESS.
TheElec reports that Samsung eyeing the growing demand for ESS (energy storage systems) in the US. North America’s largest power company NextEra Energy could be awarding Samsung with a potential 1 trillion won ESS order.
Samsung is investing in converting its EV battery pack production line in Michigan, US. The electric bike battery pack line will be dismantled and converted for ESS use. The investment is expected to begin as early as the fourth quarter.
- The ESS battery pack line will be located in Factory 1, where a battery pack line for Harley-Davidson is currently in operation.
- Factory 2 primarily produces battery packs for Stellantis PHEVs, such as the Jeep Wrangler 4xe and Grand Cherokee 4xe.
The Korean tech giant is pursuing a 1 trillion won order for ESS batteries from NextEra Energy. The order is estimated to be around 5GWh. The company has started accelerating its penetration into the ESS market since last year with its Battery Box.
Samsung is exploring advanced sensor-shift image stabilization (OIS) camera tech for future Galaxy phones. The company recently filed a patent application related to image stabilization technology for mobile devices in South Korea.
The latest Samsung patent suggests work on the sensor-shift image stabilization (OIS) camera is underway. However, Apple iPhone-like sensor shift camera tech is far from arriving on Samsung’s Galaxy smartphones.
The patent entitled “Actuator for optical image stabilization and camera module including the same” describes how less force is required to stabilize the sensor itself. This allows for a more precise correction of the sensor position.
The patent document shows that Samsung is continuing to develop its ideas and methods for sensor-shift image stabilization. The absence of such cameras is not a sign that the company has abandoned the idea.
Samsung has been working on sensor-shift image stabilization for years. The company aims to upgrade the Galaxy camera capabilities in the future. The sensor-shift stabilization offers a sharper image by moving the camera sensor.
Previously, patents related to sensor-shift telephoto camera surfaced. However, the Korean tech giant hasn’t commercialized the technology. The patent was published recently, but doesn’t mean we will be seeing this upgrade in the Galaxy S25 series.
The development suggests that Samsung won’t include it on Galaxies till an advanced variant evolves. As the exploration continues, sensor-shift OIS feature remains in hope for the future of Galaxy smartphone segment.
Samsung officially confirmed its teaming up with Qualcomm and Google for XR devices. Now, Qualcomm CEO revealed that the company is working with Samsung and Google to develop mixed-reality smart glasses.
According to the info, Samsung is working on portable mixed-reality smart glasses in collaboration with Qualcomm. Not XR headset, the company’s first extended reality product could be smart glasses with AI for new experiences.
Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon shared new details about Samsung’s upcoming XR product. In an interview to CNBC, Amon confirmed the collab with Samsung will result in “a new product” that offers “new experiences.”
Beyond that, he hinted that this product will likely be a pair of XR smart glasses, not a headset. Just opposite to Apple’s approach, Samsung and Qualcomm aimed to create XR smart glasses that would be portable and easy to carry around.
“I want everyone who has a phone to go buy companion glasses to go along with it,” Amon said. “We need to reach a point where wearing smart glasses feels no different from wearing regular glasses or sunglasses. Only then can we achieve true scale,” he added.
The XR smart glasses could debut later this year, featuring artificial intelligence. Samsung and Qualcomm reportedly aiming to make XR glasses mainstream, while Google could support them with optimized software.
Following the trend, the XR smart glasses could pack on-device AI capabilities. Some AI features will run directly on the device, others on the phone, and certain tasks will require cloud processing – unlocking “a whole new set of experiences.”
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