http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s6_edge_pricing_for_italy_revealed-news-11469.php
64GB Edge for 999 Euros....
Hmm at least 50 Euros too much. Yes it's a halo phone that has a high desirability factor, but it should be the same local price as the 6 Plus 64GB - which is 949 Euros in Italy.
889 Euros for the 32GB Edge also prices awkwardly compared to the 6 Plus 16GB which is 839 Euros.
This isn't 2013 Samsung - you need to be hungrier to earn back the top spot. But honestly this is just fluff, the real dollars and sales will be with the standard S6. The pricing cannot be off from the local price of the iPhone 6.
Those pre-order numbers are obvious self-promotion by Samsung. Not that it matters to me how many they sell, but in my opinion they should pay attention to executing the rest of launch than trying to hype. They have good products in their hands thanks to the 14nm process, but the rumored prices (which sound also self-promoted) are not exciting.
For Samsung, this S6 is purely a hardware play. So, they make all their cash on the hardware. Microsoft's got them by the yoke wrt licensing so they (may) need to offer MS's products for FREE. Finally, all the parts in the phone are made by Samsung and the most expensive and important bits are not in competitors' products. All that means costs are not spread out and there is no other avenue to profit from other than the phone. So, it'll most likely be very expensive to make (and buy). I also doubt that they will splurge on marketing like they did in the past, in order to maximize profit per phone. All this tells me that sales may not be as great as Samsung expects because competitors' products are far far cheaper, especially in the midrange.
So, what do we have here?
1)To Samsung, it now has a singular competitor, Apple. But the reality is very very different. They are still competing with other Android OEMs.
2) Samsung has a completely vertical production setup where the vast majority of parts are made and sold in-house. Many of these components are not shared with competitors. That drives up costs. This is different from Apple where they outsource all of the production of their products, allowing them to buy from whoever they want at prices they like. This keeps costs down.
3) After debloating the GS6, Samsung is now starting from square 1. They have no other strategy other than survival. No more ecosystem strategy.
So, I doubt they care about marketshare. Right now they're trying to make the most money out of every GS6 (if they had an in-house economist s/he would tell them they're doing it wrong. This is a pure welfare play and it's a classic mistake made by emerging market conglomerates). It'll be interesting how this plays out over the next couple of months. Will the higher prices convince Chinese customers to return in droves? Their (Android) competitors won't be standing still.
Your post is full of inaccurate information. Samsung said it had initially planned 12 million for release, now they will try and get 13 million out before release.
20 million pre-orders is thus unexpected by Samsung. Why would they lie about this?
If you think like that, then we can also say that iPhone sales are also inflated.
BTW 20 million units is a HUGE number.
For example, Apple only sold 35 million iPhone 6 / 6 Plus units in the whole of Q4 2014.
Also Samsung's prices for the Galaxy S6 / S6 Edge are actually around the same as iPhone 6 / 6 Plus.
And that's when the Samsung Galaxy S6 / S6 Edge is clearly superior over the iPhone 6 / 6 Plus.
Samsung's technology is years ahead of Apple's.
This is because Samsung gives Apple its leftover hardware. That's why Apple is still stuck with LPDDR3 RAM, sub-1080p display and 20nm chip (it was Apple's own mistake to go with TSMC).
Asahi Shimbun, one of Japan's largest newspapers, said that there are already 8 million pre-orders in Japan and 7 million in Korea (major carriers like SK Telecom, NT Docomo and Softbank have started pre-orders a few weeks ago already). Apparently Koreans and Japanese are much more tech savvy than your average westerner. One of the main reasons behind this high number of pre-orders is the highly perceived technological gap between Samsung and Apple. The Galaxy S6 Edge is proving to be very popular in Japan.
For Samsung, this S6 is purely a hardware play. So, they make all their cash on the hardware. Microsoft's got them by the yoke wrt licensing so they (may) need to offer MS's products for FREE. Finally, all the parts in the phone are made by Samsung and the most expensive and important bits are not in competitors' products. All that means costs are not spread out and there is no other avenue to profit from other than the phone. So, it'll most likely be very expensive to make (and buy). I also doubt that they will splurge on marketing like they did in the past, in order to maximize profit per phone. All this tells me that sales may not be as great as Samsung expects because competitors' products are far far cheaper, especially in the midrange.
So, what do we have here?
1)To Samsung, it now has a singular competitor, Apple. But the reality is very very different. They are still competing with other Android OEMs.
2) Samsung has a completely vertical production setup where the vast majority of parts are made and sold in-house. Many of these components are not shared with competitors. That drives up costs. This is different from Apple where they outsource all of the production of their products, allowing them to buy from whoever they want at prices they like. This keeps costs down.
3) After debloating the GS6, Samsung is now starting from square 1. They have no other strategy other than survival. No more ecosystem strategy.
So, I doubt they care about marketshare. Right now they're trying to make the most money out of every GS6 (if they had an in-house economist s/he would tell them they're doing it wrong. This is a pure welfare play and it's a classic mistake made by emerging market conglomerates). It'll be interesting how this plays out over the next couple of months. Will the higher prices convince Chinese customers to return in droves? Their (Android) competitors won't be standing still.
Honestly you've been singing this tune for literally years now. But of all years, 2015 is where Samsung's vertical integration is paying the biggest dividends.
1. The BOM of Samsung flagships have been higher than the iPhone for a while now, though historically it's the difference between Apple's 70% margins and Samsung's 61-62% margins for flagship sales.
2. The fact that so much of the S6's components are Samsung products does mean that the margins for those components flow back into Samsung. It's a big reason why AP, storage, and memory all are expected to outperform in 2015.
3. Vertical integration is great when it means you get class leading components - the best displays, substantially better SOC, much superior storage before anyone else, and the newest memory. It hurts when their in-house components are inferior (e.g. Exynos in 2013 to 1H 2014), especially at the same time. But 2015 is a year when practically every component is superior.
4. So we'll have to see EOY - did Samsung sell 35 million S6s (which would be the mediocre S5 sales) or 60 million. From the quality of the product to the buzz to the pre-orders, I think they're looking good if pricing remains reasonable. Either way, Samsung smartphones look to be fine as I don't think any reasonable person things the S6 will undersell the S5. Mid and low range sales matter, but ALL of the profits in the smartphone space are in the flagship tier. Profits will be in the low single digit billions per quarter worst case to high single digits per quarter if things go well.
The S5 killed them as they overproduced, undersold, and were forced to firesale inventory and ramp up marketing. But IMO they've responded - the Note 4 is the best large phone, certainly by a large margin in the Android space. The S6 looks to be the best flagship in 2015, almost certainly within the Android space.
The best display, only Tier 1 OEM with Touch biometrics, best camera, Samsung Pay, built-in support for both wireless standards, fastest charging, fastest storage and performance.
Ummm, you're only looking at the upside of vertical integration. The upside is that they keep all the profit when things are going well. The downside is even worse. WHen things are bad, they really go bad. That is why Samsung's components may have sold record amounts in 2014 but the firm was cutting salaries and marketing budgets, among other things, in order to adjust. Their loss was amplified. One part of Samsung was doing swell while Samsung itself was hurting badly. And you mention 2015 as if it's almost over. It's just starting and they just announced their flagship. It'll be a while before we see where things go.
Displaymate have tested the S6 display:
http://www.displaymate.com/Galaxy_S6_ShootOut_1.htm
"
We recently evaluated and rated the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus as the current Best Mobile LCD Displays, while the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy Note 4 are the current Best Mobile OLED Displays. All are impressive and excellent displays with great state-of-the-art display technology. However, OLED displays have been advancing at a relentless and fast pace with a constant series of systematic and strategic improvements, while LCDs have been coasting on their laurels for years. So although OLEDs started from behind in 2010 they have now pulled ahead on performance and innovation based on the Lab test and measurement results reported here. To get back in the game and become more competitive, LCDs will need to adopt Quantum Dots and Dynamic Color Management.
The Galaxy S6 has more than double the resolution and more than 4 times the number of pixels as the iPhone 6. It also has significantly higher peak Brightness, significantly higher Contrast Ratio in both low and high Ambient Light, significantly higher Absolute Color Accuracy, significantly better Viewing Angel performance, and has 4 selectable screen modes instead of a single fixed one on the iPhones.
"
Was waiting for this. Nice review as always. Impressive how the Galaxy S6 display is high resolution and larger than the Galaxy S5's display yet is more power efficient. I guess display tech is progressing exponentially like CPU tech.
Yeah 4X the number of pixels compared to the iPhone 6.
iPhone 6 is now considered a toy.
Ummm, you're only looking at the upside of vertical integration. The upside is that they keep all the profit when things are going well. The downside is even worse. WHen things are bad, they really go bad. That is why Samsung's components may have sold record amounts in 2014 but the firm was cutting salaries and marketing budgets, among other things, in order to adjust. Their loss was amplified. One part of Samsung was doing swell while Samsung itself was hurting badly. And you mention 2015 as if it's almost over. It's just starting and they just announced their flagship. It'll be a while before we see where things go.
Are there any real battery life tests out there yet? Thats my biggest worry about it.
Displaymate have tested the S6 display:
http://www.displaymate.com/Galaxy_S6_ShootOut_1.htm"
I posted this in the other thread, but I'm feeling a little more optimistic about battery life.
- 20% more efficient screen
- 14nm Finfet vs. 28nm (yes I know it's not apples to apples)
--------------
However - the power readings are kind of astounding IMO. The efficiency gains in the S6 are amazing considering the higher res and higher brightness compared to the previous gen.
50% APL
Note 3: .9 watts
S5: .82 watts
Note 4: .85 watts
S6: .65 watts
Full white screen, max brightness
Note 3: 2 watts
S5: 1.5 watts
Note 4: 1.8 watts
S6: 1.2 watts
I posted this in the other thread, but I'm feeling a little more optimistic about battery life.
- 20% more efficient screen
- 14nm Finfet vs. 28nm (yes I know it's not apples to apples)
--------------
However - the power readings are kind of astounding IMO. The efficiency gains in the S6 are amazing considering the higher res and higher brightness compared to the previous gen.
50% APL
Note 3: .9 watts
S5: .82 watts
Note 4: .85 watts
S6: .65 watts
Full white screen, max brightness
Note 3: 2 watts
S5: 1.5 watts
Note 4: 1.8 watts
S6: 1.2 watts
So battery life about the same as a stock S5 then?
Thats not going to be anywhere near enough for me. (I'm using the S5 3500mAh Samsung one)
Your post is full of inaccurate information. Samsung said it had initially planned 12 million for release, now they will try and get 13 million out before release.
20 million pre-orders is thus unexpected by Samsung. Why would they lie about this?
If you think like that, then we can also say that iPhone sales are also inflated.
BTW 20 million units is a HUGE number.
For example, Apple only sold 35 million iPhone 6 / 6 Plus units in the whole of Q4 2014.
Also Samsung's prices for the Galaxy S6 / S6 Edge are actually around the same as iPhone 6 / 6 Plus.
And that's when the Samsung Galaxy S6 / S6 Edge is clearly superior over the iPhone 6 / 6 Plus.
Samsung's technology is years ahead of Apple's.
This is because Samsung gives Apple its leftover hardware. That's why Apple is still stuck with LPDDR3 RAM, sub-1080p display and 20nm chip (it was Apple's own mistake to go with TSMC).
Asahi Shimbun, one of Japan's largest newspapers, said that there are already 8 million pre-orders in Japan and 7 million in Korea (major carriers like SK Telecom, NT Docomo and Softbank have started pre-orders a few weeks ago already). Apparently Koreans and Japanese are much more tech savvy than your average westerner. One of the main reasons behind this high number of pre-orders is the highly perceived technological gap between Samsung and Apple. The Galaxy S6 Edge is proving to be very popular in Japan.
"Samsung received some 20 million pre-orders for the S6 and S6 Edge _ 15 million of S6 and five million of the S6 Edge from mobile carriers, worldwide. This is the record," a top executive at a leading mobile carrier in Europe told The Korea Times last week at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) expo in Barcelona.
..
During the MWC convention, Samsung Electronics mobile chief Shin Jong-kyun told Korean reporters that the response to the two Galaxies was far better than the previous model.
"To be honest, pre-orders of the two Galaxy variants from our major clients are really huge," Shin said. (emphasis mine)
The screen is using 20% less power than the S5's and the chipset is a more efficient 14nm. I think that means it'll be better than the S5...
The battery is about 10% smaller though isnt it?
Factoring in that the screen is off most of the time and the SOC wont be running full tilt much of the time I guess itll be about the same.
?
It's always been active screen on time that matters isn't it? My GS4 has mediocre battery life relatively speaking and it easily uses at most 1% per hour on standby.