Does anyone want an $800 Android phone anymore?
When Samsung officially announces its results for the second quarter, the numbers (go.pcworld. com/rcpf) will look plenty good to the untrained eye: $13 billion in profit on $51.8 billion revenue. However, analysts will tell you that those figures represent a 0.7 percent decline in sales compared with the prior year’s quarter. That might not seem like a terrible dip, but when you zoom in a little further, it spells trouble for one of Samsung’s most visible products: the Galaxy S9 (go. pcworld.com/smg9).
According to reports, Samsung sold the fewest number of S series flagship phones since 2012’s Galaxy S3 (go.pcworld.com/ sgs3), with a reported 31 million units shipping in 2018. To put that in perspective, the Galaxy S7 was the high-water mark for Samsung’s S flagship, with some 50 million sales. That means many people are either sticking with their S7s or switching to a different phone altogether. And that’s a problem, not just for Samsung but for all premium Android phone makers.
It’s not just that Apple sold more iPhones last quarter (go.pcworld.com/rcq2) than Samsung’s expected S9 sales for the entire year. That’s no surprise. But it’s becoming increasingly clear that consumers aren’t wowed by premium Android phones anymore. And unless 2019 brings some serious innovation, the buzz around premium Android phones may slip away forever.
NOTHING TO SEE HERE
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Facebook wants to use your posts to train Al. Here's how to object
Facebook is changing its privacy policy and plans to use posts and images to train its Al. To prevent this, you need to object.
Windows 11's new AI feature could be a privacy nightmare
Your PC will be watching your every move by default.
The future of Windows: Copilot+ PCs unleash practical AI tools
Microsoft is aligning AI with its Copilot brand.
If you get a phone call from LastPass, it's a scam
A new breed of sophisticated phishing scammers are targetting LastPass users with phone calls and emails.
Sick of ads in Windows? This ingenious program eradicates them all
This clever free tool removes all the ads that Microsoft keeps stuffing into Windows 10 and 11.
Controversial Windows 11 Start menu ads begin rolling out
Microsoft has pushed “Promoted” apps from the Store to the Windows 11 wide build just a few weeks after they started appearing to Insiders.
Ring of bogus web shops steals 850K credit card numbers
Fake online storefronts, which show up in great numbers in Google and other search engines, are becoming a big problem.
This free, ancient Windows app will watch your laptop battery
BatteryInfoView gives you the laptop battery information you didn’t know you wanted.
How to use your smartphone as a Windows 11 PC webcam
Windows 11 now allows the wireless connection of Android smartphones for use as a webcam.
How to digitize VHS tapes the cheap way
Preserve your old video tapes with an inexpensive capture card and free software.