Details keep trickling out about a major shakeup under way at Samsung that encompasses everything from the handset maker revamping the design of its flagships to its attempt to make its mid-range smartphone models more attractive to millennials. And now comes word that Samsung will be killing off its Galaxy J budget series entirely, which is apparently part of the reorganization of its lower tier and midrange smartphone series.
News about the Galaxy J getting deep-sixed comes via ET News, which reports that Samsung is going to kill of the Galaxy J series and as a result expand the Galaxy A lineup to cover some of those lower price points.
Furthermore, per SamMobile, that report states that “Samsung is planning to introduce the Galaxy M lineup to replace the online-exclusive Galaxy On series devices. The Galaxy M models will target the budget segment, where the Chinese brands are most dominant. They will reportedly be priced very competitively so that Samsung can effectively compete against its Chinese rivals in key markets such as India, Latin America and in China itself where its market share has eroded to below one percent.”
Samsung apparently is ok with taking a hit on profit margins as part of playing a longer game of maintaining and hopefully growing its position in those markets.
All of this comes as Samsung is rethinking so much of how its smartphone business operates, such as a key angle we reported earlier this month. DJ Koh, the CEO of Samsung’s mobile business, told CNBC the company is going to change itself up a bit so that it brings new cutting-edge technology to its cheaper phone models like those in its Galaxy A series first. Before the tech ends up in the company’s much pricier flagship models later.
Meanwhile, Samsung fans are expecting to be wowed by the upcoming tenth generation of the Galaxy S, and to that end Koh told Chinese media outlets earlier this week that “very significant” design changes for the Galaxy S10 are on the way. He didn’t elaborate beyond saying that some “amazing” color choices would be available. Nevertheless, the writing on the wall is clear. Samsung knows it’s being challenged on every front, at every level of its business, and needs to respond accordingly.
“Chinese brands have made a lot of progress in the emerging markets with their value-for-money offerings,” SamMobile reports. “While the growth in some markets didn’t necessarily come at the expense of Samsung, it was a lost opportunity for the company for sure. The intensity with which the Chinese brands compete in the market demands Samsung to take some drastic steps, and it might be planning to do exactly that with these reported lineup changes.”
