WSJ: The Samsung Galaxy S5 is a flop

According to a new report by the Wall Street Journal, the flagship Samsung Galaxy S5 is a flop, selling nearly 40 percent lower than the company expected.

Samsung is said to have increased production of the device by 20 percent compared to last year's popular Galaxy S4, but sold just 12 million units in its first 90 days. By comparison, the S4 sold 16 million in the same time frame.

With profits down and innovation waning, the report claims that Samsung could be looking to shake up its high-level executive team, giving current TV/home electronics CEO B.K. Yoon the Samsung Mobile business, as well. Samsung Mobile currently has its own CEO: J.K. Shin.

Earlier this month, the company also confirmed that it would be reducing the amount of phones it introduces by up to 30 percent, looking to focus more on a smaller pool. Samsung has already introduced 56 smartphones this year, well above its competition.

Source:
WSJ

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 24 Nov 2014 14:56

hearme0

And it doesn't help that Android is inherently a garbage phone OS. Peppy at first but then slowly but surely the speed of the phone declines within like 6 months. Plus Android causes each previous release to be virtually obsolete once a new version comes out....unlike Apple, Windows.

Samsung is a mill and their consumer electronics really aren't much different.

Not a big fan anymore.

24.11.2014 15:31 #1

pcrazy99

That's to bad. They better make some adjustments quick. I'm sure they don't want to end up like HTC.

24.11.2014 17:29 #2

ldeveraux

Originally posted by hearme0: And it doesn't help that Android is inherently a garbage phone OS. Peppy at first but then slowly but surely the speed of the phone declines within like 6 months. Plus Android causes each previous release to be virtually obsolete once a new version comes out....unlike Apple, Windows.

Samsung is a mill and their consumer electronics really aren't much different.

Not a big fan anymore. You mean like Apple, you being the biggest fanboy of them all.

Everyone understands the shortcomings of Android, that doesn't stop it from being the #1 phone OS in the country.

25.11.2014 12:14 #3

DarthMopar

Originally posted by ldeveraux: Originally posted by hearme0: And it doesn't help that Android is inherently a garbage phone OS. Peppy at first but then slowly but surely the speed of the phone declines within like 6 months. Plus Android causes each previous release to be virtually obsolete once a new version comes out....unlike Apple, Windows.

Samsung is a mill and their consumer electronics really aren't much different.

Not a big fan anymore. You mean like Apple, you being the biggest fanboy of them all.

Everyone understands the shortcomings of Android, that doesn't stop it from being the #1 phone OS in the country. You keep claiming that Android gets slower and slower over time...well, My SII (now replaced with an S5 Active) still purrs right along. Granted, it's pretty beat up after 3 years and is more of a toy for my son to play games on, but it still WORKS. If it wasn't for the fact that I wanted something more modern (and water/shock resistant) I'd still rock my old Galaxy.

25.11.2014 23:43 #4

KillerBug

Originally posted by hearme0: And it doesn't help that Android is inherently a garbage phone OS.
Yes, Android is a phone OS and all phone OS's are inherently garbage...but even if you could install a full Linux distro on your phone to give it full PC capabilities, you probably wouldn't want to because it would make phone-related tasks less easy. In a couple years the Ubuntu for smartphones will probably be mature with good software support...but for now android is the best option available even if you ignore that android has the best selection of models, so it is on the most affordable phones AND the most powerful phones.

Originally posted by hearme0: Peppy at first but then slowly but surely the speed of the phone declines within like 6 months.
...Unless of course you get rid of garbage apps that you don't use anymore...then it stays peppy. The same applies to iOS and Windows phones of course. (BB doesn't have this issue since there are no apps available).

Originally posted by hearme0: Plus Android causes each previous release to be virtually obsolete once a new version comes out....unlike Apple, Windows.
You have that completely wrong. One of the biggest complaints developers make about android is that there are so many people running old versions of android that they have to do a ton of testing to make sure apps work with all of them. Sure, new versions have new features...but the old versions still run new apps, and generally can get the new features from new apps if they don't upgrade. Windows phone is still obsolete compared to Android or iOS, so obviously the old versions are obsolete if the new versions are. iOS is kinda backwards...Apple seems to be removing features with each new release so the new versions are the obsolete versions for many users.

If it were true that the old versions got obsolete or slow after 6 months, 12 months, or 24 months then sales would be better. Their single biggest problem is that old devices still work great even after a two-year contract is up and users can get new top-end phones for $200 with contract...but why bother when your old S3 still works great for everything you want to do? Low on memory? Add a 64GB microSD card. Battery getting weak? Get a new one for $25. The only reason I can think of to upgrade (unless you are playing games) is the larger screen...and since even an old S3 has a larger screen than a new iPhone 6, that doesn't hold as much weight as it once did. Now that apple is making phones with screens larger than postage stamps, they will probably run into this problem in a couple of years too...of course their batteries cannot be replaced by the average user and their memory cannot be upgraded so at least they will have those weaknesses as justification to upgrade.

26.11.2014 11:09 #5

Bozobub

First off, you CAN install a full Linux distro on your phone; in fact you have more than one choice (Canonical/Ubuntu and Debian, as I recall, too lazy to check - lol). With a portable keyboard and a video cable (or a monitor/TV that supports DLNA and a DLNA-enabled phone, as most are these days) you can even use it as a decent Linux development platform, if you care to. And yes, it still works as a phone. Before you laugh, remember that most recent phones are AT LEAST as powerful as a 3-4 year old laptop ^^' .

Second, yes, Android DOES tend to slow down over time (especially older versions), but this is easily explainable, and often avoidable. The causes are usually twofold:
- Low free system RAM. Every program you install takes up at least some of this storage, leaving less working RAM. Try deleting a few apps, and/or running a RAM optimizer every so often.
- Android fragmentation. More specifically, apps that are optimized for current Android are less efficient when running on an older version of the OS.

Both of these issues are addressed with newer versions of Android, but the 2nd (optimization) is what it is; you have the flexibility of keeping that old device (yay ANdroid!), but after a while, its age WILL show.

If you have an older Android device that has no more official updates, it's quite probably worth rooting your phone and installing a custom ROM, such as CyanogenMod. This, alone, can solve many Android slowdown problems for older devices.

And hearme0, you can spooge all over Apple's collective toes all you like, but I'll continue playing XCom: UFO Defense (PS1 version) on my phone and laugh at you while you do =) .

Edit --> I do sort of agree with you about Linux's maturity on phones, KillerBug, but honestly, it's already mature enough for dev work - since I have 2 friends who are using it for exactly that, empirically evident - and I don't see it taking much longer to hit its stride.

26.11.2014 19:21 #6

megadunderhead

Honestly this doesn't surprise me here is the major issue with this.

You released a new phone in the middle of most customers cell phone contracts of which they can't get out of.

you also locked the boot rom of your devices on AT&T and other carriers so you cannot run your own custom rom even if you have the phone rooted which you can't do because of the locked rom so what are we suppose to do with a linux based o.s that doesn't allow us to use are devices freely we get rid of them and they end up in the dumpster

27.11.2014 01:40 #7

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