Limited stock of the devices.
By Dileep Thekkethil
BENGALURU: Finally, the wait is over and different variants of Samsung’s latest flagship devices, Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge are now available in India via online and offline stores. The South Korean smartphone maker had unveiled the two devices during the recently concluded World Mobile Conference in Barcelona.
The new set of Samsung devices is up against arch rivals Apple’s newly launched iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. Earlier, the 5.1-inch category of premium smartphones was an unchallenged segment dominated by Samsung but, with Apple making its way into this category through iPhone 6 Plus, Samsung lost its privileged global position as the top seller to Apple.
Now, with both Galaxy devices out in the market, Samsung will keep its fingers crossed to see the kind of reception the devices receive in markets such as the US, UK and above all India, which is the fastest growing mobile market in the world.
Amidst the hyped discussion about the launch of the new Galaxy S6 devices, Reuters reported that not all prospective buyers will be able to get their hands on the latest Galaxys S6 Edge smartphone as the company is planning only to release a limited stock.
It seems that Samsung is finding it a complex task to manufacture the curved display of Galaxy S6 Edge.
Speaking at a press conference Samsung’s J K Shin said, the company is “working hard to resolve the difficulty in supply”. He warned that the shortage of Galaxy S6 Edge will continue for some time before the South Korean company finds a way out.
HMC Investment analyst Greg Roh told Reuters that “Some carriers are switching existing orders to get more of the S6 Edge, and it looks like demand for the model will exceed supply throughout this year. That means average selling price will fall at a slower rate, which will have a positive impact on Samsung overall.”
The news about the shortage of Galaxy S6 Edge has definitely taken off some lustre from the much talked about launch of the latest Samsung devices. Earlier, Samsung had announced that the company is expecting record shipment for the devices but now, it is unclear whether they will be able to meet the demand of the customers. Reports from some of the South Korean newspapers indicate that, Samsung received close to 20 million pre-orders for Galaxy S6 devices. However, Samsung is aiming to ship 50 million Galaxy S6 units this year.
Long queues are expected outside the Samsung stores across the world as the company has a significant number of loyal users who look forward for new releases. It is expected that a majority of them will be looking forward to grab Galaxy S6 Edge but many of them may have to leave the stores empty handed or with no Galaxy S6 unit due to the shortage.
Samsung has an array of new competitors in the Asian countries as Chinese smartphone makers like OnePlus and Xiaomi has made inroads into markets that traditionally stayed with Samsung. This will make the task difficult for Samsung as these companies are offering android-based smartphones with identical specifications at mid-level price. In the case of iPhone, it didn’t face a huge market lose as the US company had created a very loyal customer circle. Also, the iOS platform, which is exclusive to iPhones, could have played a major role in retaining the user base of Apple.
Both the Galaxy S6 devices come with three storage options 128GB, 64 GB and 32 GB, respectively. The price of the curved Galaxy S6 Edge is Rs. 58,900 (32GB), Rs. 64,900 (64GB) Rs. 70,900 (128GB). On the other hand Galaxy S6 will cost Rs. 49,900 (32GB), Rs. 55,900 (64GB) and Rs. 60,900 (128GB), respectively.
Samsung first rolled out curved smartphone last year with Galaxy Note Edge. A similar design followed in the latest Galaxy S6 Edge smartphone but, this time on both sides rather than one. The curves of Galaxy S6 Edge are not as deep as in Galaxy Note Edge but it definitely gives a sleeker and intelligent look for the device.
Samsung made the most significant change ever by abandoning the widely criticized plastic design to glass backs and metal frames. Both the devices now use this new design, making the frame stronger than older versions. The company also claims that the new elements used in the design will make the devices 50% sturdier than the device of immediate competition, indirectly pointing at the new iPhone 6.
Both newly launched Galaxy S devices have a 5.1-inch Super AMOLED display with 1440x2560p resolution, making them the most pixel rich smartphones ever. Adding to this the company has used a 64-bit architecture 2.1GHz octa-core Exynos 7 processor based on 14nm process, making Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge 35% faster than its predecessors.
Samsung earlier announced that the company is moving for the first time going to use DDR4 RAM instead of DDR 3, which will yet again power-up the device giving an extra boost of 80%. The company also touts that the inbuilt storage of the devices will be faster as there will be zero lag in between action and processing. It should be also noted that Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge doesn’t have expandable MicroSD card slots.
Coming to the camera department of the two new Galaxy devices, the company has maintained the 16 MP camera in the rear has significantly improved the aperture by getting it to F1.9, adding optical image stabilization, giving shake-free and brighter camera experience that too with an improved camera application that let users take photos in less than a second.
The camera of the Galaxy smartphone has got an upgrade to 5MP with F1.9 aperture lens giving more brightness and clarity to the photos.
Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge sport a non-removable Li-Ion 2550 mAh battery, which according to Samsung can last 4 hour by merely charging for 10 minutes. The company also boasts that the devices can reach its full battery capacity within half the time taken by an iPhone 6.
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