South Korean electronics firm Samsung is all set to take the smartphone battle into Apple's home turf with the announcement of the next generation Galaxy S4 launch in New York City.
"We introduced the Galaxy S III in London last year, and this time we changed the venue (to New York)... as we were bombarded with requests from U.S. Mobile carriers to unveil the Galaxy S IV in the country," Samsung Electronics' Mobile Division Chief KJ Shin told the Edaily news website.
Samsung spokeswoman Chenny Kim said that the Galaxy S4 unveiling event will be the company's first launch event in the US after three years, reported Reuters.
Samsung had earlier unveiled the first generation Galaxy S smartphone in the US in 2010. Its predecessor Galaxy S2 was unveiled at the MWC (Mobile World Congress) 2011, Spain. The third Galaxy S series was launched last year in London.
Hosting the Galaxy S4 launch event in the US is seen as a tactical move from Samsung to counter Apple's record sales of both iPhone 5 and 4S models at 44.8 million units as against Galaxy S3 sales at 15.4 million in Q4 2012.
According to market research firm Strategy Analytics, Apple's iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S together accounted for 1 in 5 of all smartphones shipped worldwide in the same quarter.
|
Smartphone Models |
Q3, 2012 (in million) |
Market share (Q3,2012) |
Q4, 2012 (in million) |
Market Share (Q4,2012) |
|
Apple iPhone 5 |
6.0 |
3.5 % |
27.4 |
12.6% |
|
Apple iPhone 4S |
16.2 |
9.4 % |
17.4 |
8.0 % |
|
Samsung Galaxy S3 |
18.0 |
10.4 % |
15.4 |
7.1 % |
|
Others |
132.6 |
76.7 % |
156.8 |
72.3 % |
|
Total |
172.8 |
100.0 % |
217.0 |
100.o % |
With a number of models lined up for release, Samsung is all set to make its fortunes turn around this year.
(With inputs from Reuters)
