China is an economic superpower that continues to grow at an incredible rate, and consumer electronics firm Xiaomi perfectly encapsulates this climate. But while often dubbed the "Apple of China," it's not just its monumental rise to prominence that has resulted in this label, but also the notion that it copies many of the Cupertino's designs with many of its own products. In news that will certainly irk the Mac maker, Xiaomi's chief has set his sights on overtaking Apple and Korean competitor Samsung to become the dominant force of the smartphone industry in the next 5-10 years, and while the Chinese firm hasn't much of a presence in the United States as yet, its Asian market dominance suggests that these claims cannot be taken lightly.
As years go, Samsung has struggled through 2014, with the likes of the Galaxy Note 4 seemingly overwhelmed by rampant iPhone 6 sales towards the latter stages. It stands to reason, then, that the Korean outfit should need a new battle plan as we saunter on into 2015, and apparently, at least one line of bendable / foldable devices will be hitting the market next year.
Samsung is making sure that Apple knows it's not the only one in town when it comes to having people carrying around multiple devices with its logo on, and what better way to do that than to clone the features that let owners of iPhones, iPads and Macs sling data and app states across all three?
Apple has left Samsung behind, as it claims the position of the top mobile brand in China, in both awareness and loyalty. One of the largest smartphone consumer market in the world, China has conveyed its dismay with Samsung, given the Apple choice.
This week is already shaping up as a busy one thanks to Apple's confirmed event at Town Hall, but according to reports and rumors, Google could well be poised to steal the show with a major roll-out of its own. Android L, which we first saw at this year's I/O event, is a rather significant bump on the current Android KitKat, and although the Big G has said very little on this topic, October is the search giant's usual month of choice for such announcements. With Android L seemingly imminent, users of Samsung devices will be looking on with a keen interest, and now, we've a leaked roadmap that indicates which of the Korean outfit's line-up will be seeing new software, and perhaps more importantly, when.
Samsung's delay in getting the Galaxy Note 4 out to the masses will surely have an effect on overall sales, particularly given the unexpected popularity of Apple's iPhone 6 Plus, and now, the Korean outfit is facing another hurdle. According to a suit filed by NVIDIA, Sammy's Exynos processors, along with a number of SoCs manufactured by Qualcomm, are in violation of the graphics specialist's GPU patents, and if NVIDIA's claims are founded, the Galaxy Note 4 may face a sales ban in the United States.
While most smartphone vendors release maybe half a dozen new devices per year, Samsung makes a habit of adding new handsets on an almost monthly basis, and with the Galaxy Note 4's launch still in progress, press renders of the Galaxy A5 suggests that it too is on the cusp of launching. The A5, which will apparently hit the market alongside two other 'A' devices, looks reasonably similar to the Galaxy Alpha that the Korean company introduced back in August, and as per leaked specs, it appears that the new series will target the mid-range market with decent specs and enticing price points.
Samsung's share price had dipped to its lowest in two years, and although the continued rumor cycle and subsequent release of Apple's iPhone 6 was one of a number of factors outlined in a new report, there's no question that its Californian rival's decision to roll out two larger-displaying handsets has hurt the Tizen maker.
Samsung doesn't usually need any encouragement to do a spot of advertising, and with an ad budget that probably rivals the best of them it has started go use some of those dollars to poke yet more fun at Apple.
Samsung may have taken the earliest possible opportunity to mock Apple's latest iPhone - and let's be honest here, we wouldn't expect anything less from the maker of the Galaxy Series of devices - but it seems that the unveiling of the iPhone 6 may be adversely affecting the Korean company in a way they'd never care to admit. In the aftermath of Tuesday's media event at the Flint Center, buyback service Gazelle are reporting that requests for Samsung hardware trade-ins were up over 200% as consumers look to free up some financial capacity to purchase the iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus when it hits the shelves.
















