Although Samsung has recently released the Galaxy Note 4, the corporation will already be considering its next move in the mobile marketplace. The Galaxy S6 will be the smartphone sequel to the Galaxy S5, and the Korean manufacturer is expected to significantly improve the capabilities of this major mobile device.
Samsung Galaxy S6 – Leaked images emerge
It will be sometime until Samsung releases any concrete information about this flagship smartphone, but already leaks are emerging. Just this week, a screenshot has been published by Chinese website CNMO which allegedly contains some of the specifications of the Galaxy S6. As always with such leaks, one must take them with a pinch of salt, as there have been numerous false alarms over the years, and not merely with Samsung products.
However, assuming that the leak is correct, then we already know that the Galaxy S6 will feature a 5.5-inch quad HD display. This will mean that the Galaxy S6 has a screen resolution of 1,440 x 2,560 pixels, so it is clear that Samsung has been developing a larger and more detailed display for this next-generation smartphone.
The document leaked by CNMO also suggests that the next generation Galaxy S series will be armed with a 64-bit, octa-core Exynos 7420 processor. However, there is even a model number listed in the screenshot, which would appear to be the European version of the smartphone. So it must be borne in mind that other regional versions of the Galaxy S6 could feature a different processor, such as a Qualcomm Snapdragon. This has been a common practice for Samsung with past devices, and was the case with the Galaxy S5.
While the camera in the Galaxy S5 has been generally praised, the leaked image also suggests that the snapper in the Galaxy S6 will be significantly improved over its predecessor. The picture indicates that the Samsung smartphone will come complete with a 20-megapixel camera facing in a rear direction, while a 5-megapixel shooter will be mounted on the front of the device.
The latest version of Android will also form part of this device’s armory, with Android 5.0 Lollipop tipped for the Galaxy S6. In terms of memory provisions, it is believed that the Galaxy S6 will offer 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal storage.
Of course, with regard to the latter figure, this could merely be a representation of the device contained in the picture. Samsung will almost certainly offer other versions of the Galaxy S6 as well. It has been rumored that Apple will produce the worlds first 256 GB storage smartphone when it releases the iPhone 7 next year, and Samsung will certainly be paying heed to these rumors in the development of the Galaxy S6.
Project Zero
Samsung is already reportedly working on this device, and numerous publications have pointed to the fact that the codename for the Galaxy S6 development within Samsung is known as Project Zero. Although the name of the project has been leaked to websites, very little is known about what the project actually entails. But a few reports that have emerged suggest that Samsung will completely rejig the design of the Galaxy S6 compared to previous versions as it is developed.
This is an interesting notion given the fact that the Galaxy S 5 was generally pretty well reviewed. However, it is not being done without good reason. Samsung desperately needs to manufacture a smartphone which can help it to recapture some of its declining sales and market share. Although the situation isn’t terminal yet, the British newspaper The Guardian has already mused on the idea that Samsung could end up in serious financial difficulty; comparing the crash of the company to those of BlackBerry and Nokia.
Q3 headaches
It is perhaps early in the day to make such bold predictions about the future of Samsung, but its recent financial figures are certainly far from encouraging. For the September quarter, the Korean Manufacturing giant reported a 74 percent drop in profits for its mobile business and an overall decline in revenues of 20 percent.
The reasons for this appear to be two-fold. Firstly, the Galaxy S5 is facing intense competition from low-cost devices with less prestigious names. China’s Xiaomi has taken a significant chunk out of Samsung market share, particularly in East Asia. While are at the other end of the market, Apple’s devices retain a cachet, street credibility and commercial success which Samsung would certainly relish.
Having stated that it intends to displace Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) as the world’s biggest seller of mobile devices, the Korean company has since realized that such bullish sentiments must be tempered for the foreseeable future while it attempts to simply get back on an even keel.
So the Galaxy S6 will represent an important attempt to improve Samsung’s fortunes, in a climate in which its core business is significantly declining. Previously Samsung had the phablet market pretty much to itself; certainly it was considered the premium Android producer of such devices. But with the debut of the larger iPhone 6 Plus, the Android platform is no longer the sole option for phablet consumers, and Samsung must make its devices stand out significantly from the crowd.
One thing that Samsung isn’t innovating on is the name of this device. Reports have already indicated that the next Galaxy flagship will definitely be called the Galaxy S6; which is pretty much what everyone expected. It seems that Samsung is definitely not ready to dispense with this successful branding at this point in time, but the device itself may be viewed as a significant revolution in the Galaxy S series by the time it arrives at the Mobile World Congress in March next year.
