Samsung Galaxy S4 To ‘Steal The Thunder’ From Apple Inc. (AAPL) iPhone

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The Samsung Galaxy S4 will finally be unveiled tonight, and one firm predicts that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) may have some trouble coming. ABG Sundal Collier believes Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930) will not only increase the pressure on Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), but also come out on top.

Samsung Galaxy S4 To 'Steal The Thunder' From Apple Inc. (AAPL) iPhone

The firm comes out in stark opposition to the views of BTIG analyst Walter Piecyk, who was the first to downgrade Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock a year ago and became the first to upgrade it today after numerous analysts have downgraded it in recent weeks. Unlike Piecyk, who upgraded Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares to Buy, Analysts at ABG Sundal have given the stock a Sell rating.

In a report issued to investors on Wednesday, ABG Sundal Collier analysts compared the Galaxy S4 to the iPhone 5 and explained why Samsung will likely come out the winner in this battle. The analysts point out that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930) have pretty much kept their product releases about six months apart, which thus far has minimized each other’s impact.

The iPhone 5, which wasn’t much of an upgrade from the iPhone 4S, came out about six months ago, but unfortunately for Apple, Samsung’s Galaxy S4 is quite a huge upgrade from the S3. The Galaxy S4 is expected to sport a 5-inch screen, a 13-megapixel camera, and either an octo-core or quad-core processor, compared to the iPhone 5’s 4-inch screen, 8-megapixel camera, and double-core processor.

The analysts said investors can expect the number of lawsuits between Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930) to increase dramatically “in the coming weeks,” although they believe that Samsung “has the upper hand.” They point out that Samsung addresses all of the smartphone market price points, while Apple only addresses the top 30 percent of the market. And those problems are just the tip of the iceberg, according to ABG Sundal.

“Unlike Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), it [Samsung] is agnostic to different operating and eco-systems,” the analysts wrote. “Unlike Apple, it rejuvenates its product portfolio at the rate of some 20-40 models every twelve months. Unlike Apple, it is well sourced internally with state-of-the-art semiconductor components.”

They point out that sales of the iPhone 4S slumped not long after the Samsung Galaxy S3 came out, and they expect that bit of history to repeat itself.

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) traded mostly flat throughout the day on Wednesday, closing at a slight increase of almost 1 percent. It will be interesting to see what the stock does on Friday after the Samsung Galaxy S4 is unveiled.

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