We have been hearing for some time now that Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930) intends to usurp Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the immediate future as the Korean manufacturer attempts to become the world’s number one smartphone manufacturer. While some saw this as hubris, and other analysts as entirely realistic, today Samsung made an announcement that indicates they are ready to move beyond rhetoric and really take Apple on head-on.
Samsung play hardball with Galaxy F
A leak today has suggested that Samsung will make a very aggressive move in the marketplace to compete directly with the new iPhone. The iPhone 6 has been rumored to be earmarked for a September release this year for quite some time, and although there has been no official confirmation nor denial from Apple, this date seems extremely likely to come to fruition.
However, the iPhone 6 won’t be the only seismic smartphone release in September if today’s leaks are to be believed. The news has come straight from the infamous Twitter tipster @evleaks, who have suggested that Samsung will unveil its new Galaxy F handset in September as well. Whether or not this means it would actually get a September release date remains to be seen, but Samsung would certainly be looking at somewhere around the same time as the proposed release date for the iPhone 6.
And unlike the mooted Apple offering, we do already have a pretty good idea what to expect from the Galaxy F. Firstly, @evleaks has posted images which are alleged to show the Samsung handset. One of the persistent assumptions regarding the Galaxy F is that Samsung will ditch the plastic shell of previous Galaxy smartphones to up the ante in the looks department with a metal chassis.
Spec list already settled
Additionally, reports have already given indication what sort of spec list can be expected when the Galaxy F hits the High Street. The consensus of opinion is that the Galaxy F will feature a 5.1-inch, 2K display with a 2560×1440-pixel resolution and 3GB of RAM, as well as a 2.5Ghz Snapdragon 805 quad-core processor. Other rumored specs include an an Adreno 420 graphics card, a 16-megapixel rear camera, a 2-megapixel front-facing snapper, 32GB storage and Android 4.4.2 KitKat.
It is rare for any smartphone manufacturer to release a major product around the time that an iPhone release is scheduled for rather obvious and fundamental economic reasons. The iPhone is by far the dominant smartphone on the market today, and taking it on directly in the marketplace has been considered somewhere between heresy and commercial suicide until now.
The fact that Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930) is readying itself to release the Galaxy F in the same ballpark as the iPhone 6 is indicative of an emboldened feeling at the company. Samsung is already a huge seller of smartphones in its native East Asia, where Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) nevertheless retain significant popularity, and it has been predicted that this dominance of emerging markets will enable them to overtake Apple in due course.
The proof will be in the pudding, but based on this news we’re going to witness one almighty smartphone battle in September!
