According to a new report, Samsung expects to sell only 360 million smartphones next year. Wait, “only” 360 million, isn't that a lot? Well, yes, it is, but for Samsung, a company that has seen immense growth in sales in recent years, with the Galaxy S4 becoming its most successful device this year, that's the smallest predicted year-on-year improvement in the case of smartphones.
One of the major reasons behind this prediction is the fact that the smartphone market is getting rather saturated at the high-end, and that is apparently causing Samsung to start focusing more on tablets and low-end and mid-range devices, with only 35 percent (126 million) out of 360 million smartphones to be “highly priced” devices. Much focus will likely be put on the Galaxy Note 12.2, which Samsung hopes will kick off the trend of larger than 12-inch slates; with Android 4.4 KitKat bringing faster and more efficient performance to low-end hardware, a focus on the entry-level would likely pay off pretty nicely as well.
