Live: Samsung Galaxy S5 launch in MWC 2014
Live updates of the Samsung Galaxy S5 launch from MWC 2014:
1.20 am: The Galaxy S5 has a larger screen than its predecessor, at 5.1 inches (12.95 cm), instead of 5 inches, and a sharper camera, with a resolution of 16 megapixels, up from 13 megapixels.
1: 15 am: Davind Park of Samsung briefing about technical specifications of Samsung Galaxy S5.
01:00am: Jean-Daniel Ayme of a European telecommunications body speaking about Samsung Galaxy S5 features on stage.
00: 45 am:
The Samsung Galaxy S5 features a 5.1-inch display with a 1080x1920
pixel full-HD resolution. Powered by an unnamed 2.5GHz quad-core
processor, it also have 2GB RAM, and runs on Android 4.4.2 KitKat.
Sony
unveiled a new waterproof phone that can take ultra-high-definition
video. Nokia introduced three Android smartphones aimed at emerging
markets. And Lenovo announced one with an all-glass exterior.
Yet
most of the attention will be on Samsung, is expected to announce a
successor to its flagship Galaxy S4 smartphone at MWC 2014. That's bad
news for all the other phone makers trying to get noticed at the Mobile
World Congress wireless show, which opened Monday in Barcelona, Spain.
"It's
increasingly difficult to get attention for your mobile device in a
very crowded marketplace," said Dan Hays, US wireless advisory leader at
the consulting firm PwC.
It's even more difficult when one of the
competing devices comes from Samsung Electronics Co., which already
announced two new computerized wristwatches on Sunday. Apple is the only
company that might be able to overshadow Samsung, but it isn't
attending or announcing anything at the show.
Samsung is "going to
take the oxygen out of the room," said Roger Entner, an analyst with
the Recon Analytics research firm in Boston.
Entner said the S4
and its predecessor, the Galaxy S III, were both blockbuster phones and
have helped Samsung surpass iPhone maker Apple Inc. as the world's
largest smartphone maker. According to Gartner, Samsung had a 31 per
cent market share last year, compared with 16 per cent for Apple. No
other company had more than 5 percent.
More important than having
well-made phones, however, "is that they are spending a significant
amount on advertising," Entner said.
Samsung spent nearly 4.6
trillion won ($4.3 billion) in advertising in the 12 months through
September, about four times the $1.1 billion Apple spent in the same
period, the latest for which figures were available. Although Samsung
also makes TVs, refrigerators and other products, analysts believe much
of the marketing is for newer products such as phones.
In a
November interview with The Associated Press, Motorola Mobility CEO
Dennis Woodside said Samsung has shown "that marketing can really create
a product and create a phenomenon. We're never going to have the money
that they have to market our products."
The only other company
that comes close to matching Samsung's muscle is Apple. The iPhone's
debut in 2007 showed the world that phones can do much more than calls
and messages. Since then, each new iPhone release has taken on an aura
of a rock concert, with the most devoted Apple fans lining up at stores
for hours or days to buy one.
Apple typically skips trade shows, however, and prefers holding its own events.
In
fact, Samsung also typically holds its own events. Last year's Galaxy
S4 announcement came in New York a few weeks after the Barcelona show.
But timing this year's unveiling to the show is a good opportunity for
Samsung to make deals with wireless carriers and other partners.
Sony
Mobile president Kunimasa Suzuki said that with Apple and Samsung so
dominant, the real battle is for No. 3. He said that means marketing
that is focused by country and product line.
"It doesn't mean we just directly compete with the big giants," he said in an interview Monday.
Despite
all the marketing power, Samsung will have to give people a reason to
upgrade. It must shatter the notion that phone improvements these days
are incremental rather than innovative, said Will Stofega, program
director for mobile phones with research firm IDC.
In the past,
Samsung has tried to appear innovative by packing its Android phones
with a slew of features, such as automatic scrolling of content when the
phone or user's head is tilted. But these features don't always work as
promised and come across as disjointed from one another.
People will be looking for Samsung to "really redesign and create an experience that feels less packed," Stofega said.
Samsung
also has been updating phones by making their screens larger. The S4's
display measures 5 inches diagonally, compared with 4.8 inches on the S
III and 4 inches on the original S from 2010. The iPhone's screen has
stayed steady at 4 inches since 2012.
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