Galaxy S4 receives positive feedback

By Kim Yoo-chul

Galaxy S4

The Galaxy S4, the latest smartphone unveiled Friday by Samsung Electronics, will enable consumers to have a better user experience with its new features, according to an influential market research firm, Tuesday.

It also pointed out that the release of the new handset validated the conviction that there is still room for the smarketphone market to grow.

``Our channel checks imply that production of the S4 is around 10 million per month, which would mean another significant jump over the Galaxy S3,’’ said Sanford C. Bernstein Analyst Mark Newman in a report. Bernstein is widely recognized as Wall Street’s premier sales-side research firm.

Newman said the features of the S4 were ``much anticipated and no major surprises,’’ however, the analyst stressed many incremental upgrades and new features add up to what it believes will be a far better experience for users.

``Samsung has continued the trend of more emphasis on software and has included several unique and cool new features such as smart scroll and smart pause,’’ Newman added.

Having grabbed a lead over Apple in the global smartphone market, the Korean firm is determined to defeat its biggest rival on the former’s home turf with the S4.

Samsung appears to be trying to prove it can dethrone the iPhone not only in sales and specifications but in Apple’s bread-and-butter _ software and innovation.

Another interesting point from Newman is his claim that today’s ``smartphone wars’’ have moved ``beyond just the products.’’

``Distribution, brand and marketing are important, too. On that, Samsung’s rollout of the S4 is particularly impressive. 155 countries and 327 operators instantaneously compared to 28 countries for the predecessor S3 and eventually 145 countries over two months,’’ the analyst said.

Samsung officials and market watchers have attributed the success of the company’s mobile division to the generous amount spent on advertising and other marketing activities, including incentives, subsidies and training for salesclerks.

A recent internal Samsung document, a copy of which was obtained by The Korea Times, showed that it spent around $11 billion on marketing last year.

The positive outlook for the S4 is expected to help the prices of memory chips remain stable as more sales mean more demand for the components, according to the analyst.

Bernstein forecasts dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and flash-type memory chip prices will continue to rise.

The price of benchmark DRAM was up 19 percent, while that of flash memory chips increased 7 percent, which Bernstein believes is a significantly better than expectations.

``We continue to maintain our positive view for both flash-type and DRAM structural recoveries for this year and into next year,’’ Bernstein said.

``A new order in DRAM now prevails. Not only is the cycle turning due to a supply and demand balance, but we fundamentally believe that this time it is different,’’ the analyst said.

Flash-type and DRAM chips are widely used in almost all digital devices from televisions, tablets, smartphones and PCs. DRAMs read and store data, while flash chips are able to store data even when switched off.