Samsung to reduce number of smartphone models available in market

Samsung Electronics has announced plans to slash the number of smartphone models it issues next year by up to one-third as it tries to cut prices in the face of intense Chinese competition.

The South Korean company would cut the number of models by 25-30 per cent in 2015, Robert Yi, Samsung’s senior vice-president, said.

“In 2015, we will lower the number of smartphone models by one fourth to one third compared with this year,” Mr Yi told an investor forum in New York.

“[This] would allow us a chance to lower the prices of [remaining models] through mass production.”

Samsung said the overhaul of its product portfolio would boost efficiency by focusing on more competitive models. But the group declined to give the number of smartphone models it currently has available on the market.

The move comes after Samsung posted its weakest quarterly earnings for three years in the third quarter, hit by increasing competition at both ends of the smartphone market.

Today, Galaxy S smartphone has suffered in the high-end market from the popularity of arch-rival Apple's new iPhone 6, while its dominance of the middle- and low-end handset segment has been challenged by Chinese handset makers such as Huawei, Xiaomi and Lenovo.

For the moment, Samsung is still the comfortable leader by sales volume, but its share of the global smartphone market has fallen from 35 per cent a year ago to just under 25 per cent, according to Strategy Analytics.

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