In the same week that Samsung forecast its first fall in annual profit for three years, the company also unveiled plans to streamline its smartphone line-up, cutting new releases this year by 25-30% from 2014 and introducing lower-priced models.
According to reports, the first low cost models will go on sale in India as early as this month, priced at around $90. The handsets will run the Tizen operating system, which Samsung developed with Intel and other partners. Samsung has seen its dominant market position steadily decline as a result of increased competition from cheaper manufacturers such as Xiaomi (see Xiaomi Now World’s Most Valuable Start-Up in this issue).
