Our main news on the S9 and S9+ was the report from the Samsung press event (Samsung’s S9 Launch Emphasis is on Camera), but, of course, we went to the booth. There were the usual demonstrations of VR and there was a solid line of those keen to try the VR with motion simulation. On the topic of VR, we first confirmed that the firm has no plan to update the Gear VR for 2018 and the reason for that is that the S9 is almost exactly the same size as the S8, so there is really no need to update it.
We also heard at the event that the wireless technology used is from Powermat.
The booth was completely dominated by the S9 and S9+. in contrast to previous years, when the new models were shown to the press, but not to other delegates. To us, it seemed like a degree of overkill, but the booth was continuously busy. The phones were shown with the Gear 360 camera and also the Dex Pad which, this year, puts the smartphone horizontal and uses the touch surface. (It was noticeable that in previous years, HP and others have shown this kind of device, but they weren’t very visible this year).
One of the few products that was shown other than the Galaxy S9 and S9+ was the Galaxy Active Tab 2 rugged tablet that was announced back in October. Samsung Adds Mounts for Rugged Tablet The tablet was being shown in an AR application. There were no other PCs, tablets or smartphones that we could see.
Analyst Comment
IHS analyst, Ian Fogg, pointed out that the key competition for the S9 is not last year’s S8 model, as few buyers of that phone are ready to upgrade, but those from two or three years ago. IHS tracks the active installed base and the biggest models in terms of share are the S7 and S7 Edge, which have a combined 5.26% share, while the S6 has a 1.75% share and S5 with 1.4%. However, the share is very different by country – in the US and UK, the S7 and S7 Edge are top, while in Taiwan it’s the Note 5 Duos and in Brazil the Galaxy J7 Prime. Fogg points out that there are significant differences in performance compared to these older models. By December 2017, 59% of phones in active use have displays of 5.5″ or greater, so you really need to have big displays to be attractive.
IHS Samsung installed base by model – click for higher resolution. Source:IHS
