14 DAY TRIAL // Samsung has launched a plethora of tablets, notebooks and smartphones over the years, in an attempt to provide a product for every consumer niche ever-imaginable.
But this strategy doesn't seem to be helping the device maker as of late. A recent report revealed that Samsung is planning to make 25-30% less smartphone models in 2015, due to customers’ weakening interest in the company’s products.
Samsung's tablet/laptop business will go downwards in 2015
And according to new information reported by Digitimes (citing their Digitimes Research subsidiary) Samsung is on track to receive another blow, this time in the tablet/notebook department.
If we’re to take the report as an accurate one, Lenovo (which is the world’s biggest PC vendor) will beat Samsung electronics in mobile computing device shipments by the end of the year.
The gap between the two companies will be made up of one million units, so Lenovo will advance to become the world’s second mobile device vendor (according to the report, the term refers to tablets and laptops not smartphones), trailing only behind Apple.
Digitimes considers notebook computers mobile devices for the simple reason that you can actually carry them around. It makes sense, right? But the only problem is that reports such as these will end up confusing folks, who will think “mobile” refers to smartphones.
And let’s be honest about it, Lenovo’s smartphone business isn't even close to Samsung’s. Not at this moment, anyway.
As can be clearly seen in IDC’s October report covering smartphone shipments in Q3 2014, Samsung leads the race with 78.1 million quarters, while Lenovo only takes the fourth position with 16.9 million.
Now if we’re to break the numbers by category, the Digitimes report shows us that Lenovo tablet shipments will see a slight increase to 11.7 million in 2015, while Samsung’s will go downwards and reach 36 million units.
Samsung's notebook business is its Achile's foot
It’s notebooks that save Lenovo after all. The Chinese device maker is expected to ship 38 million notebooks in 2015, while Samsung will only manage to offer 5 million.
Samsung has pulled away from the notebook business in Europe, so it makes sense its sales aren’t really skyrocketing. Nevertheless, Chromebook-wise things are a little bit better.
On the other hand, at some point Sammy had big plans of getting closer to becoming the world’s top tablet vendor. If the predictions outlined above turn out to be true Samsung and Lenovo jumps in front, the Korean tech giant has a rough patch ahead.
