With the launch date of Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy S7 nearing, market speculation is rampant about the looks and specifications of the latest smartphone model.

A local media outlet reported Monday that Samsung’s new Galaxy smartphone will come in two variants -- one equipped with a 5.2-inch display and the other with a 5.5.-inch curved display.

Samsung’s move for the next flagship handset is aimed at beating its archrival Apple, which has also deployed a two-track strategy by releasing two products for a single lineup last year.
 

The Cupertino-based tech firm took the wraps off the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus last September, triggering handset-makers to competitively release a single flagship lineup with different specifications at the same time to cater to the various tastes of users.

Aiming to steal Apple’s thunder, the Korean tech giant unveiled the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge Plus, both of which boast a 5.7-inch display, a month before the unveiling event of Apple’s iPhones.

The news report on Monday cited an unknown source as saying, “Samsung is preparing the two-track strategy to more specifically target the premium market.”

Squeezed by Apple and Chinese upstarts including Xiaomi, Samsung saw its presence in the high-end smartphone segment decline in recent months.

“The plan to release the two Galaxy S7 variants seem to be Samsung’s efforts to boost its downward sales trajectory,” a market official said.

News reports also said that Samsung expects the entire shipment of its mobile phones to barely surpass 4 billion units, similar to this year’s figure, setting the initial production volume for the flat-screen Galaxy S7 at 3.3 million, and for the curved-screen model at 1.6 million.

Samsung was the largest smartphone-maker by sales in the world during the July-September period with its market share reaching 23.8 percent, beating those of runners-up Apple and Huawei, at 13.5 percent and 7.5 percent, respectively, according to market research firm IDC. The Korean firm shipped 845 million smartphone units in the cited period.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)



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Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy Note 5 (left) and Galaxy S6 Edge Plus. (Yonhap)