A new report from South Korea indicates that Samsung will be shutting down its last smartphone manufacturing plant in China at the end of the month. The plant located in the Guangdong province of China first started producing phones on December 1992. It is presently the only functional Samsung production plant in China and around June this year, the company scaled down production at the plant with reports of workers getting laid off.

The steady rise to prominence of local phone manufacturers in China signalled the decline of Samsung phones in what was one of its strongholds. Samsung controlled more than 20% share of the market in the hay days but as Chinese brands continue to surge in growth, the Korean company continued to lose market share. The local OEMs like OPPO, Vivo, Xiaomi and others were able to gain ground against the global market leader by offering premium models at affordable prices. Samsung’s market share in China was below 1% as at the end of 2018.

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In recent times, Samsung has made efforts to reclaim its lost glory in the Chinese market and other markets like India where Chinese OEMs have grabbed a chunk of the market share for her hands. The company recently shifted its focus to the midrange segment with the Galaxy A series and other premium but affordable models. The Korean tech giant is also exploiting the use of ODM to manufacture its phones for the local market in a bid to cut the cost of production and thus bring down the retail price. The Galaxy A6s and A9s were the first devices to be manufactured by an ODM.

Samsung still continues production of smartphones in its plants in Thailand and Vietnam, though. However, it remains to be seen if there would be any chance of a return to China in the future. Time will tell.

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Samsung has recently lost its number uno position to Xiaomi in India. However, recent reports have revealed that the South Korean tech giant is working on a strategy to dethrone Xiaomi in the country. In China too, Samsung is now aggressively employing its new strategy of targeting the mid-range smartphone market to regain its lost glory. In Q4 2017, it was ousted to 12^th position in terms of smartphone market share in China. However, a fresh report reveals that its new strategy has allowed the company to reenter the top 10 list.

One of the reasons why the company lost its market share was that it continued to sell high-end phones with hefty price tags whereas Chinese counterparts started selling flagship phones with cheaper pricing. The Galaxy Note 9 that arrived in China with a starting price of 6,999 Yuan (~$1,006) was met with lukewarm response soon after its launch. Also, Chinese smartphone OEMs also began offering flagship features on mid-range smartphones.

The South Korean company has recently launched the quad camera Galaxy A9s and Galaxy A6s with respective starting price of 3,499 Yuan (~$503) and 1,799 Yuan (~$259). The budget-friendly Galaxy A6s is reportedly receiving better market response in China. In additional to selling high-end phones, Samsung is now focusing more on the mid-range and low-end market in China. Also, the company is now selling phones customized for the Chinese market.

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According to Sino, Samsung sold 1.23 million units in China in Q3 2018. In Q1 2018, the company’s market share declined to 0.8 percent, but in Q3 it has moved has increased to 1.1 percent. This has allowed the South Korean company to move to 9^th position in China. The lack of Samsung phones in the mid-range market allowed Chinese brands like Huawei, OPPO, Vivo and Xiaomi to gain market share quickly.

Will Samsung be able to rank among the top five brands in China soon? Share us your views by posting your comments below.

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Samsung has launched two new Galaxy A series smartphones namely the Galaxy A6s and the Galaxy A9s in China. The Galaxy A6s is a mid-range phone with decent specs whereas the Galaxy A9s is the very same Galaxy A9 (2018) smartphone that was introduced earlier in this month in Malaysia as the world’s first smartphone with four rear cameras. Both smartphones have been introduced in attractive color gradient options.  

Samsung Galaxy A9s Specifications, Features and Pricing

The Samsung Galaxy A9s features glass panels on its front and rear sides with an aluminum frame in between. The overall appearance of the smartphone is not very different from the Galaxy A9 Star smartphone that was unveiled few months ago in China. A Super AMOLED display of 6.38-inch is available on the Galaxy A9s. The Snapdragon 660 and 6 GB of RAM are the driving force of the smartphone. It includes a 3,800mAh battery.

The Galaxy A9s has an internal storage of 128 GB and it features a dedicated microSD slot for additional storage. The Android 8.1 Oreo OS that is overlaid with Samsung Experience UI comes preinstalled on the Galaxy A9s.

It goes without saying that the quad camera setup of the Galaxy A9s is its major selling point. From the top, it features a 120-degree 8-mgeapixel wide-angle lens with f/2.4 aperture which is followed by a 10-megapixel telephoto lens with f/2.4 aperture and 2x optical zoom. The third lens of 24-megapixel is the main sensor. It has an aperture of f/1.7 and is responsible for capture top quality images in bright conditions. In dim-light environments, it combines four pixels into one to effectively reduce noise. The f/2.2 aperture 5-megapixel depth senor is fourth lens in the quad camera setup of the Galaxy A9s.

The handset features a front-facing camera of 24-megapixel which also doubles as face unlock feature. A fingerprint scanner is also available on the rear side of the phone.

The Galaxy A9s carries a price tag of 3,499 Yuan (~$504). Samsung has already started the pre-sales of the smartphone and it will be available for purchase from Nov. 11 at 12 AM. The handset has arrived in three exciting color such as Caviar Black, Lemon Blue and Bubblegum Pink.

Samsung Galaxy A6s Specifications, Features and Pricing

The Samsung Galaxy A6s has a metal and glass combination body like the Galaxy A9s. It measures 156.14 x 76.4 x 8.39mm. Instead of S-AMOLED screen, the Galaxy A6s features IPS LCD display of 6 inches. It produces Full HD+ resolution of 2160 x 1080 pixels. The display carries support for an aspect ratio of 18:9.

The Snapdragon 660 chipset that includes an octa-core processor of 2.2 GHz is present under the hood of the device. The SoC of the phone is assisted by 6 GB of RAM. It comes in two storage models of 64 GB and 128 GB and there is a microSD card slot for more storage. The handset is packed with a 3,200mAh battery.

The backside of the Galaxy A6s features a vertically arranged 12-megapixel + 5-megapixel dual camera setup and a fingerprint scanner. The selfie camera of 12-megapixel is available on the upper bezel of the phone. The front camera also carries support for face unlock. The Samsung Experience UI based Android 8.1 Oreo OS is available on the smartphone.

The 64 GB and 128 GB Galaxy A6s are respectively priced at 1,799 Yuan (~$259) and 2,199 Yuan (~$317). It can be availed in color gradient options such as Salang Black, Koi Red, Flower Purple and Flower Blue.  The pre-sale of the Galaxy A6s has also started. It will be available for buying starting from Nov. 1 at 12 AM.

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At the launch of the Galaxy A9s and Galaxy A6s, Samsung also teased the Galaxy A8s smartphone. The company confirmed that it will be arriving with a new and pioneering technology. IceUniverse, the well-known industry expert from China has claimed that it will feature a small hole for the selfie camera and rest of the front panel will be mainly occupied its display.

What’s your opinion on the newly announced Samsung Galaxy A9s and Galaxy A6s smartphones? Do you think that the Galaxy A8s will be a promising smartphone? Share us your views by posting your comments below.

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Samsung has an event scheduled for October 24 in China. It has been confirmed it will announce the Galaxy A9S which has four cameras but it appears it will also launch the Galaxy A6S. Pricing for both phones has surfaced ahead of the launch on the 24th of October.

A screenshot showing the price of both phones was posted on Twitter yesterday by @MMDDJ_. According to the image, the Galaxy A6S will be sold at ¥2199 (~$317). This is for the 6GB RAM variant. The 6GB RAM Galaxy A9S, on the other hand, will sell for ¥3499 ($505).

Both phones will definitely be available in multiple variants, so expect more expensive and cheaper price tag.

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The Galaxy A9S will come with four cameras while the Galaxy A6S will have dual rear cameras. Both will have rear-mounted fingerprint scanners and run Android Oreo out of the box.

(Source, Via)

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Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018) that was unveiled in the previous month is the first phone from the company with triple rear cameras. The South Korean company has recently announced the Galaxy A9 (2018) phone as the world’s first phone with four rear-mounted cameras. A recent report had revealed that the South Korean company is planning to launch the same phone in China. The Galaxy A9 (2018) may not be the only phone that is heading to China since it is speculated that the country will be also receiving the Galaxy A6s smartphone that has a model number of SM-G6200. Freshly leaked photos of the Samsung Galaxy A6s have surfaced today to reveal its color variant and design.

As it can be seen in the newly leaked images, the alleged Galaxy A6s is equipped with glass panel on the rear. Its color variants include purple, red, blue and black. The rear design matches with the SM-G6200 phone that was certified by China’s TENAA telecom authority in the recent past. Hence, it seems that the SM-G6200 model number belongs to the Galaxy A6s smartphone.

According to the TENAA listing of the SM-G6200, its colors variants are black, blue, red and pink. So, the purple looking variant could actually be the pink model. The back panel of the phone features a vertical dual camera setup and a fingerprint scanner.

The front view of the Galaxy A6s reveals that it could be sporting Infinity Display design. The side bezels of the phone are a bit thick. The bottom bezel is empty, but the upper one features a selfie camera and an earpiece. The bottom view of the phone reveals that it is equipped with a 3.5mm audio jack, a microUSB port and an external speaker. One of the photos have “Galaxy Phoenix” mentioned on the boot screen which could be the codename of the smartphone.

Rumors surrounding the Galaxy A6s state that it could be the first ODM from Samsung. Because of the dismal market share of Samsung in China, the company has reportedly entered an agreement with China’s Wintech that also produces phones for Xiaomi. Hence, future Samsung phone for China could be produced by Wintech.

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Coming back to Galaxy A6s, its TENAA listing has revealed that it features a 5.99-inch IPS LCD screen that delivers Full HD+ resolution. Samsung is known for releasing phones with its Super AMOLED screens. After many years, the company could be launching a phone with LCD screen. It is powered by 2.2 GHz octa-core processor and 6 GB of RAM. Its storage editions are 64 GB and 128 GB. The handset will be running on Android 8.1 Oreo OS. For more storage, it will be featuring a microSD card. It will be fueled by a 3,300mAh battery.

(source|via)

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Samsung SM-G6200 smartphone has recently surfaced on TENAA, the telecom regulatory body from China. Earlier leaks have claimed that the Samsung SM-G6200 may debut as Galaxy P30. However, a recent report had revealed that the rumored Galaxy P-series has been axed and the Galaxy P30 may launch as a Galaxy A series phone. Exclusive information coming PhoneArena reveals that the SM-G6200 will be debuting as Galaxy A6s.

The publication has revealed that the handset will be carrying the Galaxy A6s moniker in all the Asian markets where it will be debuting including China. The focus market for the upcoming Galaxy A6s, Galaxy A7 (2018) and Galaxy A9 Pro (2018) will be China where Samsung’s market share went down to 0.8 percent in Q4 2017.

As far as international release of the smartphone is concerned, it may carry a different moniker in order to differentiate from the Galaxy A6 and Galaxy A6+ smartphones. It is speculated that the Galaxy A9 Pro (2018) and Galaxy A6s phones may debut together on Oct. 11. The sales of these phones are expected to begin soon after their launch. As of this writing, there is no information available on the pricing of the Galaxy A6s.

The Samsung SM-G6200 TENAA listing only contains its images. Only few specs of the phone such as 5.98-inch display, 3,300mAh battery and 156.14 x 76.8 x 8.39mm dimensions have surfaced on China’s certification site. The entire specifications of the phone are expected to surface in the next few days. The TENAA images of the phone have revealed that it is equipped with an 18.5:9 Infinity Display, vertical dual camera and a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner.

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As far as Galaxy A9 Pro (2018) is concerned, it is rumored to arrive as a premium phone with Infinity Display of 6.28 inches, Snapdragon 660 chipset, 3,720mAh battery and Sony IMX576 24-megapixel selfie camera. The USP of the phone will be quad camera setup that will include 24-megapixel main sensor, 8-megapixel wide-angle lens with a field of view of 120 degrees, 10-megapixel zoom camera and another zoom camera of 5-megapixel.

(source)

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