Samsung Electronics Co unveils the second generation of its popular
Galaxy Note phone cum-tablet at Europe's biggest electronics show in
Berlin later on Wednesday, as the South Korean firm comes under pressure
to innovate after losing a U.S. patent battle with Apple Inc.
A U.S.
federal jury last week found Samsung had copied critical features of the
iPhone and awarded Apple $1.05 billion in damages. Apple is now seeking
speedy bans on the sale of eight Samsung phones, moving swiftly to turn
legal victory into tangible business gain.
The Galaxy Note
phablet, Samsung's second most popular smartphone after its flagship
Galaxy S, is not included in the list of the potential U.S. sales ban,
and Samsung hopes the phablet upgrade will lift any post Apple gloom at
the South Korean group.
"There won't be huge innovative changes in
design, but the Note 2 will feature quite a few improvements and enable
Samsung to carry on its strong sales momentum in the category," said
Lee Sun-tae, an analyst at NH Investment & Securities. "With the
launch, Samsung will also be trying to turn around downbeat sentiment
after the U.S. legal defeat."
The new version of the Note is
expected to feature a thinner and slightly bigger 5.5-inch screen,
powerful quad-core processor, the latest version of Google's Android
operating system called Jellybean, and improved stylus function.
It's
the latest product to illustrate Samsung's attempts to make bold design
changes as it comes increasingly under pressure to differentiate its
line-up from the iPhone, whose simple and large touchscreen-based design
revolutionised the mobile industry and is still considered the gold
standard of design.
Flexi screen
Samsung is also working to
introduce smartphones with bendable screens later this year as it seeks
to cement its lead in the $200 billion plus global smartphone market and
challenge Apple, which is expected to launch its new iPhone on
September 12.
The new Note comes just three months after Samsung
released the third generation of its Galaxy S smartphone, which has
already sold more than 10 million, and succeeds the original 5.3-inch
Note, which was introduced in late-October and was a surprise hit,
selling more than 10 million within 9 months.
Other firms that
offer so called phablets include LG Electronics and HTC. ABI Research
has predicted phablet shipments could reach 208 million by 2015.
Unlike
Apple, Samsung depends on various line-ups, offering a range of models
in different sizes and with different software, and keeps its product
cycle shorter. Later this year, it is expected to launch a new model
running Microsoft's upgraded Windows operating system.
Samsung
shares rose 2.9 percent to 1.23 million won in Seoul on Wednesday in a
broader Korean market that closed up 0.6 percent - and are now down just
3.5 percent from their levels before last Friday's U.S. ruling. The
shares slumped 7.5 percent on Monday, wiping $12 billion off the
company's market value.
A U.S. judge on Tuesday set a December 6
court date to hear Apple's request for a permanent injunction against
Samsung smartphones, which could delay the potential impact of Apple's
legal victory. Also, ratings agency Standard & Poor's said Apple's
bruising legal win had not affected the agency's ratings on Samsung.
Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012