Samsung has been a powerhouse when it comes to producing a large line of smartphones. It seems every three months a new Samsung phone hits the market. Don’t expect to see that same trend in 2015. Today, Senior vice-president Robert Yi, said that Samsung plans to cut the number of smartphone models it produces in 2015 by 25%-30%, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.
The decision to cut down on its line of smartphone’s comes due Samsung’s desire to cut costs, in order to make up for the 49% drop in its third-quarter net profit. An executive within Samsung’s mobile division said during an earnings call that they will, “increase the number of components shared across mid- to low-end models, so that we can further leverage economies of scale”.
In 2014 Samsung released a staggering 56 new smartphones, compared to Apple’s two, LG’s 41, and HTC’s 27. Samsung has 167 phones currently for sale (includes 2013 models). The Samsung Galaxy line alone has five different models which include:
After looking at those numbers, I understand why Samsung is looking to cut down on the amount of smartphone models they produce. Many users are drawn to Samsung because of the power they pack into their smartphones. This leads us to ask, “will Samsung’s desire to cut costs also affect the power they put into their phones?” When competing with Apple I do not believe Samsung has the room to hold back on on its technical specifications. What do you think? Can Samsung still provide a powerful smartphone when trying to “further leverage economies of scale”? Let us know in the comment sections below.