Samsung budget phones will get new features sooner than the flagships

In a significant change of strategy, Samsung is thinking to roll-out new features on the company’s mid-rangers sooner than it does so for any of the flagships.

All of the major smartphone companies usually are in the habit of releasing new features with their flagship smartphones for an increased limelight. This, however, might not be the case with Samsung anymore. Witnessing a very weak sales quarter for smartphones, Samsung is now shifting the focus of putting new features into its flagship to putting them on the mid-rangers first.

During a talk with CNBC, DJ Koh, the Head of Samsung’s Mobile Division told that he is devising a new strategy for its smartphones.

“In the past, I brought the new technology and differentiation to the flagship model and then moved to the mid-end. But I have changed my strategy from this year to bring technology and differentiation points starting from the mid-end,” Koh told CNBC.

The smartphones category for Samsung witnessed a major blow after weak S9 sales. Samsung revealed a 30% quarter-on-quarter decline in its smartphone sales as the sales showed major dependency on S9 which experienced a blow back. Koh said that it has already moved its mobile development team to focus on the new strategy. [We are now]“focusing on millennials who cannot afford the flagship,” Koh continued.

Asia is a big market for smartphone makers and mid-range and low-end smartphones are the biggest sellers in the Asian economies. Samsung by introducing high end features in low and budget range smartphones can win the trust and loyalty of a sizeable chunk.