Last week, at IFA in Berlin, Samsung dominated with a string of announcements, including a new and improved Galaxy Note. In the weeks that follow, many of the Korean firm's competitors are expected to announce their latest entrants into a mobile market that is increasingly competitive. How will the smartphone landscape look when the dust settles? We can make a few guesses. At the top of the market, it is a three-horse race - for the time being at least. Here are the big three.
Samsung
Korean electronics giant Samsung was once a manufacturer that simply made products that were cheaper than its rivals, such as Sony and Panasonic. Now, however, the manufacturer is reaping the rewards of a serious focus on much higher quality. While it continues to make some 60 phones each year, it now has the flagship models to cater for every market and the scale to make sure that innovative features quickly show up in cheaper models.
Korean electronics giant Samsung was once a manufacturer that simply made products that were cheaper than its rivals, such as Sony and Panasonic. Now, however, the manufacturer is reaping the rewards of a serious focus on much higher quality. While it continues to make some 60 phones each year, it now has the flagship models to cater for every market and the scale to make sure that innovative features quickly show up in cheaper models.
Its success has seen it quickly embroiled in a host of lawsuits over patents, most famously last month when it lost a $1bn case to Apple. But Samsung is also Apple’s supplier for many of its chips, and it makes televisions, excellent audio equipment and much more besides. In that sense it’s an example of the mega-corporations that we are seeing more and more of – it’s grown rapidly while Sony, Panasonic and HTC have struggled and often failed to stay profitable. For now, Samsung is Apple’s biggest rival.
Galaxy S3
The Galaxy S3 is the best phone on the market to use the most popular operating system, Google’s Android. It’s also the first phone to come close to generating the level of excitement that Apple enjoys.
The Galaxy S3 is the best phone on the market to use the most popular operating system, Google’s Android. It’s also the first phone to come close to generating the level of excitement that Apple enjoys.
Key to the S3’s appeal is a combination of lovely design, a beautiful 4.8” screen and a fast processor. Highlights include ‘Smart Stay’, which uses the front-facing camera to track your eyes as you look at the phone - as long as you're looking, the display won't go to sleep. As yet, it’s not quite consistent, but this seems like a feature that will be standard soon.
The camera offers decent quality, a burst mode and integrates with Facebook to automatically recognise the people in your pictures. And the huge battery (2,100mAh) will get most users easily through the day.
Fans of the iPhone dislike the size of the S3 – the screen is enormous, even if the device is thin – and for feeling plasticky compared to the iPhone’s glass-and-steel solidity. But the sales figures speak for themselves. Though when the new iPhone comes out users will have a proper point of comparison
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