Samsung is expecting a lot from its two new high-end phablets, the Galaxy Note 5 and the Galaxy S6 Edge+ as the company is suffering its fifth consecutive quarterly decline in profit.
Moreover the company continues to get squeezed by cheap Chinese smartphone makers in the low-end and Apple in the high-end. This is the only reason that Samsung has kept the price much lower for the Galaxy Note 5 and the S6 Edge+ than the previous devices in the Note series.
The Galaxy Note 5 32GB model will only cost 899,800 ($762.15) and if you would remember the first Note launched back in 2011 was priced at 957,000 won with the Note 2 and Note 3 being priced at 1.089 million won and 1.067 million won respectively.
Plus what is surprising is the price of the Galaxy S6 Edge+ which has a price of 939,400 won which means it is even cheaper than its smaller sibling the Galaxy S6 edge which was priced at 979,000 won when it was released in April.
Park Young-joo, an analyst at Hyundai Securities stated that the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+ when compared with the Galaxy S6 series have larger displays and better specifications but the price has no difference.
He explained that this is a strategy to increase specifications and lower price amid an intensifying competitive market. He also stated that this will lower the profits for Samsung.
Now coming to Samsung’s new mobile payment service, Samsung Pay, the service underwent a month long beta test and now the service has gone live. The owners of the Galaxy Note 5 and the Galaxy S6 Edge+ in South Korea will now be able to use the service.
The S6 and S6 Edge users can also use the service but for that they will need a small software update. Well Apple Pay hasn’t reached South Korea yet and this will allow Samsung to gain an early foothold in mobile payment in its home country. Samsung Pay will reach the US on September 28th which will be followed by the UK, Spain and China.
Samsung Pay has an advantage over its rival as it works in more types of terminals than its rivals due to a technology called Magnetics Secure Transmission. This technology works with magnetic-stripe terminals as well as Near Field Communication terminals.
