In 2012, and so far this year, Samsung has seen record sales and profits. It seems that they can do no wrong in the mobile marketplace, so you cannot really blame them for announcing two new handsets in advance of the Mobile World Congress 2013 event in Barcelona, Spain at the end of February. Annually that gathering of mobile titans, analysts and aficionados is used to debut significant smartphones. But instead of waiting until then, Samsung guaranteed they could garner all the mobile marketplace media attention by announcing in a slow news week.
Attempting to piggyback on the incredible success of the Galaxy Note II tablet sized smartphone and the globally best-selling Galaxy S III Android handset, the South Korean smartphone manufacturer red carpeted a water resistant smartphone, as well as a socially engineered 4G handset. Reported by Mobile Magazine, the first of the two new arrivals for 2013 is named the Galaxy Express. This is a 4G capable device which will probably kick off the summer smartphone sales frenzy in June.
That handset is aimed at what Samsung calls “the young social explorer” and will probably be more of an entry-level, budget priced device. The younger end of the smartphone demographic obviously has less discretionary money to spend, and the Galaxy Express smartphone is aimed towards that mobile customer. The meagerly priced handset will nonetheless deliver a 1.2 GHz dual core processor and high resolution 4.5 inch screen. Samsung also announced that their Galaxy Express 4G smartphone would be running on the Android Jelly Bean operating system, delivering a 5.0 megapixel camcorder and front facing chat cam.
The Samsung Galaxy S III is available for a reduced sale price now starting at $0.01.
Samsung also revealed what they call their XCover 2 smartphone. No, this is not a National Football League defensive alignment you will see during the Super Bowl, but is instead a sand and dust proof, water resistant smartphone. The XCover 2 handset does not have an official release date, and Samsung also did not mention what wireless carriers would be offering the device geared towards rugged outdoorsmen and women.
The durable XCover 2 will be designed to resist more than the normal wear and tear the average smartphone owner dishes out, sporting a 1.0 GHz dual core processor and 4.0 inch display. Also announced was Samsung’s plans to skip the MWC 2013 expo with their Galaxy S IV announcement, instead unveiling that device in either March or April. It remains to be seen if blanketing the MWC this year with device debuts both before and after the event will prove a successful strategy for Samsung, but they currently sit atop the global smartphone marketplace.
You can purchase the Galaxy S III at a discounted price tag now starting at $0.01.
