Expectations at Samsung were too high

Smartphones
becoming more trivial and cheaper

The sales
of smartphones may be on the rise, in the higher regions growth is slowing
down. The new iPhone of Apple was the first to be the victim of this trend and
now the new flagship of Samsung, the Galaxy S4, is undergoing the same fate.

More and
more analysts believe future growth will be made in the cheaper segment. That
is also where the Chinese producers are eating away at the market share of the
leaders. As smartphones become more commonplace, they also become more trivial,
with lower prices and lower margins.

Still huge
growth

All this does not mean the results of Samsung are no longer going forward: a year ago
Samsung had sales of 47.6 trillion won in the second quarter of the financial
year. This year that number will be between 56 and 58 billion won.  Profits for
the company will be between 9.3 and 9.7 trillion won, still 44% to 50% more
than in the same period of the previous year. Both numbers are however lower
than was expected by financial analysts.

Samsung shipped 74 million smartphones in the past quarter, 2 million less than
estimated.