Samsung has a special place in hearts of the people due to the reputation it has created for itself. The Korean brand may have launched lesser number of models compared to last year but what didn’t change for the brand is its commitment towards producing and distributing smartphones in almost every price range possible. How did it do and how has the year treated the Korean smartphone maker? Let’s take a look in our report card series of 2022.
Samsung 2022: The Number Game
Samsung launched 21 models in 2022 compared to 29 models in 2021. Further, after including all the variants launched for these 21 models, the total number was 42. This number stood at 53 last year. Now, under Rs 15,000, Samsung launched a total of 10 devices while 10 devices were launched between Rs 15,000 and Rs 25,000, accounting for 24% market share.
The brand launched 5 devices in the price range of Rs 25,000 to Rs 35,000 and 3 devices in the range of Rs 35,000 to Rs 45,000. However, the brand’s main focus was on the premium segment this year, with 14 models launching at a price point above Rs 45,000, accounting for a market share of 33% out of the total models launched. This year, we saw a shift in Samsung’s main focus from budget and mid-range in 2021 to the top-end range in 20222.
Samsung 2022: Hits & Misses
Hits
The Galaxy S22 Ultra was one of the best hits for Samsung in 2022. While it basically brought back the Note series, it came with many interesting features such as 10X optical zoom, a 2K Resolution curved display and more. It tried to streamline its product portfolio, and that shows in the Number game above, where it launched a lesser number of models compared to last year.
Another hit point was how Samsung tried to mainstream its foldables and have made those a significant part of its flagship segment. The Galaxy Z Flip4 was proof of how Samsung wants foldables to be a part of people’s daily lives as it made it pocketable in terms of physicality and how affordable it can get.
Moreover, this year, Samsung tried to strengthen its position in the budget segment (Rs 15,000 to Rs 25,000), which we think was an ideal move for the company. It was not only focusing on the top-end premium segment but also the lower-end one.
Misses
While the Korean brought its foldables to the mainstream market, it also has an adverse effect on the company’s product portfolio. We think that this creates confusion in the consumers mind as to which one of Samsung’s premium devices, including the Galaxy S series and Z series foldables, are the most top-end smartphones from the brand. Samsung will have to convince the market regarding the positioning of each of its high-end smartphones as to where they stand in the lineup.
Next, we felt the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and the Z Flip 4 could have done much better if Samsung had innovated more with the two. For instance, the crease has only marginally improved over last year’s foldables from Samsung. Moreover, maintenance issues that have been cropping up with regards to the foldables from Samsung and the prices tipping towards the higher side still make us think whether we should go for a foldable smartphone or not.
Lastly, Samsung also seemed to have gave up on the mid-premium segment this year, with the main focus shifting towards the top end. The brand could have leveraged its reputation in that segment which it did last year with well-loaded devices, but it failed to do so this past year.
Samsung 2022: Top 3 Smartphones
Out of all the smartphones launched by Samsung, we feel these were the top 3:
#3: Galaxy M53 5G
The Galaxy M53 comes at third position in our list as we feel this was an all-rounder device. It had an impressive set of cameras, a display, and big battery and was priced decently as well.
#2: Galaxy Z Flip4
The Galaxy Z Flip4 was also one of the best smartphones launched by Samsung in 2022. It had a very compact form factor when folded and was in the affordable price range, considering how expensive foldables are.
#1: Galaxy S22 Ultra
The Galaxy S22 Ultra was the best smartphone Samsung launched this year. Not only did it have a big curved high-resolution display and stylus support, but it also had one of the best set of cameras out of any phone launched this year and supported 4 years of major OS upgrades.
This was it for our report card 2022 for Samsung and with the Galaxy S23 series leaks we are witnessing, we think Samsung is aiming to make practical upgrades to the series, including a more powerful Chipset and even better cameras than this year.