Samsung to cut smartphone models by 30% next year, takes jabs at Xiaomi

At the recent Samsung Investor Forum held in New York, the South Korean electronics powerhouse revealed some of its plan for next year. Winning back investor confidence is crucial following some poor results in the last quarter - its mobile phone division reported a 71% fall in profits for Q3 - and recent news that it has been usurped by Xiaomi as the number one smartphone maker in China.

One of the interesting things shared by Samsung is that it will streamline its smartphone offerings. Specifically, the company said that it will reduce the number of smartphone models by a quarter to a third. "In 2015, we will lower the number of smartphone models by one fourth to one third compared to this year," said Robert Yi, senior vice president and head of investor relations at Samsung Electronics, during Samsung Investors Forum 2014.

In doing so, he said that it will allow Samsung to offer more focused products and strengthen its positioning and brand image. Additionally, by having less models it will also lower their overall production costs, which in turn means more affordable phones.

Yi also took the chance to take jabs at Xiaomi, calling them a "mysterious entity" and questioned how they create profit. He also expressed skepticism at how they can maintain their strategy of saving costs by promoting its good online exclusively.

Finally, Yi revealed that Samsung has developed a flexible display for smartphones that can fold in half and said that the company plans to launch such a phone next year.

Source: ZDnet