Samsung launched the Galaxy S8 smartphone on Wednesday, featuring an edge-to-edge display with no Home button, a wireless charging technology, a better camera technology, an iris scanner and a new voice assistant. It looks to be a cool Android-powered smartphone from the Korean smartphone maker to compete with the iPhone 8 that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is rumored to launch in September.
Rumors suggest that Apple is preparing to launch the iPhone 8 with almost the same features. The iPhone 8 is rumored to be a 5.15-inch handset with an edge-to-edge OLED display. Reports from reliable sources have suggested that the next iPhone would feature long-distance wireless charging, dual-lens camera and other revolutionary features.
What Analysts Think About Galaxy S8 and iPhone 8
Analysts believe that the Galaxy S8 would pose a limited threat to Apple, according to a report from Fortune.
On Thursday, Cowen & Co. analyst Tim Arcuri said in a note to investors that Apple’s stronghold in software and apps should maintain the company’s attraction for many consumers. Arcuri believes that the next iPhone will be called the iPhone 10 in accordance with the 10th anniversary of the iconic smartphone.
“While S8 has most specs similar to iPhone 10/X (at ~15-25% lower price), suggesting a trend of smartphones becoming less differentiated, we note that AAPL is never winning on specs,” Arcuri wrote, adding Apple’s proprietary processor chips, iOS software and “better user experience, and strong ecosystem remain its moat.”
The Galaxy S8 will start at $750, which is $100 more than the iPhone 7. Jan Dawson, chief analyst at Jackdaw Research, believes that Samsung is taking a big risk with this higher price.
“It feels like Samsung is competing with what it expects Apple to launch later in the year rather than what’s in the market today, and that’s dangerous, because for at least the next few months Samsung will competing with cheaper iPhones, LG smartphones, and many others,” Dawson said in a research note.
Earlier, famous Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claimed that the iPhone 8 could be a bigger attraction for consumers, and the Galaxy S8 would not sell as well as the previous Galaxy S7. The KGI Securities analyst said in a note that the Samsung Galaxy S8 “lacks sufficiently attractive selling points.”
Kuo expects that Samsung will ship 40 to 45 million Galaxy S8 phones in fiscal 2017, down from about 52 million Galaxy S7 units the company shipped in 2016.
In my opinion, the Samsung Galaxy S8 is a great phone, it does not lack selling points, and it would be a worthy opponent to the iPhone 8.
Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) were down 0.42% on Thursday in morning. The stock is 23.91% for the year, as investors seem optimistic about the upcoming iPhone.
