Employee headcount, Samsung has more than Google, Apple and Microsoft combined

At 275,000 employees, Samsung (just Samsung
Electronics) is the size of five Googles! This explains
Samsung's machine-gun-style device output; the
company has released around 46 smartphones and 27
tablets just in 2014.
If we wanted to, we could cut these numbers down
some more. Google is going to shed 3,894 employees
once it finally gets rid of Motorola. Over half of Apple's
headcount—42,800 employees—is from the retail division,
putting the non-retail part of the company at only
37,500 employees. The "Sony" on this chart only means
"Sony Electronics," the part of the company that is most
comparable to Samsung Electronics. Sony Group has a
massive media arm consisting of Sony Pictures
Entertainment, Sony Music Entertainment, and Sony
Financial Services.
Samsung Electronics and Sony Electronics are pretty
comparable in terms of product range. They both make
at least one of everything you would find in a Best Buy
(though Samsung has no game console) along with
big component divisions, and Samsung still dwarfs
Sony with a two-and-a-half times bigger employee
count.
What is Samsung doing with all those people? Well, for
starters, the company has a shocking number of
software engineers: 40,506 as of 2013. That's almost an
entire Google's-worth of people making software.
Actually, consider that Google's employee breakdown
only lists 18,593 people in "research and
development" (read: making software), and it seems
Samsung has twice as many software engineers as
Google. This army of software engineers is a fairly recent
development for Samsung. The software headcount has
grown 45 percent since 2011.
Enlarge / Samsung has lots and lots of software
engineers.
Everyone can name notable pieces of Google software,
but Samsung's "2x Google" software engineer headcount
hasn't created the same level of impact. There is, of
course, Touchwiz and Samsung's range of
redundant Android ecosystem apps . The company has to
port Android and Touchwiz to every new handset it
makes, and when you release 70-ish devices every year
and have to support everything for around two years,
that's a very big project.
Samsung Electronics also includes the display and SoC
portions of Samsung, so there is a lot of firmware and
driver writing going on. All of those TVs, cameras, and
other small electronics also need some kind of software,
and the company is exploring writing its own OS with
Tizen .
As for the non-software side, production makes up the
bulk of Samsung jobs, with 159,488 involved in mass
production efforts. It should also be no surprise that the
majority of jobs are in Korea (33.5%), followed by China
(21%), and Southeast Asia (20%). Only 3.9% of
Samsung's jobs are located in North America.
While Samsung Electronics is a huge company, it's part
of an even bigger conglomerate called "Samsung Group."
Whenever we say "Samsung" we're almost always
referring to "Samsung Electronics," but Samsung Group
is made up of about 80 companies most of which are
named "Samsung [thing]," Samsung Electronics being
one of them.
Besides the usual Samsung Electronics product roster of
phones, tablets, wearables, semiconductors, display
panels, TVs, laptops, printers, cameras, home theaters,
and home appliances, Samsung Group makes gigantic
container ships , arctic ice breakers, self-propelled
howitzers , credit cards , oil-refining plants , power
plants, wind turbines, water treatment facilities, steel
mills, life insurance , theme parks , ultrasound machines ,
X-ray scanners , Aperture Science-style robotic
machine-gun sentries , and the world's tallest
skyscrapers (like the Burj Khalifa).
Samsung's setup of companies within companies can
lead to crazy situations like one part of Samsung
Group buying another part of Samsung Group for billions
of dollars.
Samsung likes to cast a very wide net. You can see that
in the company's smartphone lineup, the makeup of
Samsung Electronics lineup in general, and in Samsung
Group. The hunt to offer every product in every category
has created a sprawling company, while Apple and
Google seem to want to pick and choose their hardware
battles with a more focused lineup.

Samsung devices banned from use by Chinnese officials

Huawei, a supplier of networking gear,
has for years fended off allegations from
the U.S. that it secretly spies for the
Chinese government. But last year the
dispute appeared turned on its head when
leaks alleged the U.S. had been secretly
spying on China. Not only had the U.S.
National Security Agency hacked into
Chinese telecommunication companies, but
also spied on the communications of
Huawei executives, according to
documents from former NSA contractor
Edward Snowden. - PCWorld
Now we can add Samsung to the banned list in China.
Samsung devices have been banned from use by
Chinese state officials. Much like the reasons that
Apple was added to the banned list, the Chinese
government is claiming that they have security
concerns with Samsung devices.
This means that Huawei, already one of the largest
smartphone makers in China (and world), is the new
official mobile device provider for Chinese officials
and state employees. Let’s not also forget that Chinese
officials were previously barred from
installing Windows 8 on their devices.
As PhoneArena points out , it is also likely that the
Chinese government added Samsung to the banned list
to try and boost the development of some local
manufacturers.
Speaking of a local Chinese manufacturer, Xiaomi, a
leading China smartphone company, is currently
under investigation by the Taiwanese government to
determine whether Xiaomi is a cyber security threat.
The government began performing
independent tests on Xiaomi phones after
reports in recent months that some
models automatically send user data back
to the firm’s servers in mainland China,
Gin-Shian Lou, a director at Taiwan’s
National Communications Commission,
said on Wednesday. - Reuters
This is not the first time that Xiaomi has faced
allegations of security leaks. In August, a Finnish
security company found proof that Xiaomi was
collecting address book data without permission.
Xiaomi has also been accused of sending copies of text
messages back to servers in China.
The sending of data back to servers in China is one of
the reason that companies such as Google have opted
not to situate servers in China. Apple, on the other
hand, began to store users’ personal data on servers in
China last month .
According to the Taiwan National Communications
Commission, the test results of Xiaomi phones should
be made public soon. Until then, Taiwan continues to
view Chinese technology with suspicion. Taiwan’s
police force has recently encouraged employees not to
use WeChat, the mobile messaging app developed by
Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings.
SOURCE: Reuters,

Samsung to strengthen their “ software prowess ”

Samsung released a statement claiming that they are
looking to strengthen their “ software prowess ” and
that they will be focusing on enhancing their
“competitive edge in the Internet of Things (IoT)
industry and increase synergies for the Tizen
platform.”
Tizen is an operating system that Samsung has been
developing for years in the hope that the open-source
platform would one day be able to compete with an
operating system such as Android. Unfortuately, as
this site has discussed on a number of different
occasions, Tizen has been through a number of delays
and has yet to be featured on a smartphone, although
recent reports suggest that Samsung will be releasing a
smartphone with the Tizen platform in India by the
end of 2014. At the moment, Tizen has only been used
in several wearable devices, such as a camera and
smartwatch. The Tizen-powered Samsung Z , which
Samsung launched in Russia this summer, has yet to
go on sale, after several delays.
The Samsung Z was officially announced in June
2014, as the first phone to run Tizen
Mobile sales make up 97 percent of sales in Samsung’s
IT & Mobile Communications division, and sales in the
division were down 21 percent year-over-year and
down 12 percent from the first quarter.
“It sounds like (Samsung) doesn’t plan on
going big with Tizen on its smartphones,”
said Song Myung-sup, an analyst with HI
Investment & Securities in Seoul. “The
move will likely help resolve convergence
issues that arise when connecting network
devices like TVs and wearables with
smartphones, but this shows less
determination on Tizen smartphones,”
Song said. - Wall Street Journal
A move such as this may be a signal that Samsung
is easing up their desire to heavily compete with
Android. But it should be noted that Samsung had
roughly 40,506 software engineers last year. Therefore,
500 software engineers may not seem like much of a
loss. However, Samsung doesn’t reveal how their
software engineer numbers are spread across different
divisions so we are just not sure how much of a
specific loss this is for the mobile division.
   
SOURCE:
Wall Street Journal

Samsung Galaxy Edge a "Limited Concept" device.

The Samsung Galaxy Note Edge , with its unique display
that curves on one side of the smartphone, may be
harder to purchase than previously thought. This week,
Samsung Electronics president D J Lee was quoted on
ZDNet Korea as saying that the Galaxy Note Edge will be
made as a "limited concept" product, rather than a mass
produced device like the Samsung Galaxy Note 4.
The Galaxy Note Edge was announced a few weeks ago
at IFA 2014 and in our hands-on impressions feature of
the device, we noted that it would be available in the US
via all four major US carriers (AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile
and Verizon) sometime later this year. However, Lee said
this week that the phone will be rolling out to just a
select few markets around the world, beginning
sometime in October in Samsung's home country of
South Korea.

Bendgate taunts Apple

Those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.
It’s a wise saying that few in the tech industry seem to
live by. But it’s alright, we don’t mind. The big names’
desire to capitalize on a competitor’s misfortune is
often a source of hilarity.
Take #bendgate. By now, you probably know that
simply walking around with an iPhone 6 Plus in your
pocket could bend it , sometimes irremediably. In
typical Internet fashion, the issue spiraled into a storm
of 160-character quips, more or less witty memes, and
deep social commentary from everyone and their
grandma.
ADVERTISEMENT
Apple’s got its share of snark and derision over
#bendgate (or is it #bendghazi?). But you can count on
rivals in the Android camp to make it even harder for
the folks in Cupertino.
LG casually recommends users a phone that’s
supposed to be bent, like the G Flex.
Our phone doesn't bend, it flexes...on purpose.
#bendgate
4:43 PM - 24 Sep 2014
View image on Twitter
LG USA Mobile
@LGUSAMobile Follow
3,525 RETWEETS 1,650 FAVORITES
Samsung can’t miss the opportunity to highlight its
own curved phone, the Note Edge.
Curved. Not bent. #GALAXYNoteEdge
9:46 AM - 25 Sep 2014
View image on Twitter
Samsung Mobile
@SamsungMobile Follow
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While HTC probably takes the cake with its own little
jab.
Designed to withstand the most demanding
environments. Like your pockets. #HTCOneM8
10:30 PM - 24 Sep 2014
HTC USA
@HTCUSA
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210 RETWEETS 169 FAVORITES
We are actually surprised that Samsung doesn’t have a
video ad ( or six ) out by now. They’re probably on it,
though.
What’s your favorite #bendgate joke? Should we even
be making fun of Apple? I mean, problems with
Android devices come up all the time.

Bend to those who are worthy

Samsung targets 140 countries at launch of Galaxy Note 4

Samsung isn't one to delay the launch of one of its
flagship products, and the manufacturer has announced
that its upcoming Galaxy Note 4 will be available in 140
countries by the end of October.
In its home country of South Korea, Samsung has
accelerated the release of the Galaxy Note 4, noting that
the device will be available from later this week rather
than its scheduled launch in the month of October. A
reason for the change in the launch window is mainly
due to the announcement of the iPhone 6 Plus, which
Samsung considers a threat in the phablet segment.
The launch of the new iPhones have already had a
detrimental effect on Samsung's share prices, which hit
a two-year low yesterday. By aggressively marketing the
Galaxy Note 4, Samsung is looking to stem the tide. The
initial sales target does seem ambitious at 15 million for
the first month of availability, but the Note 4 with its
quad-HD screen, 3 GB RAM and Snapdragon 805 CPU
should be a step up for users wanting to make the
switch from the Galaxy Note 3 or the Galaxy S5 .

Source: Samsung

Samsung ending sales of its laptops in Europe

Samsung will stop selling laptops in Europe due to
"market demands", according to a statement from the
company obtained by PC Advisor . As the Samsung
spokesman said: "We quickly adapt to market needs and
demands. In Europe, we will be discontinuing sales of
laptops including Chromebooks for now. This is specific
to the region – and is not necessarily reflective of
conditions in other markets."
The move follows several years' worth of declining PC
sales globally and Sony's sale of its own laptop
business. Yet it also comes after Samsung announced a
new Ativ Book laptop running Windows at CES 2014 and
a Chromebook 2 later in the year, and in spite of the fact
that Western Europe has been one of the better
performing markets for laptop sales worldwide over the
past decade. Market research firm Gartner also noted
that PC sales had recently stabilized and had projected
huge growth in Chromebook sales in the coming years,
so the timing of Samsung's exit from Europe may be
premature. Still, the company's statement leaves room
for it to resume laptop sales in the region should market
conditions change.

Samsung accelerate note 4 release in response to iphone 6 sales

NT
With the launch of the 5.5-inch iPhone, the Galaxy
Note 4 has a new and formidable opponent in its size
class. Apple announced that it sold a record 10 million
units of the new iPhones over the opening weekend,
though the 6 Plus’ share of this figure is unknown.
Samsung’s executives have taken notice, according to
an unnamed marketing official with the company cited
by the Korea Times :
The positive reaction from consumers to those two
Apple devices prompted us to launch the Note 4
earlier than previously scheduled. Samsung will be
aggressive in promoting the Note 4 as it’s true that
we are being challenged and pressured amid a
difficult situation.
Samsung has already opened pre-orders for the Note 4
in South Korea, and initial stock reportedly sold out in
a matter of hours. The device was initially scheduled
to go on sale in October, but now availability is set for
September 26. To spur sales, Samsung offers the Note 4
for just 957,000 won, 10 percent cheaper than the Note
3 and even less than the original Note from 2011.
According to a different source, Samsung’s internal
target for the Note 4 is to ship 15 million units in the
first month of availability. That’s ambitious,
considering that Samsung shipped 11 million Galaxy S5
units in about a month, and Galaxy S phones are
typically more popular than Notes.
With that said, the Note 4 is very competitive, with its
metal frame design, Quad HD screen, and powerful
specifications . That, and a strong marketing push,
could help Samsung blow past previous records, which
is exactly what the group needs right now, when share
prices are the lowest in two years.

Samsung shares plummeted to two-year low, as iphone 6 is launched

Samsung has experienced quite the downturn after
hitting lowest share prices since 2012. The Bloomberg
report details some factors leading to this drop,
including Apple's recent release of the iPhone 6 and
analysts lowering profit estimations.
The company lost 2.3 percent on the market, falling to
1,161,000 won. It doesn't sound like much of a turn,
until one considers the $30 billion being wiped from
Samsung's market value. The company has started to
face tough competition from other manufacturers, as well
as Apple, which recently announced over 10 million
iPhone 6 devices were sold during the launch weekend.
Samsung Securities Co. reduced its profit estimate to 4.7
trillion won, down from 5.7 trillion won, noting in a
report yesterday that "its smartphones have lost appeal
-- as evidenced by the solid performances of high-end
Chinese models and unexpectedly strong iPhone 6 pre-
orders."
It's no secret that Samsung already invests heavily in
marketing campaigns, but it will be interesting to see
how the company bolsters its defenses when it comes
to market share, especially with the Galaxy Alpha and
the Galaxy Note 4 making the rounds.
Source: BusinessWeek

Most Beautiful phone from samsung

The Galaxy Alpha is terrifically thin and light, though
that’s not the first thing you’ll notice about it. It
happens to be damn good looking too. The sheen from
those polished edges makes all the difference,
combining with the lustrous Super AMOLED display to
make a great first impression. Some devices look better
in press photos than reality — the LG G Watch R is a
recent example — but the Galaxy Alpha is exactly the
opposite. You have to see it in person to appreciate its
slick and refined look. Everything is appropriately
proportioned, the 4.7-inch screen size feels just right,
and ease of one-handed use is as good as you’ll get
from any device in that size class. Those who might
have felt let down by the new Moto X moving to a larger
5.2-inch screen may find solace in Samsung’s more
compact Alpha. Ergonomically, this phone is a delight. I
don’t want to call it perfect, but it kind of is.
I ACTUALLY LIKE A SAMSUNG PHONE BECAUSE OF ITS
DESIGN, NOT IN SPITE OF IT"
Like the iPhone 5S, the Galaxy Alpha feels almost lighter
than it should be. Scale up the iPhone’s height and
width to the size of a 4.7-inch display and you’d have a
device very similar to the Alpha. The chamfered metal
edging is the same — good looking but also prone to
scratching — and so is the comfortable fit in the hand.
Samsung’s handset seems to be anticipating the
rumored 4.7-inch iPhone coming next week, and doing
so in the best fashion possible. The Korean company
has produced a phone that’s attractive to the touch and
to the eye, raising its game in time to fend off Apple’s
latest assault. Whatever new iPhone emerges from
Cupertino on Tuesday will have to assert itself through
more than just good looks and a fine feel in the hand.
I'm not ready to crown the Galaxy Alpha as Samsung's
best overall phone — for one, the size of its 1,860mAh
battery worries me — but judged purely on its design
and the desire it's produced in me to have it, this phone
is a winner. It even manages to retain some of
Samsung's familiar personality with its patterned
surfaces and dimpled back. When paired with the iffy
plastic of the past, they felt like the hallmarks of design
failure, but here they add to the idiosyncratic appeal of
the device.

Iphone 6 and 6 Plus top most benchmark

AnandTech spent the weekend benchmarking the
iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, comparing the duo to the
iPhone 5s and competing Android handsets. The test
results show that iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus models
are at the top of the charts in CPU benchmarks and
battery life, while the iPhone 6 Plus lags in graphics
performance due to the larger screen.
In in GPU benchmarks, we generally see a pretty
solid lead over the competition for the iPhone
6/A8. It's seems quite clear that there is a
significant impact to GPU performance in the
iPhone 6 Plus due to the 2208x1242 resolution
that all content is rendered at. It seems that
this is necessary though, as the rendering
system for iOS cannot easily adapt to arbitrary
resolutions and display sizes.
AnandTech also examined battery life, noting that
"Apple has managed to do something quite incredible
with battery life. " Even with a smaller 1810 mAh
battery, the iPhone 6 manages to beat out the iPhone
5s and most other Android phones on the market. Not
surprisingly with its 2910 mAH battery, the iPhone 6
Plus grabs second place behind the Huawei Ascend
Mate 2.
Apple introduced the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus during its
recent September press event and launched the
phones on September 19. The two handsets include
Apple's new A8 processor, M8 motion co-processor,
8-megapixel iSight camera, faster 802.11a/b/g/n/ac
Wi‑Fi and NFC. Demand for the two phones was high
with Apple selling 10 million iPhone 6 and 6 Plus
units in the first weekend of sales.

5MP "selfie" camera on Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime

A lot of manufacturers are producing
MP front-facing cameras, these so-called selfie
models are about to get competition from a Samsung
model called the Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime. The
device was photographed in Vietnam, and is expected to
launch in the country some time next month, priced at
the equivalent of $236 USD. After Vietnam, we should
see the phone launch in some other markets in the near
future.
The rest of the phone's specs include a 5 inch screen
with a resolution of 540 x 960. A quad-core 1.2GHz
Snapdragon 400 CPU is under the hood with 1GB of RAM
and 8GB of native storage inside. A 64GB capacity
microSD slot is on board, on back is an 8MP snapper,
and Android 4.4 is pre-installed.
The Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime is a dual SIM device
that offers 3G, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity.
Some of the competition includes the Sony Xperia C3
and the Nokia Lumia 730 , two so-called "selfie" phones.
Of course, there are other models with a 5MP front-
facing camera that are not given that title, such as the
HTC One (M8) .

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 suggested to have the best smartphone display yet according to analysis

DisplayMate, which regularly offers its opinions on
smartphone and tablet displays, has conducted its
extensive series of tests on the Samsung Galaxy Note 4
and the team has already labeled the upcoming Android
device as having the best smartphone display ever
made, at least so far.
Samsung sent DisplayMate a pre-production model of
the Galaxy Note 4 (it's not due for launch until October)
to test out. The smartphone has a Quad HD 2560x1440
pixel display and DisplayMate says:
It provides lots of image detail – it can display four
complete HD 1280x720 images at once. The display has
Diamond Pixels and Sub-Pixel Rendering with 518 pixels
per inch (ppi), providing significantly higher image
sharpness than can be resolved with normal 20/20
Vision at the typical viewing distances of 10 inches or
more for Smartphones, so the display appears perfectly
sharp.
The article gets highly technical as it goes over a ton of
different display testing categories. In the end
DisplayMate stated that the Galaxy Note 4 "matches or
breaks new records in Smartphone display performance."
The same article also says Samsung sent DisplayMate a
pre-production unit of the Galaxy Note Edge , with its
curved display. The team plans to offer its findings on
this smartphone once its final firmware and software are
available. In the meantime, do you think the display for
the Galaxy Note 4 will be a big selling point for the
smartphone once it is released?
Source: DisplayMate

Samsung pokes at Apple in new ads for the Samsung Galaxy Note 4

We've seen Samsung make fun of Apple in its commercials. The last time, Samsung mocked "wallhugging" iPhone users who are attached to an A/C outlet all day, due to the shorter battery life found on the iPhone. Now in a series of six ads, Samsung uses a "genius bar" setting with two goofy employees, to make fun of its rival, and to promote the Samsung Galaxy Note 4.

 

Samsung Galaxy Note Edge hands-on

To the surprise of many, Samsung unveiled not one, but two new models that will reinforce the company's critically-acclaimed Note series -- the Note 4, and the far more interesting Note Edge. Quite frankly, the Edge is a Note 4 with a twist -- an additional screen on the side (or edge) of the device -- but what a twist it is! 

Indeed, this is the first time anybody has ever done this, and it seems like the millions Samsung poured in developing innovative display solutions are finally paying off. Of course, the ultimate test lies in capturing the hearts of consumers, as this won't be the first time seemingly good, novel ideas flop.