At the same time that Apple’s profits are breaking records, this company’s execs didn’t have the same news.
According to the news on the latest mobile trends from Samsung when the South Korean company’s fourth quarter financial results were released, there was a 23 percent drop in smartphone, tablet, and wearable technology based revenues when compared to the same time in 2013.
During that same period, the mobile profits at the company fell even more dramatically, dropping by 64 percent.
In that fourth quarter, Samsung posted earnings of $1.8 billion. This mobile trend has been a continuing one for the company that has been experiencing a growing struggle in selling its less expensive smartphones in emerging markets, where there is notable competition in cheaply priced devices from rapidly growing brands in the tech industry such as Xiaomi. Moreover, Samsung has also placed itself at risk by moving toward powering its first phone with its Tizen operating system. Recent reports have indicated that the recent launch of that OS may not have been quite as positive as the company had likely hoped.
At the same time, the mobile trends with regards to the higher end offerings at Samsung aren’t looking much better.
At the same time that Apple’s popularity and successes have been skyrocketing since it has launched its larger screened iPhone 6 devices, Samsung’s high end devices have been continuing to do well, but not nearly to the degree of its top competition.
At the same time, it is important to note that while the growth may have slowed down by quite a bit, Samsung is far from seeing an all out halt in its unit sales. Recently, analysts from the Wall Street Journal predicted that the company had sold somewhere between 74 and 77 million smartphones within the last quarter of last year. That may be a notable stumble from the 86 million that were sold the year before in the same quarter, but it remains an exceptionally large figure.
It is clear that the mobile trends at Samsung are headed downward, but the size of the company’s sales still provides room for the brand to turn things around.
The company is going to start selling its Freewheel wireless service that is based exclusively on WiFi connectivity.
Cablevision has announced that it will be going into direct competition with mobile technology service providers in February, when it will start to sell a new service that it has called Freewheel, which is meant to be a low cost, WiFi based alternative to traditional cell phone connectivity.
The existing internet service subscribers at Cablevision will receive the first offers for Freewheel.
Those who subscribe for $9.95 per month will be able to take advantage of their mobile technology through unlimited talk, text, and data. That said, for consumers who aren’t already internet service customers at that company, the same package for their smartphones would be $29.99 per month. This will clearly be much more appealing to those customers who are already subscribers of internet service through the company.
At the time of the launch, Cablevision will be selling only one piece of mobile technology: the Moto G.
Customers purchasing the Motorola smartphone through Cablevision and its Freewheel program can expect to pay $99.95 for that mobile device. It will be preloaded with authenticating apps that function with any of the hotspots from that service provider.
In 2007, Cablevision began the expansion of its own Optimum WiFi network, and it now boasts over 1.1 million hotspots throughout the New York tri-state area. In 2014, the company implemented WiFi sharing similar to Fon, which made it possible for many of the routers of its customers to be converted into public hotspots, simply by adding a separate additional network that is accessible by any Optimum customer. That would now include Freewheel subscribers, once that program officially rolls out.
Additionally, Freewheel customers will also be able to use their mobile technology at any of 300,000 more hotspots across the United States, through the CableWiFi initiative, which interconnects WiFi access points from large providers such as Time Warner Cable, Cox, and Comcast. The service will also allow a customer to use their device with any other WiFi network to which he or she has access, including home and work.
At the same time that Apple’s popularity and successes have been skyrocketing since it has launched its larger screened iPhone 6 devices, Samsung’s high end devices have been continuing to do well, but not nearly to the degree of its top competition.