SEOUL—Samsung Electronics Co. is revamping one of its most
important product releases of the year, underscoring the pressures
the South Korean technology company faces as its mobile earnings
take a hit from Apple Inc. and Chinese rivals.
Samsung is planning to introduce a larger version of its
flagship Galaxy S6 Edge curved smartphone at a closely watched
event on Aug. 13 at New York's Lincoln Center, according to people
familiar with the matter.
The move suggests a continued willingness at Samsung to tweak
its product releases to try to maintain consumer interest in its
mobile products, which have struggled to stand out amid a sea of
increasingly similar offerings from competitors.
But in doing so, the Suwon, South Korea-based company risks
overshadowing the nominal star of the show: the latest refresh of
its Galaxy Note series of smartphone-tablet hybrids.
In recent years, Samsung has used an early September trade show
in Berlin to showcase its new Galaxy Note device.
But The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that the
company moved up the launch date this year to mid-August to avoid
being drowned out by hype around Apple's annual September iPhone
event.
Instead, the new Galaxy Note 5 smartphone may be eclipsed by the
Galaxy S6 Edge Plus, which boasts all the features of the company's
popular flagship device, in the larger-size format pioneered by the
Galaxy Note series.
When Samsung launched its first Galaxy Note device in 2011, the
company virtually created a new category for oversize handsets
which, at first mocked, came to dominate the mainstream smartphone
market.
When Apple released its iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus last fall,
the Cupertino, Calif.-based rival took away one of Samsung's key
selling points.
Some market data trackers said earlier this year that, after the
release of the new iPhones, Apple had topped Samsung in quarterly
smartphone sales for the first time since 2011. And earlier this
month, Hong Kong-based Counterpoint Technology Market Research said
the two iPhones had occupied the No. 1 slot in smartphone sales for
a ninth consecutive month in June, ahead of Samsung's Galaxy S6 and
Galaxy S6 Edge.
Releasing the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus allows Samsung to try to
capitalize again on the popularity of its curved-edge flagship
device, the Galaxy S6 Edge, which was a hit with critics and
consumers when it was released in April.
However, the company underestimated demand for the device,
leaving its factories unprepared to pump out enough of the device,
which uses a difficult cutting-edge technology to curve the front
screen of the handset.
The company says that it has now ramped up supply to meet
consumer demand, though it remains unclear whether Samsung may have
missed its opportunity to cash in on hype around the Galaxy S6
Edge.
The Galaxy Note 5 will mark a key coup for Samsung in another
respect, however: the device will be powered by Samsung's homegrown
Exynos processor chips, according to a person familiar with the
matter, meaning that each sale of a Galaxy Note 5 device will
contribute more to the company's bottom line.
Going with the Exynos chip for the Galaxy Note 5 would be
another setback for Qualcomm Inc., the San Diego-based
semiconductor designer whose high-end Snapdragon processors powered
Samsung's premium devices for years.
Earlier this year, Samsung dropped Snapdragon from most versions
of its Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge launch, dealing a blow to
Qualcomm—and surprising many in the industry, including Qualcomm's
executive chairman Paul Jacobs.
"They executed well to get the product that they got out," Mr.
Jacobs said in a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal.
"There are a few things that came together that allowed the gap to
be small enough that they were able to choose their Exynos over the
Snapdragon."
Samsung's August launch event could also include the release of
the company's first smartwatch in about a year, these people said,
cautioning that a final decision still hasn't been made.
For Samsung, a new smartwatch would be its first since releasing
a spate of the devices in 2013 and 2014.
With its new smartwatch, Samsung will be looking to advance its
push into mobile payments as an alternative to Apple's eponymous
payment system.
The smartwatch is likely to feature a limited form of Samsung's
payment software, according to a person familiar with the matter,
for example allowing users to tap the watch to pay for public
transit rides.
Samsung declined to comment on upcoming products. Earlier this
month, it said that it expects to earn just 6.9 trillion Korean won
($6.1 billion) in operating profit for the three months ended June
30, a 4% decline from a year earlier. The South Korean company is
slated to earnings this Thursday.
Write to Jonathan Cheng at jonathan.cheng@wsj.com and Min-Jeong
Lee at min-jeong.lee@wsj.com
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