元器件交易网讯 4月11日消息，为了应对来自苹果和小米的竞争，三星电子为Galaxy S5增加了高达600美元的赠品，以此来巩固其在全球智能手机市场的老大地位。

　　总部位于韩国水原的三星，已将其产品销往125个国家。消费者将获赠PayPal代金券，Linkedln高级账号和至少4个健身相关的应用。这是三星首次对最畅销S系列手机进行促销。

　　三星为巩固自己的手机市场地位，正在与新款iPhone和后起之秀小米和酷派展开争夺战。这一策略将迫使对手调整促销方式或降低价格，也意味着手机市场的利润进一步被挤压。在这个领域曾经的霸主摩托罗拉移动和诺基亚已经落败，三星的运营利润已出现连续两个季度下降。

　　Strategy Analytics分析师Neil Mawston称，三星为保住其全球消费电子的统治地位，必须有所作为，不然，摩托罗拉就是前车之鉴——一旦你从龙头老大的位置上跌落，再要重新夺回将付出很长的时间和艰辛。

　　三星GALAXY S5采用5.1英寸1080p全高清Super AMOLED显示屏，搭载2.5GHz骁龙801四核处理器和Adreno 330 GPU，辅以2GB RAM，具有16GB/32GB存储版本，并支持MicroSD卡扩展。相机阵容为1600万像素后置+210万像素前置摄像头，加入实时HDR模式，并支持4K视频录制。电池容量为2800mAH。此外，GALAXY S5还内置心率监视器，加入指纹识别、NFC、红外遥控功能。（元器件交易网刘光明 编译）

　　外媒原文如下：

　　Samsung Adds $600 of S5 Freebies to Fend Off Apple

　　Samsung Electronics Co. (005930), facing more competition from Apple Inc. and Xiaomi Corp., is cranking up incentives for its Galaxy S5 to as much as $600 in freebies to defend its place as the world’s largest smartphone maker.

　　With the marquee device from the Suwon, South Korea-based company making its debut in 125 countries today, customers will be offered PayPal vouchers, a LinkedIn Corp. premium account and at least four fitness-related apps. It’s the first time Samsung has offered incentives for its top-selling S series of devices.

　　Samsung is fighting to make its phones stand out in the market against new iPhones and up-and-comers such as China’s Xiaomi and Coolpad Group Ltd. The strategy may force rivals to lift incentives or lower prices, meaning a potential profit squeeze throughout an industry that has seen the fall of once-dominant producers Motorola Mobility and Nokia Oyj. (NOK1V) Already, Samsung’s operating profit has fallen for two straight quarters.

　　“Samsung must do whatever it takes to maintain its global consumer electronics leadership,” said Neil Mawston, director of global wireless practice for researcher Strategy Analytics. “Previous failures like Motorola have shown in the past that once you lose your grip on top spot, it is a very long and painful process to get it back.”

　　An advertisement for Samsung's Galaxy S5 smartphones in Seoul on March 27, 2014.

　　Xiaomi, Coolpad

　　Shares of Samsung fell 1.1 percent to 1,365,000 won at the close of trade in Seoul. The benchmark Kospi index dropped 0.6 percent.

　　The S5 features a 5.1-inch screen with a fingerprint reader, 16-megapixel camera, heart-rate sensor, water-resistant coating that can withstand 30 minutes at the bottom of a meter-deep (3-foot deep) pond, and a back resembling dimpled leather. Today’s offering in 125 countries is the largest number of nations for a single Samsung mobile phone release, the company said in a e-mailed statement.

　　The display is full high definition on an active-matrix organic light-emitting diode, or AMOLED, screen. That 5.1-inch screen is bigger than the current S4 model, and the battery will last 20 percent longer than its predecessor, Samsung said.

　　The new device enters a smartphone market where global growth is expected to slow to 6.2 percent in 2018 from 19 percent this year, research firm IDC said in February.

　　Samsung expects S5 sales to reach 10 million units within 25 days based on pre-orders from global wireless operators, SeoulEconomic Daily reported today, citing an unidentified Samsung official. Jini Park, a Samsung spokeswoman, declined to comment on the report.

　　Declining Profit

　　While Samsung sold about one of every three smartphones globally last year, Chinese competitors Xiaomi, Coolpad, Huawei Technologies Co. and Lenovo Group Ltd. gained traction and stalled some of Samsung’s annual sales growth. Xiaomi expects its sales to grow fivefold to 100 million phones in 2015.

　　Samsung, Asia’s biggest technology company, rode almost a 10-fold increase in shipments from 2010 to 2012 to overtake Apple as the world’s biggest smartphone vendor, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Last year, growth slowed to 44 percent as the S4 sold less than analysts estimated.

　　This week, the company posted a 4.3 percent drop in earnings, with operating income falling to 8.4 trillion won ($8.1 billion) in the three months ended March, as stalling demand lowers prices for Galaxy devices and components.

　　Samsung shipped 63.5 million units of the S4 through February, according to the median of three analyst estimates. That compares with 65.6 million for the 4.8-inch S3.

　　S5 Freebies

　　Samsung doesn’t disclose unit sales for its mobile phones.

　　The S5’s formal global debut is scheduled for today, yet consumers in South Korea were able to buy the device starting March 27 after wireless carriers there defied Samsung so they could work around penalties imposed by the government stemming from illegal discounts.

　　The S5’s pre-paid and discounted subscriptions include six months’ access to the Wall Street Journal, fitness apps, games and social networking. Twelve months’ access to Bloomberg Businessweek, a publication from Bloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg News, is part of the incentive package.

　　“The Galaxy S5 was designed to offer consumers the most advanced tool to help improve their everyday lives,” Shin Jong Kyun, chief executive officer of the mobile division, said in a statement. “These new partnerships perfectly compliment this mission with a comprehensive offering of some of the world’s best mobile resources to suit people’s active lives.”

　　Gear Smartwatch

　　Sticker prices for the Galaxy S smartphones also have dropped for successive models, as the S5 model with LTE capabilities will sell for 866,800 won, or about $833. The comparable S4 sold for 899,800 won and the S3 for 994,400 won.

　　Samsung is finding it harder to separate from the rest of the pack as hardware innovations become harder to include and the high-end market reaches saturation, said Warren Lau, an analyst at Kim Eng Securities Ltd. in Hong Kong.

　　Technical specifications such as near-field communications, high definition screens and faster processors were once only offered by luxury makers. Now producers including Xiaomi and Lenovo (992)pack them into smartphones costing as little as $100.

　　While the 5-inch Galaxy S4 had new software such as eye scrolling and gesture recognition, it failed to match sales of the predecessor.

　　“All of the vendors who focus on the high-end segment have the same reason to worry about the stagnant outlook,” Lau said. “The pace of innovation has slowed down significantly.”

　　Apple, Huawei

　　While Samsung’s S series remains the key product in its mobile phone unit, which accounts for two-thirds of earnings, the company has spread its focus to products including the Galaxy Gear smartwatch, a broader range of tablet computers and its first wearable device using the Tizen operating system.

　　Samsung’s Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo smartwatches are available in 125 countries starting from today, the company said.

　　Offering devices from under $150 to more than $900 has been key to Samsung’s rise to the top of the global smartphone market in 2011, a position it has held since. Samsung shipped 316.4 million smartphones in 2013, more than double the 153.4 million of second-place Apple, according to data compiled by Bloomberg from IDC. Huawei was third with 49 million units shipped.

　　Samsung’s innovations include large-screen smartphones such as the 5.7-inch Galaxy Note. That success sparked imitation, with HTC Corp. and Coolpad targeting large-screen sales in China, the world’s biggest market.

　　Apple also may head in the same direction. The Cupertino, California-based company is developing new iPhone designs including bigger screens, a person familiar with the plans said last year. In January, Apple also started selling its iPhones through China Mobile Ltd., the world’s biggest carrier with more than 770 million subscribers.

　　“Samsung needs to offer something more to boost its sales of mobile devices to at least maintain growth and profit,” said Park Kang Ho, an analyst at Daishin Securities Co. “Consumers’ interest for new flagship phones these days isn’t as hot as it used to be.”