Taking a look back at the week’s news across the Android world, this week’s Android Circuit highlights a number of stories including Samsung’s launch of the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge at MWC, The HTC One M9, Sony’s Xperia Tablet and ‘Not For Sale’ sign, Nokia’s Android smartphone shows up online, Yota takes to Indiegogo, and Motorola sneaks out the Moto-E.
Android Circuit is here to remind you of a few of the many things that have happened around Android over the last seven days (and you can read the weekly Apple news digest here).
The Samsung Galaxy S6′s Slow Burn To MWC Success
It’s hard to look beyond the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge as the lead stories in Android Circuit. This was the biggest handset launch at MWC, and arguably the most important Android handset launch of 2015. If Samsung gets the launch, promotion, and sales of the S6 handsets right, then the South Korean company remains at the top of the Android pile. If not, the crashing profits and loss of revenue seen in 2014 will return with a vengeance, and it’s conceivable that Samsung could post a financial loss for the 2015.
Forbes’ Parmy Olsen was on the ground at MWC, and covered the handset launch:
All the leaks had pointed to a unique phone with a curved screen on both sides of the device, and that’s exactly what Samsung delivered on Sunday when it launched the new Galaxy S6 smartphone and its curvier cousin, the Galaxy S6 Edge…
It needs to revive flagging sales in the midst of greater competition than ever from Apple and Chinese smartphone makers on the low-cost end like Xiaomi and Huawei. The curved screen puts Samsung on the cutting edge of new form factors, but the obligatory upgrade in specs is also impressive, including faster processing speeds, quicker battery charging and a super-fast, high-resolution camera.
Obviously there are a lot of opinions out there, and I rounded them up to get a feel of the reaction. On the whole it has been positive:
…the first impressions, hands-on pieces, and initial reviews of the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge handsets from Mobile World Congress are not only vital force multipliers for Samsung’s PR, but in the first week or two of public life of the handset this media coverage can set the tone for the campaign’s reception, which in turn will set the tone for sales, and sets the tone for Samsung’s mobile division for the rest of the year.
Samsung need to manage the story of the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge leading up to the first full hardware reviews and public availability of the handset, and that means maximizing the good points, and minimising the impact of negative reviews.