Samsung detailed the new phone at CES 2023. It retails for a competitive $199.99 and features an upgraded camera and storage.
Samsung’s Mobile Experience team (MX) announced its next smartphone, the Galaxy A14 5G, at CES 2023. The new model retails at $199.99 and features 64GB of storage and 4GB RAM, with up to 1TB of storage with a microSD card. Samsung continues to jostle with rival Apple in the smartphone market, and has just appointed a new executive vice president to oversee the mobile development teams.
Samsung boasts the Galaxy A14 5G will have a longer-lasting battery than its previous models and an upgraded camera, specifically a 13-megapixel front camera and a rear camera with three lenses. The company expects improved depth of detail and color. The 6.6-inch screen features a 90Hz display and upgraded FHD+ resolution.
The 5G capability is used for “enabling apps to render beautifully and run efficiently,” Samsung said.
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The company also talked up a partnership with Google, which eases Google Meet integration for video meetings and messaging. Other major feature changes include a built-in version of the Samsung Health app, plus easy sync with the Galaxy Watch 5. Samsung Health tracks “body composition, sleep patterns and exercise regimen,” the company said.
The Security and Privacy Dashboard is another new, easy shortcut — this one providing information on which apps track data. It also lets users turn off tracking.
Changes and updates at Samsung
Android released its 2022 operating system, Android 13, in August. The Galaxy A14 5G will take advantage of this current OS. The OS itself also has updated privacy controls, a boon for customers tired of invisible tracking in various apps.
The MX team has a new executive vice president as of December 2022. Hubert H. Lee was appointed EVP and head of the MX Design Team in time for the start of the new year, bringing with him experience as the chief design officer of Mercedes-Benz China. Samsung anticipates Lee will “help shape the look and feel of Galaxy,” continuing to keep products like the S Series, Z Series phones, the Galaxy Tab tablet and Galaxy Watch contemporary and overseeing future design directions.
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At CES, Samsung also announced updates to the SmartThings Cooking service for various smart home devices, smart and ultra-high definition resolution monitors, and a variety of startup partnerships.
Four projects from C-Lab Inside, Samsung’s startup accelerator, will be on display inside the Eureka Park exhibition space at CES this year. Two of these are metaverse proposals: Meta-Running is a platform to learn correct running form for fitness, and Polkamix is an interactive “venue” for concerts. Soom offers digital real-time feedback for meditation, while Falette offers a digital home for household fabric products.
Startup projects in association with Samsung’s C-Lab received two CES 2023 Innovation Awards for Best of Innovation.
Rival mobile phones
Apple competes with Samsung in the high-end monitor zone at CES as well as in the mobile phone world more broadly. The tech giant is expected to announce the next generation of its phone, the iPhone 15, some time this year. Initial rumors suggest it’s not likely to appear until the fall, though.
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Google dropped the Pixel 7 in October 2022, so it’s likely there won’t be any news about the next phone in that line soon, either. Both large companies have the now-standard integration between phones and other devices such as smart watches. Apple is also rumored to be gearing up to release new information on a virtual and augmented reality headset; although, that’s mostly the realm of speculation for now.
State of the market
According to Gartner, the market for 4G- and 5G-enabled device shipments worldwide will increase to 73.8 billion units in 2023. That’s an increase from 65 billion units in 2022. Samsung sits at the top of the leaderboard with a 22% market share by worldwide smartphone sales to end users in Q1 2022. Apple followed with 17.8%, with Xiaomi (11.8%) in third.
Gartner predicts companies will spend $25.9 billion on wireless infrastructure in 2023. These numbers come primarily from the areas of LTE and 4G development ($9.6 billion), mobile core ($6.5 billion) and non-5G mobile cells ($6.4 billion). Meanwhile, 5G spending is predicted to decrease to $2.7 billion.
Smartphone sales overall are only predicted to increase, with a steady growth in 2021 ($546 million) and 2022 ($675 million) to an expected $801 million in 2023.
Gartner also predicts the growth of “superapps,” an extension of today’s interoperability features. A “superapp … combines the features of an app, a platform and an ecosystem in one application,” Gartner wrote. This allows organizations to sell their own apps within the application.
Samsung’s Galaxy phone announcement comes in a world currently dominated by the Galaxy S22, but even the “cheap version” of the S21 has convinced our reviewers of its merits. Samsung is also getting in on the flip phone trend.
