One move to win? Can the curved screen Note Edge save Samsung?

Compared to ordinary users' expectations for the Note 4, which is their annual "fixed track", Samsung itself may be more eager to use such a heavyweight innovative product to turn the tide. After all, the Q2 financial report released more than a month ago was not very good. The recent period can be said to be the most embarrassing moment for Samsung in the past two years.

As for Note Edge, I think even the most stingy people would praise its innovation without hesitation. The "side curved screen" technology alone is enough for competitors to ponder for a while. This technology can be said to be the biggest innovation since the birth of Android phones, not to mention the long-awaited 2K screen, higher-specification processor, 16-megapixel lens and the consistent feature of the Note series - the further optimized S Pen.

If measured only by innovation, the Note Edge with its impressive "side curved screen" technology will certainly surpass its brothers Note 4 and S5 and become the pinnacle of Samsung's technology in 2014. But despite this, Samsung still faces a grim situation.

The coldest summer in two years

Samsung's Q2 financial report released on July 31 this year showed that its overall revenue fell 24.6% compared with the same period last year, while its net profit fell 19.6%. The revenue of its mobile terminal business fell by nearly 30%, setting a new low in revenue in the past two years.

Industry analysts believe that the main factors are the decrease in demand for smartphones, sluggish sales of high-end Galaxy S5 series models, and the fact that low-priced entry-level models are also being squeezed by local brands in the Chinese market, which has had a significant impact on overall revenue.

In fact, Samsung has shown signs of fatigue since the end of last year. Although its high-end models are superior, they are not as popular as the iPhone 5s. Its low-priced models have not really dived to a lower depth and were directly killed by a number of domestic mobile phones. At one point, Samsung's previous generation Galaxy models became popular due to their high cost performance. It should be said that Samsung was not aware of these problems at the time, especially the rapid development of domestic mid- and low-end mobile phones priced between 1,000 and 2,000 yuan.

When Samsung released the S5 in February this year, it originally hoped to make a comeback. However, the S5 itself had limited innovation and many shortcomings. For example, the bottom protective cover was not tight, which led to doubts about its waterproofness, the fingerprint unlocking experience was poor and became useless, and the touch of the HOME button was affected. In addition, the plastic back cover remained unchanged for thousands of years and the legendary 2K screen was not used, making the S5 a "nesting doll" product lacking in innovation.

Despite this, the S5 still continues the flagship price system of the series. The launch price of around 5,000 yuan is obviously intended to compete with the outdated iPhone 5s. However, the cold market reaction and the subsequent release of a large number of low-priced domestic mobile phones have caused the price of this Galaxy S series noble in today's e-commerce channels to shrink by 1/3, making it the Samsung flagship phone with the fastest price drop in history. This has forced Samsung to turn its attention to the Note series flagship in September. Fortunately, Samsung released two annual flagships four years ago, which is equivalent to double insurance.

This ruthless autumn

Every autumn when the Note 4 is released, there are a lot of new mobile phone products. If any mobile phone manufacturer dares not to launch new products at this time, they will run to the toilet and cry in the next year. Even though the Note series products have been glorious in the past three years to fight against all opponents including iPhone, the pressure this year is particularly great.

On the one hand, iPhone 6 also has a large screen, which almost solves the last pain point of Apple fans. Whether it is 4.7 inches or 5.5 inches, it seems to be a sure thing that it will be hot-selling. On the other hand, domestic mobile phones in September are also eyeing the market, whether it is Meizu MX4, Huawei Mate 7, vivo X5, Coolpad Grand View 5, or IUNI U3, which is not very conspicuous but secretly sells 2K screen for 2,000 yuan, Note 4 cannot be taken lightly, after all, everyone wants to have a piece of Samsung's 31% market share.

The forgotten initiator

In fact, a fact that everyone knows but may overlook is that the Samsung Note series is the pioneer of 5-inch large-screen mobile phones. When the first generation Galaxy Note was released in September 2011 with a 5.3-inch screen, other mobile phones were still lingering in the 4-inch field. It was after that that 5-inch and even 6-inch large-screen mobile phones began to flood the market - indeed, flooding. Although 5-5.5 inches has become the standard size of flagship models of various manufacturers, there are not many manufacturers that can solve the problems of large-screen operation and experience - perhaps Hammer mobile phone is one of the few manufacturers that has made some achievements in this regard.

The Note series has always maintained user experience while expanding the screen size through one-handed operation (it was the first to do so), dual-screen switching, S Pen and other designs. In this regard, the Note 4's "side curved screen" can be said to be the pinnacle of large-screen experience. Even though we cannot comment on its practicality and controllability for the time being, at least its innovation and pretentiousness are unmatched.

This time, the reviews of Note 4 and Note Edge should not be as pessimistic as those of S5 half a year ago. Although the prices have not been announced yet, the high prices should be an unchangeable fact. It is even very likely that the high-end version will exceed the price of iPhone 6. It is hard to predict how many people will be willing to sacrifice their kidneys for the "side curved screen" with unknown practicality. After all, apart from seeing Samsung paying more attention to the Chinese market (for example, launching a major product in China for the first time), from products to prices, it seems to have copied the route of S5 half a year ago, which is worrying.

So for Samsung, after Note Edge it may be spring, but hopefully not winter.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.