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Berlin (dpa) - Samsung presented its new flagship smartphone models a month earlier than expected.
The global Android smartphone market leader wants to further expand its lead with three variants of the new S21 series.
On Thursday, the group presented the S21, S21 + and S21 Ultra devices, which differ primarily in terms of screen size and camera technology.
Industry observers had originally only expected an S21 premiere in February.
The South Koreans obviously did not want to leave the field with a fresh generation of smartphones to their competitor Apple for so long.
Apple launched its iPhone 12 models in October and November.
The iPhone manufacturer had put Samsung under pressure because the smallest model, the iPhone 12 mini, is comparatively cheap by Apple at 749 euros.
Samsung's counterattack not only affects Apple, but also its Chinese rival Huawei.
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The Chinese were close to taking over from Samsung at the top of the sales charts, but were then dramatically thwarted by US sanctions.
Huawei cannot offer its current smartphones with popular Google services such as the Play Store, Google Maps or Google Pay.
As an alternative, Huawei relies on its own app platform, which still has gaps.
The Chinese provider Xiaomi, which was not targeted by the elected US President Donald Trump, also benefited from the US sanctions against Huawei.
Samsung has also grown in the smartphone market in Germany, said Mario Winter, head of marketing at Samsung Germany, of the dpa.
The market grew by a total of three percent last year, but Samsung grew by five percent.
This puts Samsung's market share in Germany at over 40 percent.
With the new Galaxy S21 smartphones, Samsung is saying goodbye to the curved screen on the edges of the earlier models.
The 6.2-inch (S21), 6.7-inch (S21 +) and 6.8-inch (S21 Ultra) displays are flat again and have an extremely thin edge.
What is striking is the design of the main camera on the back, which now visually merges with the edge of the housing.
Videos can be recorded in 8K resolution.
A photo for the picture gallery can be extracted from the video stream, for example to match the exact moment in a group picture when everyone is looking into the camera.
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At the prices that are between 50 and 200 euros below the prices for the previous version S20 a year ago, according to analysts, Samsung is reacting to increased competition from Apple and other manufacturers.
For the basic versions with 128 gigabytes of memory, Samsung charges 849 euros (S21), 1049 euros (S21 +) and 1249 euros (S21 Ultra).
At the same time, like Apple, Samsung does not include a charger or headphones.
Counterpoint analyst Sujeong Lim said that Samsung's pricing is not just based on the iPhone 12 mini.
"We are now in the middle of winter and the effects of Covid-19 will be felt even more strongly in the most important markets."
Forrester analyst Thomas Husson said the new S21 range would give Samsung a large window of opportunity to catch up with the iPhone 12 with improved camera and video capabilities and stronger performance at all levels.
"Samsung appears to have made great strides in creating a customer-centric experience in at least two key areas."
The company offers “a much more seamless and integrated experience with its ecosystem of devices with the new premium Galaxy Buds Pro”.
The analyst also rated the integration with other devices from the Samsung ecosystem as the "Smart Things" for controlling technology in a smart home or the "Smart Tags" for locating unconnected devices such as a keychain.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210114-99-28038 / 3