Samsung Galaxy S4 mini phone set to target mid-tier market

SEOUL: Samsung Electronics Co. has unveiled a stripped down version of its flagship Galaxy S4 smartphone, aiming to grab a bigger share in the mid-tier segment as growth in the high-end market slows.
The Galaxy S4 mini, which follows the debut of the S4 just a month ago, will have a 4.3-inch screen — still bigger than Apple’s 4-inch iPhone 5 — and a 8-mega pixel rear-facing camera.
By comparison, the original S4, which hit the 10 million-sale mark recently to become Samsung’s fastest selling smartphone, has a bigger 5-inch full high-definition screen and a 13-mega pixel camera.
Samsung did not announce a price for the phone or give a launch date, but the market estimates the smaller type will be priced at around $ 350.
The launch comes ahead of the widely speculated low-priced iPhone later this year and as Samsung, the world’s top smartphone maker, looks to widen its lead with products spanning both the high and cheap-and-cheerful ends of the market.
Samsung is also expected to unveil more varieties of the S4 in the upcoming mobile event in London next month including a model with optical camera zoom functionality as well as a phone with water-proof features.
Meanwhile, a US trade panel that specializes in patent cases will reconsider a split decision made by one of its judges in a long-running patent battle between Samsung Electronics Co. and Apple.
The International Trade Commission said earlier it would take a second look at an ITC judge’s decision that Samsung had infringed one Apple patent for a text-selection feature in its smartphones and tablets.
It will also look at the judge’s decision, made in March, that the South Korean company, which supplies some Apple chips, did not infringe a second patent which detects if a microphone or other device is plugged into its microphone jack.
A final decision is due on August 1.
The ITC is a popular venue for patent battles because it can ban imported goods from the United States if they are found to infringe patents.
Apple had filed a complaint in mid-2011, accusing Samsung of infringing its patents in making its Galaxy, Transform and Nexus mobile devices, among others.
The case at the International Trade Commission is No. 337-796.