The International Data Corporation (IDC) has released a preliminary data that reveals Samsung is still the leader in the smartphone market. This is despite the infamous Note 7 fiasco and a drop in its market share compared to third quarter last year. However, Samsung can win back customers with a newly rumored possible optical fingerprint scanner in its upcoming Galaxy S8.
S8's Optical Fingerprint Scanner
There have quite a number of rumors about Samsung's Galaxy S8. With Xiaomi's Mi Mix almost bezel-less display and a similar design for Apple's iPhone 8, the Galaxy S8 is said to have an edge-to-edge display. According to Forbes, other speculations of possible S8 features include a digital on-screen Home button, a 4K resolution screen, 6GB of RAM, a dual lens camera, Exynos 8895 and Qualcomm Snapdragon 830 chipsets and a USB-C audio.
The latest one came from a source on Weibo. Apparently, the Galaxy S8 will be integrated with an optical fingerprint scanner. For comparison, Xiaomi has already used Qualcomm's ultrasonic Sense ID technology. Android Authority suggests that Samsung will use the more secure ultrasonic fingerprint recognition instead of the optical fingerprint sensor. This would make more sense since Galaxy S8 will be powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 830 chipsets.
However, Sam Mobile reports that the optical fingerprint sensor would be faster and more accurate. This will also further support the rumored digital Home button and edge-to-edge display in Galaxy S8.
This might also be a good move for Samsung since the Galaxy S8 could possibly be the first smartphone to use the optical fingerprint sensor technology. But Android Authority also has a point that it seems odd for Samsung to try advancing an old scanning technology.
It will take until February to confirm all the rumors around Galaxy S8. The Korean-based tech company is reported to unveil the said device during the Mobile World Congress event.
Samsung Is Still The Smartphone King
Based on the latest preliminary data released by global research firm IDC, Samsung is still the king of the smartphone market. There have been 72.5 million Samsung units shipped in the third quarter of 2016. This is actually lower compared to the 83.8 million units in the same period last year. Furthermore, Samsung's market share also dropped from 23.3 percent to 20.0 percent.
A big factor in Samsung's continued dominance despite the Note 7 issue is the success of Galaxy S7 and S7 edge. Other devices that also have contributed is Samsung's J-series.
On the other hand, Samsung's closest competition Apple has suffered a decline too. Apple's iPhone shipments went down from 48 million units to only 45.5 million. The difference is actually a lot better than Samsung. Apple's iPhone market share is now 12.5 percent from last year's 13.4 percent.
