Galaxy F Rumors Heat Up As S5 Blamed For Samsung's Poor Q2 Sales
The highly-rumored Galaxy F (S5 Prime) may be the solution Samsung needs, as analysts suggest the Korean tech giant's new flagship, the Galaxy S5, is the cause for its poor Q2 sales, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Samsung informed its investors Thursday that its balance sheet "doesn't look too good" - subsequently sending the company's stock spiraling down 1.9 percent, according to WSJ. Shares had already dipped down 8.5 percent this month.
Although Samsung's head of mobile, JK Shin, announced that the company had shipped 11 million units of the GS5, many believe those shipments have not translated into enough actual sales.
Rumors of an upcoming premium variant of the current flagship surely aren't aiding sales.
A new photo of the device - which has been dubbed the Galaxy F and Galaxy S5 Prime - in a "glowing gold" color option has surfaced courtesy of @evleaks, apparently revealing that the smartphone will come in not one, but two gold looks. Evleaks noted that this was not the GS5 LTE-A, but a completely different smartphone.
The leaker previously released a photo of the alleged smartphone in "perfect gold:"
Samsung GALAXY F, in 'perfect golden' hue, 2014 - https://t.co/zemfU5O6fZ pic.twitter.com/rGkrnHJv4l
- @evleaks (@evleaks) June 14, 2014
Like previous leaks, the device appears to have a thin bezel.
Phandroid reports that the Galaxy F/S5 Prime has passed through the FCC with the model numbers SM-G906S, G906K, and G906L, simultaneously revealing its dimensions, as well. According to the FCC paperwork, the smartphone measures 72.5mm x 142mm: identical to the current flagship GS5. As the website notes, the device is rumored for a 5.2-inch display, so it will be intriguing to see how it would incorporate the larger display in the same body.
Earlier benchmark results found on GFXBench, similarly suggest the S5 "Prime" features a 5.2-inch display with QHD resolution (2,560×1,440 pixels) - making it a bit larger than the standard GS5, but with twice the resolution. Additional specs listed for the device include a 2.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor (that GS5 packs a 801), a 16-megapixel rear camera and a 2-megapixel front-facing shooter.