Samsung has announced the time and date of its next Unpacked event, as the South Korean electronics giant looks set to unveil its next flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S5 in a bid to boost stalling sales.
The event will form part of the Mobile World Congress, a break away from last year’s glitzy standalone event in New York, which some critics considered over the top. The launch at an annual industry gathering would reflect a new emphasis on costs.
Rumored specs of the Samsung Galaxy S5 include a 2K display and 16MP f/2.2 camera. The smartphone is tipped to launch with a revamped TouchWiz user interface sitting on top of Android 4.4 KitKat.
The S5 is widely expected to feature a bigger screen, measuring 5.25in, and come in two versions – one with metal and one with plastic casing.
It may also come with an improved Galaxy Gear smartwatch. Other rumours suggest the screen will have an AMOLED display with a 2560×1400 resolution.
The S4 did not drive sales as Samsung appeared to expect, especially compared to the successes of the S2 and S3 before it. Sales only kept pace with the S3’s, hitting around 40m by late October, six months after its launch in March.
The move comes against a smartphone market which is still expanding, but where the top-end segment at which the iPhone and flagship Galaxy phones compete has looked saturated, with Apple only recording 7% growth in iPhone sales during the fourth quarter after the September launch of its iPhone 5S and 5C models – in metal and plastic.