Samsung Galaxy Tab Q
Samsung Galaxy Tab Q, new 7-inch voice calling tablet Reuters

Samsung Electronics is battling at two fronts to defend its market turf, reports Reuters. On the one end is high end Apple with its iPhones and at the other end cheaper Chinese rivals are eating away its market. The report quotes a recent survey by Counterpoint to show this new development.

Counterpoint surveyed 35 leading smart phone markets accounting for 90 percent of global sales. It found that sales for iPhone 5s is more or less consistent compared to Samsung's Galaxy S5 which is only a few months old after a late March release.

Data research firm Canalys also said Samsung's market share in the first quarter of 2014 fell to 18 per cent from the 20 per cent, a year ago. During the same period China's Xiaomi and Lenovo Group Ltd made good gains in the market.

S5 worse than Galaxy S4

Counterpoint noted that Galaxy S5 is doing worse than the Galaxy S4. Its data measured retailers' sales to consumers unlike the industry data which takes shipments by the manufacturer as the benchmark. But Samsung is pinning hopes on the new flagship device and expects it to outperform its predecessor. Samsung said in a statement that it will strengthen product competitiveness by leveraging the premium brand equity and cutting-edge technology.

Metal bodied Galaxy Alfa

Reports Mobile Shop's Melissa Mayer that Samsung is pinning all hopes on Galaxy Alpha-its premium smartphone in the pipeline. According to rumors Galaxy Alpha will be a premium device with a metal body frame. There are also reports speculating that Galaxy Alpha can well be the Galaxy F, which Samsung is keen to put above the current Galaxy S family.

Launch in South Korea

The Mobile Shop report informs that Galaxy Alpha will hit South Korea first in late July or August. Samsung is aiming to do what HTC has already done. It wants to rival the beautiful HTC One M8. Expectation is that Galaxy Alphas will be very slim, with a 6mm waist.

Galaxy Alpha Highlights

Other specs doing the rounds about Samsung Galaxy Alpha include 4.7-inch screen and an Exynos 5 Octa processor. The camera will also see updates. A new Exynos 5 Octa processor will be standing behind the hood replacing Qualcomm Snapdragon 805.