Samsung hints at Galaxy S5 launch in February

SAMSUNG Electronics seems to be preparing to unveil a new version of its flagship Galaxy S smartphone this month, but expectations are low that features such as a bigger screen will lead to a sharp jump in sales given intensifying competition.

Samsung sent out invitations on Tuesday for "Samsung unPacked 5" event on 24 February at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The launch has been brought forward by around three weeks after sales of Samsung's S4 came in weaker than expected, analysts said.

The world's biggest smartphone maker is bracing for its weakest mobile annual profit growth in seven years amid fierce competition from Apple and Chinese vendors, and as growth for high-end smartphones eases due to near saturation in many markets.

The S5 is widely expected to feature a bigger screen, at 5.25in, than its predecessor S4 last year, and come in two versions - one with metal and one with plastic casing. It is also rumoured to sport an improved rear camera with 16 megapixels compared to the 13MP of the S4, and biometric functions such as iris recognition or a fingerprint scanner. It may also come with an improved Galaxy Gear smartwatch. Other rumours suggest the screen will have an AMOLED display with a 2560x1400 resolution.

The launch at the annual industry gathering would reflect a new emphasis on costs, marking a departure from the glitzy marketing Samsung has deployed in the past, including the use of actors and a full live orchestra to launch the S4 at New York's Radio City Music Hall last year. Samsung saw profits slow during the fourth quarter, apparently due to downward pressure on pricing for its smartphones, where its share of those priced over $400 fell from 40% to 21%.

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.

A bigger screen for the S5 may not become much of a selling point as Apple is widely expected to introduce large-screen smartphones - Samsung's mainstay products - later this year. Apple is also expected to gain ground in China after it began selling iPhones through China Mobile, the world's biggest mobile carrier by subscribers, last month.

More challenges may come from China's PC maker Lenovo Group which announced last week it would buy Google's Motorola Mobility handset unit for $2.9bn. Lenovo has ambitions to expand its global footprint, especially in smartphones, where it is already in the top five handset