Samsung Electronics unveiled its latest premium smartphones with a focus on their powerful cameras on Wednesday, in a test of its brand power as the market for mobiles undergoes unprecedented contraction.

Analysts said the Galaxy S23 smartphone series, with its cameras and faster chips than its predecessor, could still face weak demand as consumers spend less amid surging inflation in a struggling global economy.

Acknowledging that challenge, the head of Samsung’s mobile experience, or MX, business, told reporters in a briefing after the event that there was a “noticeable shift to the premium segment” in developing and emerging markets. “We intend to focus on the premium segment in developed markets as well as some of the countries where we are seeing solid growth,” he said.

The smartphone maker showed off the S23 Ultra’s performance at the Samsung Unpacked event in San Francisco with snippets of two films, Behold by Ridley Scott, director of Gladiator and The Martian, and Faith by South Korean director Na Hong-jin, both filmed using the top-line Galaxy smartphone.

It is Samsung’s first-ever 200-megapixel camera sensor, and the series uses Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 mobile processor. Qualcomm said that with the S23 series, 100% of the processors used will be from Qualcomm.

At the event, executives from Samsung, Qualcomm and Google gathered on the stage to highlight their partnership in the XR space, which includes virtual and augmented reality.

Anshel Sag, an analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, said the three worked together in the XR space about a decade ago, but the reboot to partner this time comes as Apple is expected to launch its mixed reality headset this year.

Credibility

“I think it’s designed to give both Samsung and Google a little bit more credibility in the XR space, because they both have been pretty absent on the hardware side for quite some time,” said Sag.

Global smartphone shipments showed the largest-ever decline in a single quarter in the October-December period, when they were down 18.3% on a year earlier at 300.3 million units, according to data issued by research firm IDC last month. The figures cast doubt on forecasts for a modest recovery in the market for mobiles this year.

In that tough environment, analysts said Samsung’s mobile strategy would centre on profitability through premium offerings, including the S series and foldables.

Read: Samsung Galaxy S23 launched – South African pricing, specs

“Samsung can’t afford to focus on expanding volume anymore,” said Liz Lee, associate director at research firm Counterpoint. “It must boldly simplify low- and mid-range products, the parts of the market where Chinese competitors have caught up a lot.”