2014-11-13T061042Z_700398328_GM1EABD13AJ01_RTRMADP_3_SAMSUNG-ELEC-SMARTPHONE
A new Samsung Galaxy Note Edge smartphone is pictured at the IFA consumer technology fair in Berlin in this September 5, 2014 file photo. Samsung Electronics Co Ltd aims to restore its crumbling lead in the global smartphone industry in part by ramping up high-end devices with curved screens full of advanced technology that's tough for rivals to replicate. Yet as the South Korean giant seeks to make devices like the rigid-curve Galaxy Note Edge stand out from a crowd of flat, big-screen handsets, making money will depend on producing them cost-effectively and coaxing developers to tailor applications for the new format. Reuters/Fabrizio Bensch/Files

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., the world’s largest smartphone maker by shipments, will build fewer models going forward to cut costs as competition rises from Chinese rivals, Financial Times reported, citing a company official who briefed investors at a New York conference on Monday.

The company would eliminate less popular models, reducing the total number by 25 percent to 30 percent, Robert Yi, Samsung’s senior vice-president said, according to the paper. This would allow Samsung to streamline the production of the more competitive smartphones and offer them at lower prices, he said.

Samsung was the only top-five smartphone maker to lose market share in the third quarter, research firm IDC noted in a release on Oct. 29. The company’s earnings for the period were its worst since 2011.

Hit by the popularity of Apple’s iPhone 6 models at the high end and models such as the Mi3 by China’s Xiaomi Inc. in the mid-range, Samsung has also decided to build a second manufacturing plant in Vietnam, where labor is cheaper than in China and the government offers a number of tax breaks.

RELATED STORIES
China Iphone Best buy Samsung