Samsung’s Galaxy A6 series of Android mid-rangers will launch in China in the near future, as evidenced by the 3C certificate awarded to the lineup earlier this week. While certain telecom regulators such as the FCC in the U.S. often receive requests to certify equipment that’s never intended to be commercialized in their respective jurisdictions because manufacturers simply want their products to adhere to certain international standards, 3C certificates are rarely issued for such purposes. The Galaxy A6 family has already been leaked in an extensive manner over the course of the last several months, with Samsung apparently looking to position the new devices as direct successors to the Galaxy A5 series from last year.
While all Galaxy A5 models came with identical screen sizes and only differed in terms of the number of SIM cards they accepted and the amount of storage space, their successors are understood to be arriving in two main variants advertised as the Galaxy A6 and Galaxy A6 Plus. As is the case with Samsung’s Galaxy S9 flagship family, the Galaxy A6 line will see its larger model sport a dual-camera setup on its back panel. The device in question is also expected to feature a two-lens system on the front, supported by a conventional flash unit. Samsung is hence likely planning on advertising it as a selfie-focused offering in an effort to take on the likes of OPPO and Meizu.
Samsung’s China business lead the local market in terms of shipments and sales some half a decade ago but has now been pushed to the verge of irrelevancy, with most industry trackers indicating the South Korean tech giant currently holds less than a single percentage point of the smartphone market in the Far Eastern country. Samsung isn’t planning to follow LG’s recent example and exit China entirely but its local prospects remain grim, especially as the firm continues to insist on relatively high profit margins.