Hasta La Gadget!

Samsung has a new teaser out for its “Next Galaxy,” which will be unveiled February 24 at an event during MWC in Barcelona. The short video, which clocks in at just over 35 seconds, features a series of vignettes and snapshots with overlaid text offering up one-word summaries of what the new hardware is all about.

Of course, whenever a company rattles off a string of buzzwords it’s probably best not to read too much into it, but there are some specific moments during this video that call to mind previously rumored features of the upcoming Galaxy S5, and some terms are given more focus and time than others during the montage.

There’s “Wet,” for instance, which calls back claims that the new S5 will be a rugged phone with water and dust resistance. Samsung previously released an iteration of its S4 called the “Active” that offered these benefits, but it would make sense to see the company turn this into a standard feature for its main flagship device, especially given that competitors like Sony already do this with their own top-tier devices.

Other focal terms include an “Alive” segment and “Outdoor” bit, both of which would seem to reinforce the idea of a smartphone ready for rugged use. There are also a number of suggestions that Samsung could bring improved camera features to the device, including some powerful selfie tricks.

The ultimate reveal is just three days away at this point, but for the impatient, that just means there’s still around 72 hours breaking down this clip frame by frame and evaluating all the editing decisions at a granular level for clues about what’s in store for Samsung’s next-generation flagship.

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Samsung’s latest financial results underscored slowing growth in the smartphone business and its increased rivalry with Apple, which seems to be closing the gap, at least in the U.S.

Samsung reported its first decline in quarterly profit in two years for the December quarter. Fourth quarter net income was 7.22 trillion won ($6.7 billion), lower than what the analysts expected. Operating income for Samsung’s mobile business during October to December period remained flat at 5.47 trillion won.

While consumers in both India and China are expected to buy over half a billion smartphones this year, they are going to look for cheaper versions, triggering a pricing battle. This basically means lower profit margins for Samsung’s Galaxy range of phones — the company’s biggest and most profitable business division.

With Apple iPhone at the higher end of the market (and even pushing out lower-priced iPhones in markets like India), and aggressive rivals such as Lenovo and Micromax selling much cheaper versions of Android phones, this year is going to be tough for Samsung.

Investor concerns on Samsung’s ability to keep growing its mobile phone business became visible early this year, when the company lost $8 billion of the market value. According to a Bloomberg report, Samsung shipped only 9 million units of Galaxy S4 during the fourth quarter ending December, much lower than the 13 million units it had expected.

Samsung chairman Lee Kun Hee even warned employees last January to watch its back and continue to innovate in new business, as competition increases and the global economy continues to drag.

Earlier this year, Apple finally managed to strike a deal with China Mobile for selling iPhones in the country. Tim Cook also said that Apple sold more iPhones in China than ever before during the quarter. Moreover, Apple now seems to be working on bigger-sized iPhones to address the opportunity in markets like China where many consumers still prefer the 5.7-inch Galaxy Note over iPhones that offer 4-inch screen.

Among new launches planned for this year, Samsung said it will release Galaxy S5 by April and at least one other wearable device during 2014.

The company attributed lower growth to currency fluctuations and one-time bonus payments to workers to celebrate the 20th anniversary of chairman Lee’s new management strategy.

To be sure, Samsung is still the world’s biggest smartphone maker, accounting for nearly half of all the sales, but the challenge is more in terms of protecting its turf — both in terms of volumes and profitability.

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