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| Samsung S4 marketing charm wears off |
SEOUL: Analysts fell under Samsung Electronics Co Ltd's marketing spell when they made what they now admit were hopelessly optimistic forecasts for its smartphone sales.
Samsung's huge share of the high-end smartphone market also persuaded some analysts to downplay industry data pointing to a fast-saturating segment, a reality that is already eating into sales of Apple Inc's iPhone 5.
Woori Investment & Securities, one of South Korea's largest securities firms, cut its outlook for Samsung's earnings and target share price on June 5. It was the first to adjust its view.
A massive wave of downgrades has since followed, with forecasters including JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs taking a harder look at their assumptions of how well the S4, Samsung's latest Galaxy smartphone, would actually do.
