In smartphone mass-market, Samsung, Apple have margins on their minds

Seol, South Korea:  As the smartphone action shifts to the mass market, leaders Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and Apple Inc are under pressure to make their high-end phones more affordable to revive sales. And that may spell trouble for already-softening margins.

Samsung, which said on Tuesday it would likely post a second straight quarterly profit decline, has knocked around a tenth off the price of its Galaxy S5 in South Korea, in the first such move for a marquee smartphone launch - the S5 rolls out globally on Friday. And it's throwing in a free gift pack of media subscriptions and web apps worth 600,000 won ($570).