Cyanogen CEO says Samsung will be "slaughtered" by competition in the next five years

Samsung may have just announced their much-improved Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge handsets, but according to Cyanogen CEO Kirt McMaster, the Korean tech giant will have to do much more to stay relevant in the next five or so years. In an interview with Business Insider, McMaster explains his views on Samsung, and that he thinks the company will eventually be “slaughtered” by new competition in the coming years.

In the interview, McMaster comments about how low-budget device manufacturers like Xiaomi and Micromax will diminish tier-one companies’ marketshare, such as Samsung’s, over the next 3-5 years. He even goes as far as saying:

The tier one OEMs like Samsung are going to be the next generation Nokias in the next five years. They’re going to be slaughtered. We think long term Apple itself will have problems because they’re just not good at competing at the low end.

Business Insider follows up by asking the CEO if he really thinks Samsung will be toast in five years. McMaster explains:

It could get pretty bad pretty damn quick. This is often the case. Look what happened to Research In Motion (RIM). Look what happened to Nokia. Last summer Micromax surpassed Samsung as the dominant feature phone player in India. We’re talking literally in eight months this occurred… This is just one market. We see this happen all over the world.

Cyanogen has worked hard over the past few years to break into the mainstream smartphone business by offering smooth software that is able to be run on budget-friendly hardware. And because of Cyanogen’s success with the OnePlus One, McMaster’s opinions on global marketshare are certainly worth something. Though the message may come off a bit strong, it makes sense. Smaller OEMs around the world can offer extremely budget-friendly hardware in areas where most people can’t afford Samsung or Apple-made devices.

The entire interview is a lengthy read, but it’s definitely worth the time. McMaster goes on to talk about Cyanogen’s recent partnership with Qualcomm and even comments on the company receiving a large investment from Microsoft. If you’d like to take a look at the full interview, head to the source link below.

What are your thoughts on McMaster’s interview? Do you agree or disagree?