A run of disappointing quarterly earnings has forced Samsung, the largest smartphone vendor in the world, to change its business strategy.

After reporting a nearly 50 percent drop in net profit for the third quarter of this year, and a 20 percent drop three months earlier, the company plans to cut down on the number of smartphones it offers.

The growth of Chinese vendors such as Lenovo and Xiaomi in the entry-to-mid-level markets in addition to the continued growth of Apple in mature markets have led to Samsung's recent regression. This has forced the company to adjust to its competition.

It was not revealed which specific models will be phased out by the company, but Robert Yi, head of investor relations for Samsung, said at a presentation to investors in New York this week that his company plans to slash the number of smartphone models it offers in order to share components across fewer phones.

"They are slashing the number of models down because they have too many choices out there," said Steven Kantorowitz, president of CelPro Associates, a Samsung partner based in New York. "It causes a lot of problems. They need less choices. With Samsung you got the Galaxy Note 4, Note Edge the Galaxy S5, and this and that. With Apple you got the iPhone 6 or 6 Plus. It's simple. It's distracting to people that each Samsung phone offers something different. People can't make a decision when they have too many choices, including myself. It's like going into an ice cream store and there are 50 flavors when in reality I'd just be happy with chocolate. It would make things simpler."
 

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