Samsung has it problems. It has sold too many mobile phones.

You would think that of all the smartphone makers, Samsung is the one with the least problems on its mind. And it's not.

Since March, about 20 billion usd has been wiped off its value and recent warnings that profits will be lower than expected are causing market issues. That warning is, I kid you not, 8.3 billion usd profit in the second quarter and up a staggering +47% on last year. But it's not enough. Shares have declined circa -18% in the last month.

It has a 33% market dominant mobile phone share and smartphones account for about 74% of profit.

The main issue here is market saturation. Mobile phone sales are slowing - well, doesn't everyone have one - and more and more they need bigger advertising/marketing pushes which cost more and more money. So the investor confidence and outlook in the mobile phone sector is declining. Blackberry's problems typify this and HTC profits declined over -80% year on year.

Samsung are now reliant on mobile phones with their household entertainment products under more threat through reductions in consumer spending (recession) and major price competition.

Samsung have been and continue to be a hugely successful, massively profitable company. Their new Galaxy phone recently sold 10m units within a month of launch and yet, their faced with a serious decline.

Purely and simply because they're now in a market which has reached saturation and they can't show that they're able to move it along. Very reminiscent of Microsoft - a great company once that dominated the wrong space.

Interesting. Inspiration and Innovation required. Remember Nokia.

HMV and Xtra-Vision. Who's next? Skype announces a cracking idea from Monday with Microsoft's outlook.com. So could it be telephony?

Given recent collapses of HMV and in Ireland this week, the Xtra-vision chain which went into receivership (like a 'Blockbuster' chain of retail DVD rental), it's clear that online played a major part in their demise.

Video and music downloads (legal in the main) through the likes of ITunes and Netflix which is surging ahead, meant that traditional retail DVD/Album sales went into spiralling decline. The point however should be made, that brands like HMV and Xtra-vision should have got into the online space but didn't.

They were, at one time, the dominant brands with the power to win online. Anyway.

One now has to ask, what's the next category or market segment that's now faced with the same challenges? And it's telephony.

Apart from "ordinary" threats of email, tweeting, texting and messaging which avoids the need for a quick (costly) telephone call, mobile operators continue to compete on price to woo subscribers. That in itself, is reducing margins and profitability.

It's a death spiral.

But apart from that, online operators are starting to each their lunch - exactly what happened in music and video.

Skype, the best known player (but there's hundreds) have just announced a roll-out of audio and video calling, with outlook.com in the UK from Monday and then the US and Germany this month.

All you need do is download a plug-in and login with your Microsoft account and you're integrated into the Microsoft email service. So that call, has just got a lot easier - it's part of your email. Merging the accounts will automatically merge contacts so connecting with friends will be easy as well.

It's phone calls at your fingertips.

Skype is part of Microsoft so furthering usage will also be pretty easy for Microsoft as Skype replaces their 'instant messenger' service. It previously partnered with ComCast bringing Skype to HDTV sets and Skype generates about 130 billion minutes of call a quarter - growing by 30%+. Microsoft also of course know mobile telephony with android phones.

It's hard to see the big global mobile brands compete with this and especially when we've seen so little sign of it to date. Perhaps they have had it too good for too long? like HMV and Xtra-Vision?

Unthinkable? Nope.

Samsung new TV and Online Video targets one thing. Blackberry.

Samsung are already known for TV Commercials and online video that goes after The Apple user. Now their new campaign targets Blackberry, already struggling.....so this won't help.

Although they don't mention Blackberry, they make it clear whom they're talking about, showing clueless employees who persist with out-of-date phones using keyboards. So it's aimed at the business users firstly.

It's supposed to be a start-up office launching a game called 'Unicorn Apocalypse' pretentiously enough.

Perhaps not the best commercial ever at all but it's hard-hitting enough for Blackberry users to understand. And it's a symbol of Samsung's ongoing attempts to take on all-comers. They recently were the stars of the show at The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Samsung are not prepared to stand still. With world domination clearly in their minds, the brand is going from strength to strength and producing unbelievable profits. They are afraid of no one and even prepared to kick a brand like Blackberry, when it's down.

Unlike Apple, they pay a little less attention to branding commercials and tend to go aggressively for the jugular.

Watch out for Samsung.

The future of Television. Three issues that are being discussed at the CES show in Las Vegas.

The future of Television is on show at The Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas this week. Possibly THE show to see in the world today.

Most of the brands you know and love are there (although no Apple or Microsoft this year) along with new, Chinesey ones, hoping to take on the consumers of America and don't, misjudge them. Remember Samsung. Everyone laughed. 

What they're all talking about at CES is new, higher definition TV called "Ultra High Definition" (previously '4k') and about 4 times the definition of standard HD. Which if you have HD (and if you haven't, go get it), you know that 4 times better is pretty damn good and you'll really feel involved in the picture but....it's expensive right now. About 7,500 euro for the first TV to market, 'LG' set. It's also important to note that you need the content suppliers to be shooting in the same mode.

Already there's very limited 3D content and even HD content, although improving. There's no point in having a 3D TV with nothing in 3D to watch. No point in an Ultra TV if there's no Ultra shot film.

Of course TV's are now all web enabled, 3D, and so on but what you're also seeing is the rise of TV as a much smarter device.

Ideal for Skype calls? Interactive video? Web browsing? The TV is getting more and more development focus as a multi-platform device.

So the second big issue at the CES is this convergence and integration of TV. With more TV options on screen, the controlling device (the remote control) needs to change and more and more that device is becoming your mobile phone using Wifi. You phone is now becoming a controlling device in the home.

So marketing of phones, as useful TV devices, have blended into CES and Sony is launching its first major phone at the show since it dropped the 'Sony Ericsson' brand. Of course too, interactive glasses is all the talk as a way of replacing the phone.

Although we know of the development of 'Google Goggles', a lot has been going on in this space and there's no doubt that there's a bigger number of investors and developers now, who see glasses as the replacement for phones. And glasses as the real "mobile TV'. Do you know, they might well be right.

A new type of device, like glasses, will give brands like Sony/Blackberry/Nokia a chance to re-enter a market that swept them aside. Although the three brands I mention are pretty much at 'junk bond status', there is the possibility of a last chance saloon for them by developing glasses.

So the future of TV looks like higher picture/sound definition and quality; better integration with other devices online and notably mobile; and the emergence of glasses as a potential new delivery system.

Now there you go, I've just saved you that 'all expenses paid' trip to Las Vegas. You wouldn't have liked it anyway. What with all the bars and all. Great restaurant selection, super shows, nah better off behind your desk. Sorry.