Samsung has been breaking financial record after record lately thanks to strong sales of memory chips and steady display business profitability, but in the face of strengthening competition and a global smartphone market slowdown, the company’s Galaxy handsets are nowhere near as hot as they used to be.

The problem lies mostly in the mid-range segment, where the Galaxy A and J families are simply incapable of keeping up with the affordability and innovation of key rivals from OEMs like Xiaomi and Huawei.

At the same time, the Galaxy S9 and Note 9 flagships haven’t exactly ...