The Samsung Galaxy S6 will arrive in Australia this week but can it win over Apple iPhone fans?

Samsung’s Galaxy S6 smartphones, out this week, offer a complete redesign. But will it be enough to make Apple loyalists dump their iPhones?

HONG KONG - APRIL 01: Celebrity model Amanda S. at the Samsung new products press conference at Hullett House in Tsim Sha Tsui District on April 1, 2015 in Hong Kong. Samsung held a press conference to introduce their new products Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge in Hong Kong, which they descirbe as the most advanced mobiles on the market. They will be available on April 10. (Photo by Anthony Kwan/Anthony Kwan/Getty Images for Samsung)

SAMSUNG’S new flagship phones, due in stores Friday, look like no other member of the Galaxy family.

Their metal and glass bodies are undeniably more sophisticated, their metallic finish eye-catching, and the dual-sided curved screen a first in any phone.

GALAXY VERDICT: Can Samsung’s new phones win fans and infuriate Apple?

AUSSIE ARRIVAL: Samsung reveals Galaxy S6 delivery and price details

The new design complements new technology, including wireless charging, a brighter lens, and faster octa-core chip.

But can Galaxy S6 handsets single-handedly deliver a global Samsung comeback?

“It depends on what you mean by a comeback,” according to Telsyte managing director Foad Fadaghi.

New look ... Samsung's Galaxy S6 Edge smartphone features Corning Gorilla Glass front and back. (Photo: Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson.)

Samsung lost its title as top world smartphone maker to Apple late last year; a title it had held since 2011.

While sales figures are hardly grim for the South Korean technology giant, selling 73 million smartphones in the last quarter of 2014 compared to Apple’s 74.8 million, according to Gartner, Samsung lost 10 per cent market share from the year before.

“This downward trend shows that Samsung’s share of profitable premium smartphone users has come under significant pressure,” Gartner principal research analyst Anshul Gupta says.

But the complete redesign of Samsung’s top model smartphone is likely to turn the figures around, according to Mr Fadaghi, who says the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge will inspire plenty of existing Samsung users to upgrade their handsets.

“We think the Galaxy S6 will be successful in the Samsung user base which is actually quite large,” he says. “it should sell quite well for them and, given the seasonability of Samsung’s sales, it will bounce back in this half of the year.”

Revealed and now en route ... Samsung unveiled its new smartphones at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. (Photo: David Ramos/Getty Images)

But winning over Apple fans or winning back iPhone 6 and 6 Plus switchers may be a different story.

“It’s difficult to see many Apple users, particularly if they’re using an iPhone 6, moving to a Samsung product,” Mr Fadaghi says.

“The battle lines have been clearly drawn and most people are in one camp or the other. For many people, it’s too arduous to switch.”

Samsung is making every effort to convince them to adopt their take on Google Android, however.

Samsung Australia mobile vice-president Prasad Gokhale says the company will not only include a Smart Switch app on the Galaxy S6 to download information from an Apple iCloud account, but will make it possible to physically download information from an iPhone and install it on a new Samsung handset in carrier stores.

“We will be making customers a promise this time, unlike past years. When they move their data, they won’t lose it,” Mr Gokhale says. “Secondly, we will provide a cable that will connect straight to their Samsung: no need to download anything from the cloud.”

New features ... Samsung's Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge smartphones add wireless charging and a one-touch fingerprint sensor. (Photo: Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson.)

Despite analyst predictions of success, Mr Gokhale says the company is working hard to retain existing Samsung users with the new phones.

While both add new features, including one-touch fingerprint sensors, they omit the removable battery, memory card slot, and waterproof shell from rhe last model.

Mr Gokhale says the phone’s fast-charging mode will offset battery concerns, while Samsung will give each user 100GB in OneDrive cloud storage for two years to make up for its lack of a memory card.

Its waterproof rating, however, could not survive the phone’s metal unibody upgrade.

“What we give away, because of the laws of physics, is our IP67 (waterproof) rating,” Mr Gokhale says.

“That’s a trade-off done with a heavy heart but the requirements of our customers are so targeted on design and quality, we believe people will forgo IP67.”

The ultimate test for the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge will happen this Friday, with its arrival heavily promoted by Telstra, Optus, Vodafone and Virgin Mobile all of which will offer the $999-$1449 models on 24-month plans.

Originally published as The Samsung Galaxy S6 will arrive in Australia this week but can it win over Apple iPhone fans?