Samsung Electronics Co. says it will unveil new Galaxy A smartphones Thursday, the tech giant's entry-level gadget targeting users looking for more affordable smartphones with flagship features.

Calling the Galaxy A series the company's "most popular smartphone category," Samsung said it "is taking the impactful Galaxy innovations for the A series even further."

The series will be shown at a live online event slated for 10 p.m. (US time) Thursday.

Samsung's mid-low tier Galaxy A series is forecast to come in various new models -- A73, A53, A33 and A23 -- a product line the company said would provide "cutting-edge innovations, services and features at an accessible price."

Last week, Apple launched the next-generation version of the iPhone SE, equivalent to the Galaxy A series, at this year's first product event.

The new iPhone SE (third generation) is priced starting at $429, up from the previous model's $399. It features a 4.7-inch display, a single 12-megapixel rear camera and Apple's A13 chip used in the iPhone 11 series.

The Galaxy A73, which will be the most high-end among the A series, is widely expected to come with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 750G, a 6.7-inch screen and a Super AMOLED display.

Samsung, the world's largest smartphone maker, introduced the Galaxy A72 and A52 models at its Galaxy Awesome Unpacked online event in March last year. It was the first time Samsung held a large-scale introduction event for Galaxy A devices.

The A series, designed in part to deal with growing challenges from Chinese rivals in the mid- and low-end handset market, proved to be popular among price-conscious consumers.

According to industry tracker Omdia, the A12 smartphone, released in December 2020, was the world's most shipped smartphone last year, recording a total of 51.8 million units globally, helping Samsung consolidate the No. 1 spot in the mobile phone market.

The phone was also the tech giant's first model to have exceeded 50 million in a year, according to Omdia. (Yonhap)