According to the South Korean analyst firm Hi Investment & Securities, growth in the high end smartphone segment is dramatically slowing down. We went from 89% growth levels in 2010 to 59% growth levels in 2011 to 26% growth levels in 2012. This year it’s expected to hit just 12%.

But here’s where the data gets interesting. High end handsets, which are defined by this analyst firm as phones that cost over $300, make up less than half of the smartphones Samsung sell; 42% to be exact. Curiously, they say 97% of the phones Apple sell cost over $300, though I’m pretty sure that number is actually 100%.

Anyway, the point is this: Yesterday a Samsung employee confessed that the GS4 has put the company in crisis mode. Samsung has finally realized that they can’t put their marketing power behind one handset, they need to diversify. Truth be told, Samsung is facing the same problem that Nokia faced several years ago and is still technically experiencing today.

Samsung, like Nokia, is being attacked at the low end from Chinese players like Huawei. Look at what 200 EUR will buy you from Samsung and what 200 EUR will buy you from Huawei, we’re talking different classes of devices. Samsung, like Nokia, is also being challenged at the high end, though today’s high end isn’t the high end that existed half a decade ago. Today’s high end is the masses of people who want a sold midrange phone.

When Apple comes out with that budget iPhone, and we all know they will, Samsung, and every other Android handset maker, is going to experience a world of pain.