Highlights from Samsung Forum 2013: New Galaxies, Smarter TVs, and the Enterprise

Inside the Samsung Forum 2013

You have to hand it to Samsung. Samsung Electronics achieved sales of approximately US$187 billion in 2012, up about 20% from 2011, with analysts estimating US$60 billion of it from Android smartphone and tablet sales, up from around US$30 billion in 2011. In South East Asia, Samsung Electronics achieved 63% revenue growth in 2012. In the regional TV market last year, the company achieved 16% growth in revenue and 14% growth in unit sales.

According to research firm IDC, Samsung shipped 215.8 million smartphones last year, capturing 39.6% of the global market. In comparison, Apple shipped 136.8 million iPhones, or 25.1% of the smartphone market. Looking at just Android-based smartphones, Samsung owned 40.2% of the market in the fourth quarter, HTC was in second place with 6.6%. In Android-based tablets, Samsung took 27.9% of the market in the fourth quarter, placing it ahead of Amazon which had 21.8% of the market (source: The Wall Street Journal).

When asked about the key challenges Samsung still faces in the Asia market, Gregory Lee, President & CEO of Samsung Asia said, "We have such a variety in our markets. So we can't take one solution and apply it across all the markets. We move around, we look at what works and reapply it differently across each market. But it really takes a lot of skill."

Looking back at what didn't work in 2012, Lee said, "You know, we cannot all have successes. I would say that in marketing, we have not moved to digital as fast as we wanted to. We still have a long way to go with content and applications, and in the enterprise. I'm not saying by any means that we're very comfortable with where we are." Lee also emphazised Samsung's desire to be "number one in all markets where we're not number one. That's a fact."

Samsung in the Enterprise

Samsung affirmed its desire to penetrate the enterprise market at the forum today, with the goal of becoming a global leader. It aims for the enterprise business to represent 10% of its business in South East Asia in 2013, and for its B2B (Business to Business) segment to represent 23% of its total global revenue by 2020. Today, Samsung's enterprise business represents 3% of revenue in South East Asia, and 6% of its total global revenue.

According to Craig Gledhill, vice president of enterprise & SMB, Samsung ANZ & SE Asia, the origins of Samsung's enterprise push started two years ago when the company did its corporate long-term planning. "The 2020 plan was put together and in that plan, Samsung analyzed the potential opportunities to continue the kind of growth we would like to see. And it was recognized that enterprise was a key segment for us to develop and grow. And the 23% goal for 2020 isn't based on today's numbers, it's based on where we think we'll be in 2020, so it's quite a significant number."

Samsung's Knox software is another interesting push into the enterprise. When installed on a Samsung smartphone, Knox provides two distinct, separate environments for personal and business use. An icon in the lower left of the phone's display lets you switch between the two environments.

When asked about Samsung Knox and what problems it solves for corporations, especially with people who use their personal smartphones for work, Gledhill said, "The big challenge for companies today with BYOD (Bring Your Own Devices) is they worry that if they put corporate information on a personal device, how can they be sure that the information doesn't get leaked to the public or lost to competitors. Because of that, a lot of customers hold back on supporting it because they can't see it's secure enough.

"There are a lot of mobile management solutions on the marketplace that offer different levels of solutions. We can run those on our devices and we could do that before the Knox announcement. But what we've done with Knox is take it to a different level; we've built inside the phone a different canister. Anything that's put into that is protected, and cannot be accessed even if you've lost your device, because it's encrypted and secure.

"What we've set up through Knox is a dual-personality on your phone, to give you a secure environment, a very closed system on the enterprise side. Conversely, we don't want to restrain you on the way you use your smartphone as a personal device. So the look and feel from the personal side looks the same. So that's what Knox is really targeting, it's separates the corporate side of the environment from the personal."

Samsung Forum Product Highlights

Samsung today unveiled its latest products at the Samsung South East Asia, Oceania and Taiwan Forum 2013 in Jakarta, Indonesia. Many of the products have been seen before, at international shows like CES and MWC, but the annual forum brings these products to Asia with updated launch information and revelations about the local markets. Here are some of the highlights.

Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0

All eyes were on the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0. With an 8 inch screen and Samsung's S Pen technology, the Note 8.0 is the latest, compact addition to the Galaxy Note family. The 8" WXGA screen has a resolution of 1280 x 800, and comes with 16 or 32GB of internal storage, with an external microSD card slot. It's expected to arrive in Singapore in Q2. Check out our in-depth hands-on preview of the Galaxy Note 8.0 to find out more.

5 New Galaxy Smartphones

New to the Samsung Galaxy smartphone family are the Galaxy Young, Fame, Express, Xcover 2 and Grand.

The Galaxy Young is an affordable smartphone for the…young…with entry-level specs. It comes with a 3.27" screen, a 1GHz processor, 768MB RAM, 4GB of storage with a microSD slot, and a 3MP camera. It's a small phone, measuring 58.6 x 109.4 x 12.5mm and weighs 112g.

The Galaxy Fame comes with a slightly larger screen and higher resolution camera but less RAM. Its screen measures 3.5" and it runs a 1GHz processor with 512MB RAM, 4GB of internal storage with a microSD slot and 5MP camera. Size and weight are also identical with the Young at 113.2 x 61.6 x 11.6mm and 120.6g.

Both the Young and the Fame run Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. Their launch dates are to be confirmed.

The Samsung Galaxy Express is billed as "LTE for everyone". Described also as "value-driven", expect this to be an affordable model but with 4G LTE support. It comes with a 4.5" Super AMOLED Plus display, a 1.2GHz quad core processor with 1GB RAM, a 8MP camera, all running on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. The Express is expected to arrive in Singapore in Q2.

The Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2 is a tough smartphone for the adventurous. It's dust and sand-proof, and even water-resistant to a depth of one meter for up to 30 minutes. It also comes with pre-loaded Google Maps data, enhanced GPS, a 4" display, 5MP camera, 1GHz dual core processor with 1GB RAM, running on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

The Samsung Galaxy Grand has a large 5" display, with a 1.2GHz dual core processor with 1GB RAM, a 8MP camera and runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. It also supports dual SIM cards, letting users manage two phone numbers using a single phone.

Smarter TVs

Samsung's user interface for their 2013 Smart TVs has been redesigned. The new Smart Hub organises content into three main panels: Apps, Photos, Videos & Music, and Social. Apps are apps made for Smart TVs, you can store your own content in the cloud and access them via the Photos, Videos & Music panel, and Social lets you share your favourite online videos with your friends and family. We first covered these details at Samsung's keynote from CES 2013.

Samsung says that the motion and voice controls have been enhanced in their 2013 models, with improved language recognition and Smart TV models now understanding about 300 commands. You can also use your hands now to rotate images, as well as to zoom in and out.

Samsung also talked about its S-Recommendation with Voice Interaction technology, which can analyse your on-air viewing habits and offer personalised program suggestions. This service is only available right now in select markets though, like Australia.

Finally, Samsung introduced an interesting way to keep older models relevant with the 2013 Evolution Kit. Installing the Evolution Kit, which looks like a simple black box that locks onto the back of a compatible TV, owners can upgrade their Smart TV with the new 2013 features as well as quad-core support.

A New Flagship Mirrorless Smart Camera

The NX300 is Samsung's new flagship mirrorless system camera, with a 20.3MP APS-C CMOS sensor and a new hybrid auto-focus (AF) system which combines both phase and contrast detection AF. It comes with a very fast 1/6000 shutter speed which will combine nicely with fast lenses for shooting wide open in good light, and a 8.6fps continuous shooting speed for capturing action.

The NX300 can also capture 1080p Full-HD video in both 2D and 3D, when coupled with the new 45mm f/1.8 2D/3D lens. The NX300's large 3.31-inch AMOLED touch-screen is the first NX camera to come with a tilt screen. For even more hands-on info of both the camera and the new lens, check out our preview from Samsung's booth at CES 2013.

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