We were recently invited to the Samsung Forum 2012 in Thailand where Samsung introduced a plethora of products for the APAC market. From TVs to fridges, Samsung left no stone unturned to entice its consumers the coming year. The event featured the much awaited Samsung Galaxy Beam mobile phone and the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 310. Closer to the imaging front, the manufacturer launched some new DSC cameras with interesting features. Bhavya Desai finds out more.
While Samsung has been missing from the imaging radar with product launches few and far between, the manufacturer seems to have hit the nail on its head in terms of IT products. Most noticeable amongst them are its mobile devices including the tablets. B. D. Park, MD and CEO, APAC Region, Samsung informed us at the launch that, “the company touched a staggering global sales figure of $143 billion in the last financial year while retaining the No.1 market share in the South-East Asian region in the categories including flat panel TVs, side-by-side fridges, large format displays and mobile devices among others.”
Centered on the concepts of ‘SMART’ and ‘Pushing Boundaries, Park introduced a host of products under consumer electronics and imaging category. Infact no less than five Wifi enabled cameras and camcorders and a printer targeted towards the contemporary user were launched at the forum. These include the innovative WB850F; the WB150F’s 18x optical super zoom and 14.2MP sensor; the new 2View offering in the name of DV300F, and the slim ST200F. All of these are based on WiFi capability and easy sharing concept.
Samsung also launched the SCX-3406FW printer for wireless mobile printing; enabling printing from any mobile to the SCX-3406 with a simple installation of Samsung’s MobilePrint application. Besides, a one-touch WPS button instantly and effortlessly connects to the network and a high-speed processor delivers the power needed for superb print performance in a compact design.
We spoke to Raj Kumar Rishi, Vice President and Business Head for Samsung’s Audio Visual (AV) business, about the company’s plans for the coming year in the imaging industry. He was aware that the manufacturer received a lukewarm response for its cameras in the past. But he was optimistic about all that changing soon with the company setting some aggressive targets for the year ahead, in terms of market share. Although he wouldn’t share what those targets are but it is expected to be more than single-digits than the current financial year.
Rishi plans to achieve these aggressive targets set out on the basis the new features that the latest cameras have to offer alongwith the entire eco-system of imaging that Samsung has to offer. One of the many interesting features is the WiFi Sharing option which allows you to connect with other devices seamlessly. “Our focus in the camera segment will be on mid to high-end camera segment since this has shown promising growth in the recent past. We will have to grow atleast 2-3 times the market growth in order for us to come up to a significant level,” said Rishi.
Talking about the perception of the consumers of not instantly connecting with or recognising Samsung as a photo-imaging company, Rishi chooses to see the positive side and so believes that with its strong brand name the company has become a leader in many segments in these past few years, not just the photo-imaging segment. “Although we haven’t enjoyed the same success in the camera segment, but there are many markets around the globe where we enjoy a significant market share in the camera category,” he said. “Every organisation would go through this phase where we start somewhere and we would like to be somewhere else, and this segment is no exception.” He believes that it is the brand strength; support infrastructure and the set channel, which will allow Samsung to achieve the objectives that it has set out to attain.
Whether all of this will be possible or not, only time will tell. We will be getting our hands onto the newly launched Samsung products soon, so make sure to catch the review of the same in our upcoming issues.