Element of choice: There's a Samsung smartphone for every type of user
By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla
We've watched, with some amazement, Samsung's sudden surge in mobile phones, tablets and even notebooks. The Korean consumer electronics giant was established in appliances and most notably HDTVs and home entertainment but 2011 has really been Samsung's year in terms of mobile product launches.
Recently surpassing rival Apple in smartphone sales with Apple having sold 17.1 million iPhones in the third quarter, three million fewer than expected. Samsung, meanwhile, shipped more than 27 million, according to analyst estimates. We look at what makes Samsung so successful.
I have personally reviewed most of Samsung's products these past few years. From their high end SmartTV offerings, their diverse point-and-shoot cameras as well as their emerging ILC (Interchangeable Lens Cameras) as well as a long list of smartphones, tablets and notebooks. One thing that's become evident is Samsung's ability to adjust quickly to market directions.
Samsung has also shown that it isn't afraid to field products in new and very niche areas that may or may not take off. Aside from having a range of smartphones in every size and various pricing strategies, it is making sure it has tablets in a variety of sizes. Early this year it launched its 78910 tablet strategy composed of a 7 inch tab, an 8.9 tab and a 10.1 inch tab.
Samsung is now also starting to market media players that double as handheld Android tablets in 5 inch size and something called a Samsung Galaxy Note which brings the convenience of a smartphone closer to the size of a pen-based 3G enabled tablet.
All of these will be available through the holiday buying season and some are products that don't clash with competing Apple products which will make it easier for Samsung to sell them in different markets.
Flexible and fast
The Samsung Galaxy SII 4G is shortlisted as 2011's smartphone of the yearDuring their CES 2011 keynote, we watched as Samsung showed off a WiFi version of their Android powered 7 inch Galaxy Tab, a product that never made it to the mass market. They scrapped their original 10.1 inch iPad competitor the Galaxy Tab 10.1 upon seeing how thin and light the iPad 2 was.
Within a month, Samsung revealed the revamped Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 that's now the thinnest and lightest tablet in the market and one of the more compelling Android offerings out there right now. While they are far behind Apple in tablets right now, Samsung has managed to carpet bomb the smartphone space with a variety of Android and Windows Phone handsets in a staggering variety of price points and feature sets.
Samsung's smartphones are known for having high specs, some of the better screens and displays with AMOLED technology as well as good photo and video performance. The more recent models we've seen are inching up in size and they continously getting thinner.
Personally, we wish they would use less plastic in their devices which would feel sturdier or a bit more fitting of their premium price.
Still, there's no question that Samsung's design language is evolving, just looking at some of their newer notebooks, specially the Series 9, one can see that they are one company that is willing to take risks and use new materials, at least at the very high end.
Samsung looks like it will continue to surge in mobile, it has vast arsenal of products and is continuing to create better handsets and tablets, which while more expensive than many of their competitors, seem to have the features that their users want.
Challenges for the future
The recent lawsuits from former collaborator and component client Apple have not only caused them sales and marketshare but also tarnished perception of Samsung as an innovative company.
They have smartly moved away from fielding new products that closely resemble the design and functionality of competing Apple products (although the Galaxy Tablets and that slim Series S 9 notebook still look very much like products they are competing directly against).
Samsung needs to push innovation and it also needs to continue refining the build, materials and overall hardware user experience. It is already starting with the bold use of curved glass on the Nexus S as well as the Galaxy Nexus. The designs are still a bit too austere and angular for our taste but while conservative, they are very functional.