Smartphone manufacturers liberally throw around buzzwords like “world's first” in their press releases to create hype for their phones. Samsung is one of those manufacturers even though it has introduced some genuine world-firsts with its flagship devices. However, the company is changing its strategy after the Galaxy S9 to developing more meaningful products instead of chasing after buzzwords.
Samsung's mobile division boss DJ Koh mentioned during a press conference with Korean reporters in Barcelona that Samsung is changing its strategy after the Galaxy S9. He said that the company had been obsessed with being the first to bring new technology to market but that's going to change in favor of developing more meaningful products.
Samsung wants to launch more meaningful products
Koh's comments were in response to questions from reporters about Samsung's roadmap for hardware innovation compared to its Chinese rivals who have already brought in-display fingerprint sensors and foldable smartphones to market. Samsung has long been rumored to be working on both but hasn't launched them as yet.
“We developed mobile phones earlier than Chinese firms, and we were obsessed with being the world’s first and industry’s first, rather than thinking about how this innovation could be meaningful to consumers,” he said, adding that being first is no longer important today. Samsung's strategy now will be to launch something that consumers find to be meaningful and valuable at the right time.
This basically means that Samsung will not launch devices with new technologies just for the sake of being the first to market. If that were the case we would have probably seen its in-display fingerprint sensor and foldable smartphone by now. The company will wait instead and only launch devices with such new technologies when they're fully ready for the market.
Koh reiterated this strategy when asked about Samsung's Bixby Speaker. He said that the company will only launch its AI-powered smart speaker “when it's ready with top-notch quality.” Koh also said yesterday that Samsung's Bixby Speaker will likely be launched in the second half of this year.
What do you think about Samsung's new strategy? Should the company perfect new technologies before it brings them to market or participate in the race to be the first with Chinese rivals who don't seem to be in a mood to slow down? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.
