Samsung held its South West Asia Forum 2012 in Bangkok recently to showcase its diverse array of new products from TVs to mobile phones, tablets to Notebook PCs and cameras to home appliances. The sessions were not just business related but the trip had its moments of fun, thrill and of course shopping at the end of the day that made media professionals largely from the Indian subcontinent more than happy.
Samsung Electronics is by far the undisputed market leader in many product categories, includ-ing Internet enabled smart TVs and smart phones across many regions in Asia. With the company pushing boundaries in consumer electronics, Samsung organised its Regional South West Asia Forum recently in Bangkok. For this the company flew in a select group of media professionals from across the Indian subcontinent to Bangkok to enlighten and share some of its strategies in an attempt to widen its footprint across the Asian markets. Coinciding with the launch, was the unveiling of Samsung’s 2012 product catalogue, where the company de-clared its vision to deliver connectivity and content across all its product categories – from TVs to mobile phones, tablets to Notebook PCs and cameras to home appliances.
B. D. Park, President & CEO, Samsung India, displaying the Galaxy Beam smartphone at the Bangkok Forum |
Flagging off the deliberations, B.D. Park, President and CEO of Samsung Electronics, South West Asia and Managing Director, Samsung India, emphasised that, “The region remains a very strong growth market for Samsung and will continue to expand as consumers continue to lead increasingly dynamic lifestyles, requiring technology and products that will enrich and enhance their experiences. To achieve our goals, we must push the boundaries.”For the record, in 2011, Samsung Electronics achieved record sales of US $143 billion. In South West Asia, the company achieved a healthy growth during the last year and retained its numero uno position in a number of product categories, including flat panel television, side by side refrigerators, and colour monitors. In fact, it also became the market leader for smartphones for the first time.
B.D. Park explained that the company unveiled its 2012 product innovations under three main guiding pillars: Smart Interaction, Smart Content and Smart Evolution. The new family of products offers more content, smarter interfaces, intuitive controls, incredible picture quality and stunning design.
 Media professionals at the demo sessions at the Bangkok Convention Centre |
Samsung also announced its new range of home theater systems and Blu-ray players for regional consumers, providing richer, purer sounds while maintaining sleek, stylish form factors that complement any room in the home. “As the home entertainment leader, we strive to provide consumers with products that deliver the most astounding entertainment experiences in the home,” stated Raj Kumar Rishi, Vice President, AV Business, Samsung India.
Even though Samsung has been rather slow to take off in the digital imaging space, it is responding to growing consumer demands for integrated Wi-Fi enabled technology in its products. The company’s Smart Camera range has enabled photographers to take advantage of the wireless world. The new range include the Samsung’s WB850F, WB150F, DV300F. The ability to instantly share, securely save and automatically back-up images on the go makes the Smart camera line-up a must have for photographers.
Samsung’s Wobble 3D technology with specialised tangle-free wash enables users to save water up to 30 percent thereby distinguishing the top load washing machine from the rivals said Mahesh Krishnan, Vice President, Home Appliances divn., Samsung Electronics India. In addition, Samsung has unveiled a 10 year warranty on its Digital Inverter Compressor in all its advanced technologies, thus enhancing product reliability, durability and enhanced energy efficiency in all its intuitive home appliances. Besides, Samsung introduced the second generation of Samsung Notebook Series 9 and Series 5 Ultra. “The refined aerodynamic design of the new series 9 represents the best of design with top performance and functionality”, recalled Uday Bhatt, Director, IT, Samsung India. He envisaged that the introduction of the new multi-function printer clearly demonstrated the company’s vision to deliver a printer that provides a full gamut of printing solutions, including speed and network connectivity.
 Rak Kumar Rishi, VP, AV Business, Mahesh Krishnan,VP, Home Appliance dvsn & Ms. Ruchika Batra GM Corporate Communications, Samsung India, addressing the AV & Imaging products session at the Forum |
Last but not the least, Samsung showcased the Samsung Galaxy Beam, which is a projector smartphone that allows users to display and share multimedia content anywhere on a large luminous projector screen. The device lets users spontaneously share photos, videos or other digital media directly onto walls, ceilings etc. “Galaxy Beam provides mobile freedom, enabling users to share experience around digital content for everyone – anywhere and instantly from a smartphone explained Ranjit Yadav, Country head, Mobile & IT, Samsung India Electronics. The company also showcased the Galaxy Tab 2 310, thereby extending the company’s vision to offer a variety of choices to match the varied needs and lifestyles of the consumers. Beyond content, the Galaxy Tab 2 310 features Wi-Fi Direct and built-in social networking features that enable unique cross platform sharing and connectivity via AllShare Play, which allows content to be transferred between the tablet and other devices.
In addition, the company also arranged for a display-cum-demonstration of the product on the sidelines of the forum at the Bangkok convention centre where the media professionals had an opportunity to get a feel of the products. To make the business sessions more fun and exciting, the company arranged for a river cruise down the famous Chao Phraya river, besides, a visit to the Wat Pho (temple of the Reclining Buddha), apart from enabling media professionals to do a bit of shopping as well.
Text & Images by Mathew Thottungal in Bangkok
