The Year of the Tablet
The Year of the Tablet YOUNGHEE LEE Younghee Lee joined Samsung Electronics as Vice-President of Global Marketing Group, Mobile Communications Business, in July 2007, tasked with overseeing all the marketing activities for Samsung’s mobile-handset business. During this time, she has pioneered a number of innovations, including a groundbreaking product-segmentation strategy and Samsung’s new consumer-oriented approach, which aims to offer “A Mobile For Every Lifestyle”. Lee is a veteran of the consumer industry, having spent over 17 years working in a succession of FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) multinationals. Prior to joining Samsung, she was the Managing Director of two business divisions for L’Oreal Korea. 15% is the figure by which Samsung’s overall sales are expected to increase this year, with smartphone and tablet sales growing at an even faster rate. This is 5% higher than the predicted 10% growth in the IT market in 2011. PRODUCT FOCUS Samsung’s new Galaxy Tab 10.1 weighs just 565 grams and is 8.6mm thick. The display delivers a sharp image thanks to the 1280x800 WXGA display with a pixel density of 149ppi, which offers highly detailed images, movies and graphics. What people really, really want Understanding consumer desire is central to Samsung’s development philosophy, says VP of Global Marketing, Mobile Communications Business, Younghee Lee P e o p l e w a n t m o r e functionality with less interruption, more apps and multimedia experiences, and immediate access to services — and we have to fulfill this desire. This is why 4G is so critical. Consumers want to enjoy more multimedia and web browsing but on a small screen, which is why screen quality is so important. Today’s consumer wants everything compact and converged, with more choices, but without more complications. 4G is already happening, as is dual-core processing — and soon that will be quad-core. So consumers are going to be increasingly expecting AMOLED [active-matrix organic light-emitting diode], or at the very least HD, screens. What is the roadmap in terms of OS for mobile devices? Is there a new system on the horizon? We run a multi-OS strategy across our devices. With Android now so popular, we have launched an extensive range of devices that work on it. In addition, we have our own OS called Bada, for which we will soon be introducing new Badabased phones. We have also been working with Windows Mobile for which we launched a device last year. We are now planning a range of devices based on the new, improved Windows OS. Alongside that, we are also working with alternative systems such as Symbian and Linux, because our philosophy is that, where there is a market, Samsung will be there. We don’t want to confine ourselves to one platform — given the fluctuations in the market, we prefer to be as open and adaptable as possible. This philosophy applies to tablets as much as it does to mobile phones. At the moment, we only offer the Android OS, but there is the possibility in the future to take on other OSs for our tablets. We haven’t made any hard decisions yet, because the IT industry is moving so fast that we have to be flexible — a quality that I believe is a core strength of Samsung. The president of the mobile division recently commented on the subject of whether we should prioritise our own OS, that we should go whichever way the market moved. We are the only company with such huge R&D and technological resources, so it makes no sense for us to fix our strategy in an industry that is changing every minute. How important is the user-interface and design in the total offer? It’s very important indeed in terms of the overall experience. Samsung has a huge, independent design facility in Seoul, where they work on hardware, sound and all aspects of the user experience. That’s very important for Samsung mobile and all of Samsung’s products. The mobile division’s e x e c u t i v e c o m m i t t e e examines the mobile experience in minute detail, and there is a lot of internal debate, criticism and discussion about the best Interview by Richard Barnes In the four years since she joined Samsung Electronics, Younghee Lee, Vice-President of Global Marketing, Mobile Communications Business, has spearheaded the Korean giant’s moves to place greater emphasis on consumer insight in driving product development. So what does today’s consumer want? And how does Samsung deliver it? way to do things. So design is hugely important and we are learning more about it every day. What are your projections for mobile devices and tablet sales? We have been achieving double-digit growth year on year and we aim to continue that upward trajectory. We also expect to continue to grow faster than the market average. This year, the market is forecast to grow by 10% and we estimate that Samsung’s overall sales will grow by 15%. However, when it comes to smartphones and tablets, the growth rate should be more than that, but we can’t predict it more accurately at the moment” Hall 20 - Stand 101 Hall 5.1 - Stand 101 Hall 6.2 - Stand 204 Younghee Lee Vice-President of Global Marketing, Mobile Communications Business, Samsung “Today’s consumer wants everything compact and converged, with more choices, but without more complications” www.ifa-international.org IFA International • Friday 2 nd September 2011 23
