Seoul - Samsung Electronics knows it needs to get its new
flagship smartphone right. Apart from making sure the gadget won't cause bodily
harm, the company packed it with a plethora of new features: taller, curved
screens, encrypted facial recognition, deeper display colours, system-wide
voice control and the ability to turn into a desktop computer.
The Galaxy S8 comes in two sizes, a standard 5.8-inch
display model and a Plus version with a 6.2-inch screen. Both are larger than
the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, the lineup's main competition until Apple Inc.
rolls out its 10th-anniversary iPhone later this year. In line with smartphone
trends, Samsung's new devices feature slimmer bezels alongside the display and
are curved on all four corners. Pre-orders will begin soon after the unveiling,
ahead of the S8's April 21 release. It comes in five colours: midnight
black, maple gold, coral blue, arctic silver and orchid gray.
The S8 represents Samsung's biggest prospect for a
turnaround after the Note 7 debacle last year. The bigger-sized smartphone
debuted to positive reviews, only to be killed off after some units showed a
tendency to catch fire and explode, forcing the South Korean manufacturer to
yank the product off shelves. The crisis cost the company more than $6 billion
and its global lead in smartphone sales. Samsung accounted for 17.8 percent of
global smartphone sales in the last three months of 2016, slightly less than
Apple, according to Gartner. While Samsung may be targeting Apple, it also
faces challenges from up-and-coming rivals such as Huawei Technologies Co. and
Oppo, especially in China, the world's biggest smartphone market.
"We must not only win back customers'
trust, but also the high expectations that they have always held for
Samsung," said Lee Young-hee, executive vice president of Samsung's
mobile business. "We have put our utmost effort to provide customers with
near-perfect devices to earn back their trust."
Also casting a shadow over the S8's debut is the trial of
Jay Y. Lee, the Samsung group's heir apparent and de facto chief, who was
arrested on bribery and embezzlement charges stemming from a national
influence-peddling scandal. He has denied any wrongdoing. Still, even with the
Note 7 imbroglio and legal troubles, Samsung shares have been trading
near record highs, thanks to a robust semiconductor business. The stock rose as
much as 1.6 percent in Seoul trading after the phone was unveiled.
Unveiling
Unveiling the S8 Wednesday at New York's Lincoln Centre,
Samsung's president of mobile communications, DJ Koh, highlighted innovation
and how the company had learned from its mistakes. Executives describing
the phone focused mostly on its aesthetics, and went through the specs fairly
quickly, a strategy probably meant to avoid ``discussing things like the
battery, which could remind people of their troubles,'' said Simon Blanchard,
assistant professor of marketing at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of
Business.
The S8's design features and new and improved cameras
should be enough to entice consumers to go see it in a store and then
potentially make a purchase, Blanchard said. ``They might have in the back of
their mind that Samsung phones had issues, but they might say, `This is a phone
that looks pretty,' so they'll go see it,'' he said.
KB Securities expects Samsung to ship about 46 million S8
handsets and the mobile business to post a 67 percent rise in operating profit
to 3.5 trillion won ($3.1 billion) in the second quarter on the back of the new
devices.
Read also: Does Samsung's Bixby top Siri?
Samsung's corporate logo is now gone from the front of
the device, making room for a taller, 18.5:9 ratio screen, which the
company is calling the Infinity Display. The new dimensions mean the thin black
bars that typically surround widescreen videos can be eliminated, making them
look bigger when played. The home button, with vibrating feedback, is
integrated into the bottom of the screen. On the software side, users can now
clip specific apps to the top of the screen so that, for instance, they can
compose emails while reading a web page.
The S8 will also feature a digital assistant that studies
its owner's activities to offer helpful tips and information, seeking to
challenge Apple's Siri and Amazon.com Inc.'s Alexa. Called Bixby, Samsung's
service can be activated via the phone's side button. The system has a few
parts: one is a standard, Siri-like voice control view, another is a list view
of upcoming calendar appointments and reminders. The feature is also integrated
with the camera so that it can identify objects like buildings, or a particular
bottle of wine. Users can operate many of the phone's functions via voice
instead of the touchscreen.
Facial data
While some previous Galaxy models let users unlock their
device using a facial scanner, the S8 is the first Samsung phone to
encrypt facial data. Combined with iris and fingerprint scanning, that can be
used to offer more security for mobile banking and other sensitive
applications.
Another new trick: the new Samsung phones can essentially
become a full-blown desktop computer via a separately sold docking station
called the DeX (an idea introduced by Motorola in 2011). The phone will add
upgraded front and rear cameras, and continue to include wireless charging. The
camera app will include built-in Snapchat-like stickers that can be placed over
images.
Unsurprisingly, Samsung is touting the safety of the S8's
battery, given that the cause of the Note 7 fires was due to faulty
battery design. A Samsung television commercial released earlier this year
shows engineers testing batteries by drilling a hole and apparently heating
them in what the company called an "eight-point battery safety
check." The company says the standard S8 model has a 3 000 mAh battery
while the Plus version has a capacity of 3,500 mAh.
"Success isn't going to come overnight for the S8
and it'll be a while before consumers feel confident the phone has no problems
like the Note 7," said Koo Chang-hwan, who researches corporate brands at
Seoul-based Korea Reputation Centre. "The biggest issue hobbling the
company is still the trial of its de facto chief. That will overshadow the S8
and a single product may not be enough to put the risk surrounding the top
executive behind."
BLOOMBERG