Samsung SA shows off holiday wares

Samsung SA’s top executives have recently outlined the Korean-electronics manufacturer’s position in the local market, as well as shown off the company’s wares ahead of what will be a competitive holiday season for tech.
Speaking at the IT product showcase event in Sandton, Samsung IT Business leader Mike van Lier highlighted the company’s strong performance in South Africa, saying that Samsung was on course to ship 3.2 million notebook units in the EMEA region.
Lier said that Samsung’s growth in the local notebook market was up 2.1% since 2011, driven by the company’s strong position in retail.
This was on the backdrop of a strong global drive by Samsung, internationally, which saw the company peg $7.4 billion in profit in the last quarter.
In terms of its local monitor division, Lier said that Samsung is in the top position in the region, with 25.1 million units shipped and a market share of 43.6%.
Windows 8
At the event, Lier used the opportunity to show off the company’s new Windows 8-based devices which are split into three categories – all-in-one PCs, smart PCs and touch-display ultrabooks.
Reacting to Microsoft‘s Surface tablet entering into the competitive hardware market, Philip Henning, product manager for notebook PCs at Samsung SA, said that the move was for Microsoft to show the usability of the Windows 8 on a home-built platform.
Henning added that this may be due to a lack of support from partner manufacturers.
“I don’t know if they’ll be in it for a long, long time,” he said, adding that it was a necessary move for the company.
When asked about what differentiates Samsung’s offerings from Microsoft’s, Henning noted that aside from innovative design and product variety, Samsung benefits from using self-manufactured components.
“Up to 75% of the components are manufactured by Samsung”, Henning said. “We control the entire flow of the product ,” highlighting that this flow was from design all the way to service.
Samsung demonstrated it’s Windows 8-based device range, which includes the Series 5 Ultrabook Touch, Series 5 and 7 All-in-one PC builds and the ATIV and ATIV Pro Smart PCs, which cab change between notebook and tablet form factors.
Samsung’s devices will be available from its brand stores and leading retailers in the first week of December.
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