Seong Hyun Lee, President of Samsung Gulf Electronics discusses the benefits of integrating technology into every aspect of our lives
As technology develops, it is becoming more and more integrated into every element of our lives. Leading companies are looking for new ways to make our lifestyles not only easier but to offer us more options that are easily accessible from the palm of our hands. One company that is striving to offer technological alternatives for every element of life is Samsung. Over the past years, Samsung has been developing its systems to increase its level of bespoke processes to please even the most demanding of consumers. Going beyond your mobile phone or Smart TV, the Samsung SmartThings concept has entered the realm of luxury living, allowing users to create personalised choices within all elements of their homes. Beyond simply your electronics, this new system will help them live a seamless, stress-free and more sustainable life. As technology begins to flow through every aspect of our day-to-day experiences, we realise that it is becoming a necessity rather than a luxury. To tell us more, we talk to Seong Hyun Lee, President of Samsung Gulf Electronics.
Seong Hyun Lee, President of Samsung Gulf Electronics
How is Samsung tapping into luxury and personalised consumer technology?
Our Bespoke design ethos prioritises helping users create personalised homes that truly reflect their tastes and aesthetics, to the end of providing evolved home life experiences. Together, the Bespoke Home 2022 lineup offers a vast array of colour and design options, across 20 categories so users can have new and different ways to express their evolving tastes, as well as have more options for home decoration.
In addition, our Galaxy Z series further enhances customer experiences through the Galaxy Z Flip4 Bespoke Edition, because one’s style and taste continue to evolve. Ultimately, we hope to empower users everywhere to be able to focus less on daily household tasks and more on living each moment more fully.
Can you tell us what the SmartThings concept means for the company and your consumers?
SmartThings presents a fully-integrated home experience that connects not only Samsung products and services but also third-party devices such as lighting and window blinds to cater to individual lifestyles. SmartThings also helps consumers live a more sustainable life by suggesting ways users can save energy around the house by analysing energy usage patterns and more.
How can Samsung’s innovations help consumers to live a smarter life overall?
Every day, Samsung engineers and product planners work together to create products that are as unique as they are innovative and ground-breaking. Our mission is highly ambitious: to introduce new ideas and advancements in technology while raising the bar, year after year. Our Bespoke edition, for example, answers to the growing demand as users seek out more and more upgrades that are centred around personalised viewing experiences, design, and connectivity.
What can you share with us about Samsung’s drive to become a more sustainable company?
Our vision for a smarter life and a sustainable future has been integrated into our product categories across SmartThings, an intelligently connected ecosystem designed to protect the environment, support sustainable lifestyles, and empower customers to take control of their world. As such, our vision aims to offer an unmatched multi-device experience that enables users to express themselves fully.
How are AI systems being integrated into the company’s products?
We inherently believe customers deserve innovative new solutions in convenience, efficiency, and sustainability and as a result, we are always pushing ambitious new technologies that boost all three in our household appliances to make daily life more carefree. This is very much felt in our AI offerings. Looking at AI Energy Mode, a power-saving feature from Samsung’s SmartThings Energy is exactly this kind of solution. Using AI-enhanced systems aimed at creating the holistic home of the future today, with SmartThings analysing energy consumption and suggesting methods to conserve energy.
What are some of the innovations you are currently working on as a business that you can share with us?
Firstly, I wish to share how just last week, Samsung received two Golds, five Silvers and one Bronze awards, as well as 34 Finalists for innovative design solutions that elevate consumer lifestyles and experience at the International Design Excellence Awards 2022 (IDEA). We are very proud of the recognition of our product categories at the IDEA, which is one of the world’s most prestigious design awards programs. What’s more, our innovations never stop, we are very happy to be introducing our Galaxy Z series, next to the all-new Neo QLED 8K and Odyssey ARK.
Is there anything you are particularly excited about at the moment that the company is working on?
We are very proud to bolster a new environmental strategy. As such, our Vision stands to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, advance energy and resource-efficient products to empower consumers for sustainable living, and finally to invest in and develop innovative technologies for a better planet. We recently also announced our sustainability platform for mobile communications titled ‘Galaxy for the Planet’, which aims to advance green solutions in the mobile spectrum by 2025, from hardware to software, all the way to product packaging. Stay tuned for many more initiatives to come.
How have developing technologies over the past few years aided the company’s development?
We are staying focused on research and development (R&D) by navigating and testing emerging technologies with a user-centric lens. We study emerging social, cultural and technological trends across the world and quickly try out our research in the market. As a result, we derive insights to answer real human needs and maximize the potential of our engineering capabilities, ultimately creating valuable technology.
What does Samsung do to ensure it stays ahead of competitors or remains up to date with what’s happening in the sector as things continue to move so fast?
We are seeing a once-in-a-lifetime shift in how mainstream culture, from professional to personal life, is perceived. Driven by the younger generations and adapted by all, today’s consumers are ditching the one-size-fits-all motif in favour of unique and custom experiences. We constantly listen to feedback from our consumers and update our devices to meet the needs of our users. While we don’t currently have anything to share on future products, we are committed to bringing Samsung users even more exciting and ground-breaking innovations.
What can you tell us about Samsung in the Middle East?
We believe that innovation and growth are driven by an inclusive culture and a diverse workforce. We are building a better tomorrow for our customers and partners in the region. That includes building awareness to broaden perspectives, reframing mindsets to enhance objectivity, and practising inclusion to unlock innovation.
What are some of the trends in technology currently that are very exciting?
The demand for foldables continues to grow every year as Samsung takes these devices to mainstream audiences worldwide. Forecasts by analysts continue to grow with Strategy Analytics predicting foldable smartphone sales to reach 75 million by 2025. Next to that is our continuous commitment to bringing high customisation experiences to all our users, exemplified in our Bespoke category. The foldable Galaxy Bespoke Edition is an exclusive device customisation experience for users to create devices that are uniquely theirs. We want to create new technology that not only surpasses the expectations of what is possible but is available to as many people as possible. In fact, we created the first mainstream foldable devices and remain the market leader, from software to hardware to design to sales.
