People started queuing for the Samsung press conference several hours before the start and it was a busy event. However, the line seemed to be better organised than before, so it was relatively civilised to get in, compared to previous years!
After the obligatory corporate video, the event kicked off with Tim Baxter, President and CEO of Samsung Electronics in North America. The video was much less cheesy and notably more sophisticated than LG’s and Baxter talked about the position of the brand globally.
Samsung’s CES Press Event are very well attended. Image:Meko
After the usual boasts of “we’re biggest for smartphones, TVs and, in the US, household appliances”, we got to news. The company will extend its customer service programme and said it spends $14 billion on R&D. Harman and Dacor are significant acquisitions. Samsung Next is investing and acquiring start-ups.
Samsung has invested a lot in semiconductor fabs and has bought a number of US companies as well as boosting its household appliance manufacture in South Carolina in the US. Investment is continuing in IoT after the company bought SmartThings four years ago and there are now 370 devices certified.
90% of Samsung’s products are now IoT ready and the aim is to get to 100% by 2020 and the company has a developing ecosystem. Globally, Samsung sells nearly half a billion connected devices per year in total.
Baxter announced that Samsung Knox security is being brought to SmartTVs, digital signage and other platforms.
Next up was HS Kim, President & head of CE for Samsung Electronics. He said that there are three core points in Samsung’s development, a single cloud, seamless connections and intelligence to make systems better.
There are more and more connected devices and there are millions of users of SmartThings-enabled products, Kim said. Getting devices to work together is not always easy. Products often need new security and passwords – but it needs to be easy for consumers. To fix this, Samsung has been working to combine everything in the SmartThings app which will control Samsung and other products on the platform. It will be available in Spring 2018. Samsung is working with the Open Connectivity Foundation – the largest IoT group with 397 members. Several prodcuts have already been certified by the Foundation and, by 2020, all Samsung smart devices will be compatible with OCF and SmartThings.
The SmartThings Cloud can help to deliver a single interface to consumers. A new development is that Harman wil be connected to the SmartThings cloud, extending your control from the home to the car.
Intelligence should make your life easier – that was the reason for Bixby, Kim said. Bixby can control ‘almost anything’ and is being taken to the next level. By 2020, all devices will be intelligent (using Bixby, we assume). Samsung Research is a new entity to bring together hardware and software development.
TV Remains Important but Smart Things Growing
Turning to TV – Joe Stinziano who is an EVP for the company in the US highlighted that Samsung is #1 globally for TV. Customers’ lives used to revolve around TV, now Samsung is desinging around the viewer. There is a new Universal guide for content discovery on the company’s smart TVs with films and shows in a single place to help locate content.
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in 2018 0 the TV will have Bixby and there is also a SmartThings app for IoT management and control will move out to other parts of the home. The Family Hub on the fridge has been developing and there will be 14 models in the Family Hub fridge range while the SmartThings app will be implemented on the Hub. Bixby can recognise individual voices, now, and the revised Family Hub has got a new recipe system that can take into acoount special diets and food expiry dates.
Yoon Lee, a Senior VP from Samsung Electronics America then joined Stinziano on stage.
Stinziano said that a lot of time has been spent on improving the TV setup and there is a new app to allow the set up of TVs from the phone. The system automates login and setup for major streaming apps. The functionality has been made very similar from the smartphone to the TV and the Family Hub is more heavily featured.
Sasmung has developed TV Setup by using an app. Image:Meko
A new TV concept is “The Wall” which is based on what Samsung calls microLED technology. There is no colour filter and the LEDs are based on inorganic material, while the architecture is intended to be modular and the first UltraHD set shown will have a 146″ diagonal.
Alanna Cotton came on to talk about wearables and said that the SmartThings app will come to Gear and Gear Sport watches to allow IoT control from the wrist. By 2020, 50% of the workforce will be working as freelancers or away from the office and that is an opportunity for mobile devices. Samsung is developng Chromebooks, the Tab 3 and has a new PC, the Notebook 9 Pen. It weighs 2.2 lbs (1.0kg) and it has a 360º deg hinge, which makes it, Cotton said, a “laptop for everywhere”. It uses the same S Pen as Note smartphones and the SPen is powered by the PC, so it doesn’t need to be charged.
She then introduced the Samsung Flip for meetings, an electronic flipchart that connects to PCs or phones (via Miracast). It will be available in Europe and the US this month.
The next speaker was Tim Baxter, again, who said that 5G will be important for the connected car. 2G put the phone in the user’s pocket and 3G put the smartphone in your pocket. 5G’s instant connectivity and low latency will also lead to the development of new applications. Baxter went through the deals that Samsung has been doing to roll out 5G infrastructure.
The final speaker was Dinesh Paliwal, President & CEO of Samsung’s Harman subsidiary who pointed out how the latest systems are integrating the different navigation and control systems in intelligent systems to make cars easier to operate and supplying better entertainment. Harman also has a new telematics control unit (TCU) and this is what makes the external coordination possible. Harman and Samsung will deliver the first 5G automotive system, Paliwal said, although it will work with 4G today. He said that ‘a leading European automaker’ has already signed to use the TCU.
There is a new DriveLine software and hardware system that runs with the cloud to offer and support autonomous driving. Later in 2018, the first driver assistance system using DriveLine will be introduced.
Baxter came on again to summarise the importance of Smart Things and the cloud to the overall Samsung experience.
Samsung First Look and Booth Tour
Samsung held an event on an evening during the press events before the show called “First Look”. The event was for press before the crowds were assembled on the show floor. The company showed new TVs and the ‘Flip’, a new interactive display.
The Flip is a 55″ interactive display, with the code WM55H. It is based around an LCD display with UltraHD resolution and using InGlass technology from FlatFrog. It uses an SoC-based platform, built on the work that Samsung has done on its digital signage and it runs Tizen 3.0 as an OS. There is 8GB of storage integrated and the display can be used in landscape or portrait mode. The SoC provides storage for 20 pages of written content and the data from a meeting can be stored in the cloud after a meeting, or downloaded using USB or other methods.
It can recognise four different users and supports writing with a passive pen and erasing with fingers or palms.
There is also wireless connectivity via Miracast and NFC can be used to connect. There is an app for connection and control, but there is no ‘organiser mode’ to switch between different users according to staff that we spoke to at the event.
It will be available later in January and Samsung is already planning a 43″ version with other sizes being considered for later. Pricing is $2,699.
An area was devoted to a Wall Display and an explanation of LED technology but the really interesting TV technology was shown in private at the back of the booth.
Most of the rest of the Samsung booth was highlighting household appliances. There was a new Family Hub smart refrigerator line with four models in 2018 and the line will support Bixby and will have AKG sound. The Hub will, of course, allow control of the SmartThings ecosystem.
The company had a separate area devoted to the Galaxy in the Central area but most of it was taken up with visitors to the show trying out the Gear VR and Odyssey. There was no area devoted to monitors or LFDs this year and, as we reported in the TV report, there were few details on 2018 TV models. (Samsung Points to 2018 TV Direction, but Short on Detail)
Analyst Comment
It’s pure speculation, of course, but could Samsung have an inventory problem with TV sets if sell through in Q4 has not been according to plan. That could explain why it was not showing any new TV models as it would want buyers to continue longer with the current range. (BR)
