Samsung gets aggressive as rivals sit in 5G purgatory

With MWC 2020 quickly becoming a dud, Samsung didn’t hang around to unveil three new 5G smartphones, a foldable device and its latest earbuds.

If there was ever a time for Samsung to go big and noisy with a product launch, now is it. Huawei’s smartphone division is sprinting into the realms of irrelevance while Apple is unlikely to make waves until the end of the year. Aside from a few outliers, Samsung effectively has a monopoly on the consumers attention when it comes to tier-one smartphone launches.

At its ‘Unpacked’ event in San Francisco, Samsung released the Galaxy S20 series (S20, S20+ and S20 Ultra), a foldable device known as the Galaxy Z Flip and the new Galaxy Buds+, as well as a number of interesting partnerships.

“Samsung has a huge start over rivals in 5G with a broad range of devices,” said Paolo Pescatore of PP Foresight.

“There has been no better time for Samsung to increase its market share given Huawei’s current woes and Apple yet to release a 5G iPhone. Support for sub-6Ghz, mmWave technology and dynamic spectrum sharing ensures that its 5G devices will appeal globally. This is paramount as mmWave is being positioned as the ‘best’ of 5G, a topic that will emerge as a strong theme throughout 2020 as telcos roll out networks.”

As with many of these launches, there isn’t a huge amount of innovation in the phone aside from incremental change. Sure, it has 5G which is faster than 4G, 8K which is better than 4K, an AI-supercharged camera which is better than a normal one, but it is bells and whistles which would more likely fall into the ‘best in class’ category as opposed to innovation.

That said, you have to give credit where it is due, the team has launched a series of devices which beat rivals to the punch, look good and are generally receiving positive reviews. In the absence of genuine innovation, Samsung seems to have created an excellent product, an adequate substitute.

Looking at the development of the ecosystem, there are a number of interesting announcements, including Netflix and Google.

“In the coming months, Samsung mobile users will have access to a whole host of new and exciting bonus content based on some of your favourite Netflix Originals, accessible through Samsung Daily and Samsung channels,” said Netflix’s Chief Marketing Officer, Jackie Lee-Joe.

“Thanks to 5G, the video calls are higher quality, and that makes you feel more connected to the person you’re talking to,” said Hiroshi Lockheimer, SVP of Platforms and Ecosystems at Google. “Also, with Duo built right into Galaxy’s native apps, we can help people connect much more seamlessly, without interruption.”

Neither of these partnerships will create a buying position alone, but this is all about the incremental gains. An excellent camera, 5G, 8K video, original and unique content, and a better software experience all add-up to make a compelling product. Another interesting element is the focus on gaming.

“Another key emphasis for Samsung on the Galaxy S20 is gaming performance. The new devices are using a display with an extremely high refresh rate of 120Hz with a 240Hz input sensor which, when coupled with 5G, would give gamers the quickest reactions of any mobile gaming solution,” said Daniel Gleeson, Principal Analyst, Consumer Technology at Omdia.

“Samsung is so confident in the gaming capabilities of the new Galaxy S20 that they have announced a partnership with gaming company, Forza Street, with cross play with PC gamers enabled.”

Gaming is quickly becoming mainstream as more immersive and complex titles are moved onto or designed for the mobile platform. The segment is growing rapidly, and OEMs and telcos alike have to be paying much more attention to how experiences can be customised for gaming.

While there are incremental gains to consider across all areas of the device, 5G included, interesting partnerships and a homage to the rising popularity of gaming, this does not appear to be a product launch which is out of the ordinary. We imagine Samsung’s competitors will create a product which is incredibly similar. The difference will be marketing dollars.

The ‘Unpacked’ event is a marketing exercise learned from Apple to cultivate the brand, while Samsung also has an opportunity to capitalise on the Huawei woes and steal Android customers. Xiaomi and OnePlus might have something to say about this, but thanks to an early launch date, Samsung has an excellent opportunity to make a march on market share and consolidate its market leading position. It just has to be clever and bold with marketing campaigns. Money speaks more than innovation currently.