Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest electronics company, said Thursday it was not targeting high-end consumers, but the mass market.
“Samsung is not a luxury brand, but one that is trying to deliver affordable premium values to the masses,” said Kim Hyun-seok, president of Samsung’s TV business unit, at a media conference in Seoul for the launch of the 2015 super-ultrahigh-definition TV lineup.
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| Kim Hyun-seok, head of Samsung Electronics’ TV business unit, poses with the 2015 SUHD TV lineup at a press conference held in Seoul Thursday. Samsung Electronics |
He further explained that the production of “masstige” (a portmanteau of mass and prestige) products is the best solution for the tech giant to meet the demands of consumers and keep the sales of its premium TVs at around 30 percent of its entire lineup.
Kim also promised that Samsung would top the world’s TV market for the 10th straight year this year.
The new SUHD TVs, with a display size of between 55 and 88 inches, are 2.5 times brighter than UHD TVs and can display colors 64 times richer than average TVs, according to the tech giant.
For enhanced picture quality, the company put a nanocrystal panel, often called the quantum dot backlight, on a liquid crystal display and installed an SUHD Re-mastering Engine on the products to express a higher contrast level.
An official at the launch event also emphasized the improved design of the new flagship TVs, including a brushed and chamfered bezel and black metal on the back.
A Samsung top executive said at the Thursday event that the Korean firm would no longer have Google’s Android operating system mounted on its TVs, reiterating Samsung’s drive for its own Tizen OS.
“Samsung will completely ditch the Android OS from our products,” said Han Jong-hee, executive vice president of Samsung Electronics’ TV business unit.
His statement came as Samsung is pushing to use its own operating system Tizen for all its digital gadgets.
Samsung is also trying to wean itself from Google by rolling out the Tizen-based Z1 in some global markets including India, but the market response has been lukewarm so far.
By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)
