Samsung Set To Launch 4G Tablets, Smartphones

Samsung Electronics has sold more than 1.5 million Galaxy Tabs, the 7-inch, Android-running tablet. Nevertheless, the South Korean electronics giant appears to have only begun its attack on the Apple iPad’s market share.

At the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show, which wrapped up on 9 January, JK Shin, president of Samsung’s mobile communications business, said the company is planning to announce several dual-core tablets and smartphones at the Mobile World Congress event on 14 to 17 February in Barcelona, according to Phone Scoop, and that it plans to soon sell 4G devices through all major US carriers. It reportedly also has several phones running Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 in the works.

Different-sized tablets

The Wall Street Journal added that Samsung has a “slate of tablets of different sizes” planned.

While rivals Motorola and HTC, with Android-running phones, gained early leads in the smartphone race, Samsung has quickly caught up, with its successful line of Galaxy S smartphones. By the end of 2010, it had sold more than 10 million of the smartphones.

“[Samsung] executes extremely well, devices that customers like and don’t bring back,” Glenn Lurie, president of the AT&T group responsible for the carrier’s tablet portfolio, told the Journal.

While a “slate of tablets” is likely to help Samsung compete in a tablet market crowded with competitors such as Hewlett-Packard, Research In Motion, Motorola, ViewSonic and others – in addition to market leader Apple – they also fit into the company’s new vision of “digital humanism”.

During a 6 January keynote at CES, Samsung chief executive Boo-Keun Yoon explained the term, which he said is achieved “by adding emotional value to digital technology”. It’s also guided by four principles he called “the four A’s” – Access, to communicate freely and share experiences through products; Align, by experiencing comfort through multisensory design and the user experience; Amaze, by creating “a new dimension of enjoyment” through viewing experiences; and Act, to fulfill our responsibilities to the planet.

“The next step for digital technology is for… human nature to be at the centre of our efforts,” said Yoon. “What we need now is digital technology that is truly aligned with our most fundamental human desires. Human life becomes our priority. People become our priority.”

Empowering consumers

He continued, “We at Samsung are breaking down the wall between devices, empowering consumers to seamlessly enjoy any content on any Samsung device. Whether it be our Samsung TV, cell phone or tablet, consumers will be able to access and share a variety of content on any one of Samsung’s network of products.”

At the CES show, Samsung additionally introduced a Wi-Fi-only Galaxy Tab, an Android-running “smart player” called the Galaxy Player and the Infuse 4G smartphone – which, with a 1.2GHz processor and 4.5-inch Super-AMOLED Plus touch screen, will begin enriching the lives of AT&T subscribers beginning in the second quarter.