(Photo handout o the Daily News Egypt)
By Mohamed Alaa
Samsung spends almost $40m daily in research and development, according to Raafat Zaky, Samsung Electronics Egypt Product Manager HHP team.
Zaky added that this investment is what gives it creativity in its devices whether in the Egyptian or the international markets.
He added the company always seeks to meet client demands, which is reflected in the performance and designs of its recent products. The company recently released its new phone “Galaxy S6” which is made of a mix of Aluminium and Titanium metals and glass, manufactured by a company specialised in aircraft glass and space equipment as well as strong performance supported by three patents.
What does the new Galaxy S6 offer to users?
The S6 is considered one the most important products developed by Samsung in the last period; the new edition of the Galaxy S family features a unique design as well as strong performance, which is a hard equation that Samsung tried to solve – that is bringing together good design and strong performance. The design is made of a mix of metal and glass; a company specialised in manufacturing aircraft glass and space equipment made the glass for our S6 devices, even the metal used is a mix of Aluminium and Titanium, it is 50% stronger than any other metal phone. Also, the screen is made with a certain degree of curvature that cannot be seen by the naked eye, which makes it more shock absorbent and resistant, which reduces is chances of breaking or getting scratched.
What about the performance?
We, at Samsung, call the S6 the next level of performance, or the performance that will meet the users’ current and future needs, because of its strong performance as we used three new technologies in manufacturing the processor used in the phone which helps increase its speed in implementing users’ needs and reduces battery consumption. This makes the device’s performance 20% better than any other device and 35% less in battery consumption than any other smart device. We have also supported our device with an internal battery to make it compatible with wireless charging technology as well as gave it a better shape in the design.
How many patents are implemented in your new phone?
We have three to five patents in our S6, most important of which are the wireless charging, the very small size of the data processor, and the performance of our new products since our research and development department at Samsung represents a quarter of the company’s staff as their number reaches 71,000 employees from a total of 300,000 employees.
How do you choose the designs for your new phones?
We rely on research and development centres to innovate the design for our new products, since our research and development sector makes up to more than one-fourth of the company in terms of the number of employees, who amount to 71,000 employees of the total 300,000 employees in the company. We also spend $40m a day on studies concerning research and development because we always put the consumer’s demands in consideration before creating a new design. One of the most important demands for the user recently has been the design, which is the main reason why Samsung changed its product designs, in addition to the speed of the device, battery charging speed, where S6 can be charged in four minutes to be used for four hours. Camera resolution is also one of the important points for a new user, where a customer looks for a camera he can use in poor light areas. This was done by Samsung in its new product S6, where it can capture photos in poor light places with a resolution more than 60% compared to other phones.
What are your sales expectations for the S6 in the Egyptian market?
In the first week, we received more than 22,000 pre-orders, and the S6 Edge made up to 40% of the pre-orders, while the S6 made the rest of the 60%.
What do you think of the competition in the Egyptian market now?
Generally, the competition is healthy and is on the side of the client, because of the efforts of each company to offer the best it has with the cheapest price.
Will you stop producing Galaxy S phones?
We have two galaxy families that we will not stop offering: Galaxy S and Galaxy Note. Currently, our research centres are working on designing the new S7 phone.
What is the Egyptian market’s position among the Middle Eastern markets for Samsung?
The Egyptian market is one of the biggest markets in the region in terms of the number of users. It is a strategic market where we can create our phone specifications accordingly.
