Samsung seeks to lure back buyers with S8 smartphone

Bloomberg

Samsung Electronics Co. knows it needs to get its new flagship smartphone right. Apart from making sure the gadget won’t cause bodily harm, the company packed it with a plethora of new features: taller, curved screens, encrypted facial recognition, deeper display colors, system-wide voice control and the ability to turn into a desktop computer.
The Galaxy S8 comes in two sizes, a standard 5.8-inch display model and a Plus version with 6.2-inch screen. Both are larger than iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, lineup’s main competition until Apple Inc. rolls out its 10th-anniversary iPhone later this year. In line with smartphone trends, Samsung’s new devices feature slimmer bezels alongside the display and are curved on all four corners. Pre-orders will begin soon after the unveiling, ahead of S8’s April 21 release. It comes in five colors: midnight black, maple gold, coral blue, arctic silver and orchid gray.
The S8 represents Samsung’s biggest prospect for a turnaround after the Note 7 debacle last year. The bigger-sized smartphone debuted to positive reviews, only to be killed off after some units showed a tendency to catch fire and explode, forcing the South Korean manufacturer to yank the product off shelves. The crisis cost the company more than $6 billion and its global lead in smartphone sales. Samsung accounted for 17.8 percent of global smartphone sales in the last three months of 2016, slightly less than Apple, according to Gartner. While Samsung may be targeting Apple, it also faces challenges from up-and-coming rivals such as Huawei Technologies Co. and Oppo, especially in China, the world’s biggest smartphone market.”We must not only win back customers’ trust, but also the high expectations that they have always held for Samsung,” said Lee Young-hee, executive vice president of Samsung’s mobile business. “We have put our utmost effort to provide customers with near-perfect devices to earn back their trust.”
Also casting a shadow over the S8’s debut is the trial of Jay Y. Lee, the Samsung group’s heir apparent and de facto chief, who was arrested on bribery and embezzlement charges stemming from a national influence-peddling scandal. He has denied any wrongdoing. Still, even with the Note 7 imbroglio and legal troubles, Samsung shares have been trading near record highs, thanks to a robust semiconductor business.
“With the new Galaxy S8, Samsung wants to restore its brand image back in the market as a technology leader after the Note 7 incident,” said Jusy Hong, principal analyst for mobile devices at market researcher IHS Markit.Samsung’s corporate logo is now gone from the front of the device, making room for a taller, 18.5:9 ratio screen, which the company is calling the Infinity Display. The new dimensions mean the thin black bars that typically surround widescreen videos can be eliminated, making them look bigger when played. The home button, with vibrating feedback, is integrated into the bottom of the screen. On the software side, users can now clip specific apps to the top of the screen so that, for instance, they can compose emails while reading a web page.
The S8 will also feature a digital assistant that studies its owner’s activities to offer helpful tips and information, seeking to challenge Apple’s Siri and Amazon.com Inc.’s Alexa. Called Bixby, Samsung’s service can be activated via the phone’s side button. The system has a few parts: one is a standard, Siri-like voice control view, another is a list view of upcoming calendar appointments and reminders. The feature is also integrated with the camera so that it can identify objects like buildings, or a particular bottle of wine. Users can operate many of the phone’s functions via voice instead of the touchscreen.