The new products which include refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners, television sets among others were showcased at the 8th annual Samsung Africa Forum held in Cape Town last week/COURTESY
CAPE Town, South Africa Feb 28 – Samsung is introducing a variety of new products tailored for the African market, in what is promising to be a totally new experience to users due to enhanced technology.
The new products which include refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners, television sets among others were showcased at the 8th annual Samsung Africa Forum held in Cape Town last week.
YooYoung Kim, the President and CEO of Samsung Electronics Africa Office told participants that the company’s goal is to inspire the world “and create the future with innovative technology and creativity, thanks to a deep understanding of what people really need and want.”
“This is a region that is a vital part of Samsung’s global business and the company will utilise this event to showcase products selected specifically for the unique needs of African customers.
The Cape Town forum was held under the theme ‘One Pride’ which represents how Samsung and its partner networks continue to work together to be the leaders in the region’s consumer electronics market.
“The theme is also symbolic of the genuine pride the company takes in its world-class devices and appliances,” a statement from the company said.
With the expected continuous growth of this market in 2017, Samsung Electronics aims to lead the continent’s development in the consumer electronics space. The Samsung Africa Forum 2017 was the ideal platform to demonstrate Samsung’s smart technology products and innovative designs for the year ahead.
“Samsung Electronics values building strong relationships with our customers, partners and stakeholders, in order to further grow the brand in this unique and exciting consumer landscape. The 8th annual Samsung Africa Forum affords us the opportunity to share our vision, commitment and world-class innovations in technology and design with our partners across the region. More crucially, it allows us to demonstrate that together, we can move forward with pride, passion and profitability,” concludes Kim.
Capital FM News spoke to Samsung Vice President and Managing Director for East and Central Africa Jung Hyun Park on why Kenya is key to the company’s growth in penetrating Africa.
“I take the Kenyan market as a kind of some window market to Africa with its development and infrastructure and the consumers demand enables us to penetrate other African countries,” he said. “We try to find a way to meet consumers needs in the Kenyan market first and we believe that if we can satisfy the needs and make a successful business case, I want to believe we can copy and paste it in other countries as a window market to Africa.”
The new washing machine for instance is equipped with the innovative AddWash feature while the new four-door refrigerator is equipped with a digital inverter technology.
“AddWash™ machines are intended to make washday much easier, thanks to the larger load capacity, as well as the cleverly-designed additional AddWash™ door. It allows users to add laundry items or even top up fabric softener at any stage during the wash cycle,” Park said, adding that “Samsung’s AddWash™ appliances give users greater control over their wash cycles, an increased capacity and a quieter and more peaceful washing experience. Couple this with the innovative Eco Bubble™ technology that creates a greener and more energy efficient machine and AddWash™ is clearly the future of laundry engineering.”
Of the new twin refrigerator, Park told Capital FM News in an interview in the sidelines of the Samsung Africa Forum held at the Cape Town International Conference Centre (CTICC), that “this year we introduced the twin cooling plus, then now we enhanced it to keep more humidity of the product because if you keep vegetables for example even a week later you will find that the humidity and freshness is kept other than normal products.”
The new four-door refrigerator which was also showcased boasts of a net capacity of 689L and is equipped with a Triple and Metal Cooling, Digital Inverter Technology and a Flex Zone.
Also unveiled was the new Samsung QLED TV series which, experts say, guarantees consistent colour “anywhere you sit without sacrificing the colours.”
It is equipped with the new Quontum dot technology which minimizes colour wash-out from the side with its enhanced light diffusibility and new panel technology.
Also showcased at the forum was the new Samsung Wind-Free air conditioner which disperses air through 21,000 micro holes.
The air conditioner is controlled using the Samsung Smart Home app.
It is known as Wind-Free because its slow-moving cool air (0.15mps) is dispersed through 21,000 micro air holes, resulting in a much pleasing cooling experience as users will not feel the cold air directly blowing on them, an expert told participants at the open exhibition in Cape Town.
He also explained that the aircon is efficient because it lowers power consumption by up to 72pc once the desired temperature is achieved.
The company is also preparing to launch the innovative Samsung Galaxy S8 mobile phone next month.
