Samsung's iPhone killer: Omnia

Lee Sun-young , Samsung's iPhone killer: Omnia, Korea Herald, 2008.06.10

[The Original Article]
Samsung Electronics Co. yesterday unveiled a smart phone with which it plans to take on Apple Inc.'s upgraded iPhone.

Dubbed the Samsung Omnia, the SCH-i900 model combines all applications that forward-looking users seek in a mobile-phone handset, according to the electronics giant. That's why it is named Omnia, which means everything, company officials said.
"Equipped with a user-friendly haptic interface and a variety of cutting-edge applications, the Samsung Omnia is much more than just a cell phone and is like a personal computer in your palm," said Kim Jung-hyun.

The Samsung phone debuted hours ahead of the unveiling of a new iPhone with faster internet connectivity at the Apple developers' conference in San Francisco later that day, or early this morning Korean time.

Equipped with Windows Mobile 6.1, the Omnia allows users to work on documents with MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint, not to mention sending emails and using multimedia programs.
Key features include a 3.2-inch wide touch display, a 5-megapixel camera, GPS navigator, Bluetooth 2.0, WiFi, and up to 16 GB of internal memory plus a memory card slot.

The handset, which will be introduced to the public at a telecom exhibition in Singapore later this month, will be rolled out across the world, starting from Asia and later in Europe.
The price is yet to be fixed.

[Summary and My Opinion]
Samsung developed a new phone, which will compete with iPhone. It combines many application. So when users have this new phone, they can enjoy many functions. That's why its name is Omnia which means everything. Omnia has a haptic interface and a variety of cutting-edge applications such as 3.2-inch wide touch display, a 5-megapixel camera, GPS navigator, Bluetooth 2.0, WiFi, and up to 16 GB of internal memory plus a memroy card slot. It is like a personal computer in your palm. Even if Omnia can't send emails and use multimedia programs, it allows us to work on documetns with MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Omnia will be launched on the Asia market and then will go to the European market.

It seems that Samsung, one of the global major cell phone company, want to defeat Apple's iPhone. As you know, iPhone has a new concept which is different from normal cell phones. Apple gave a new concept and gave a new meaning to a cell phone. iPhone is a kind of pioneer in this field. Samsung has tried to adapt this new concept to its cell phone industry. Cell phones look like everything. Basically, we can call and get the phone, take a picture, make a documentation, transfer the files and so on.

One thing we need to focus on is that which brand image will take consumers' mind. Samsung's cell phone is very famous for the people in the world. Also many of the people in the world are crazy about Apple's product including iPhone. Two powerful brand image will be about to crash in the world cell phone market.

Apple seems to be a higher position rather than Samsung. But we can't ignore Samsung's brand image and marketing power. Both phones have similar applications. But a design of iPhone seems to be more fancy. However, that's not the all about to decide the top position in the market. So I think the company brand image and marketing power will be the key point to take a larger market. Next round will begin soon.

20100062 Kim Dong Hoon(김동훈) entry#14