You bet!
Samsung's chairman has revealed he reckons China, Africa and India will become ‘major' smartphone consumers within just 2 years.
While Samsung has enjoyed considerable success with its high-spec Galaxy handsets it has also said it intends to sell smartphones for under £150 this year, The FT reported.
Lee Kun-hee reportedly predicted that Samsung's own OS, Bada, will enable it to make budget smartphones competitively priced for emerging markets, where it has existing ties with network operators.
However, a professor at the National University of Singapore called Chang Sea-jin told the newspaper that Samsung's innovation and energy spent on software like Bada is its greatest weakness. He apparently said that the increasing dominance of Google's Android platform could turn the manufacturing of handsets into a commodity battle and Samsung would be well positioned.
Chang reportedly said Samsung could stay profitable if it focused all its efforts on high-volume products like chips and phones.
Steve Jobs apparently described Samsung as a ‘copycat' firm at the launch of its iPad 2 but the comment has not sparked the usual tit-for-tat public argument, perhaps because although a rival, Apple is also one of Samsung's biggest customers as it makes the memory chips for the iPhone.
While Samsung might have arguably jumped on the odd bandwagon, it is known for moving fast and has reportedly bumped up its share of the smartphone market to 10 percent from 4 percent at the end of June 2009.
Its Galaxy S handset alone has apparently sold 10m units since its launch and commentators have credited the firm's research spending plus healthy relationships with networks as the reason for its success.
Exec VP of Samsung's mobile division, Lee Don-joo, reportedly said that the firm's talent for being a fast follower depends on timing it right and that the firm was originally skeptical the iPhone would prove a hit.
He reportedly said: "Only by March or April 2009 did we feel this is serious; that if we are not successful in smartphones then our future mobile business would be very dark."
Lee Kun-lee told the newspaper that while Samsung is pleased with its progress in the smartphone arena, it will continue to push on into new areas such as medical equipment, pharmaceuticals and energy-efficient lighting, with $21bn earmarked for investment over the next 10 years.
