Market forces
Whenever we receive press releases announcing rebrands, new logos, etc, our first assumption is that the marketing department had a meeting-gasm and is now inflicting the results of it on the rest of us. There was little in Samsung's latest announcement to make us revise that supposition.
Samsung has a new smartphone naming strategy, you see. In an apparent attempt to simplify things for potential customers, Samsung is grouping its smartphones into five classes - presumably: top, not quite top, mid, not quite bottom, and bottom, although the marketing department has ensured those tags are generously euphemised. Best to give you them in Samsung's own words.
Samsung's new ‘class designators' explained:
- "S" (Super Smart) - Devices at the very pinnacle of Samsung's mobile portfolio. This class will only be used on flagship devices such as the multi-award winning Samsung Galaxy S
- "R" (Royal / Refined) - Premium category models, a combination of power, performance and productivity
- "W" (Wonder) - High quality, strategic models, striking a balance between style and performance
- "M" (Magical) - High-performance models at an economic price-point
- "Y" (Young) - These are entry models or strategic models for emerging markets or a younger audience more sensitive to price.
Class indicators allow a more specific description of the key selling points of a device:
- "Pro" - This indicates that the device includes a QWERTY keyboard for speedier email typing and increased productivity for professionals.
- "Plus" - This indicates that the device is an upgrade from an existing model.
- "LTE" - This indicates that the device is designed to utilize LTE (Long-Term Evolution) connectivity standards, a 4G standard to provide increased mobile network capacity and speed.
Clear enough? Secondary to this announcement in the Samsung press release was the launch of no less than four new smartphones - filling out the range, with the S being long-established and the Tegra 2-packing Galaxy R having been launched a few weeks ago. They all come with Android 2.3.
Simon Stanford, mobile MD, Samsung UK and Ireland said: "As we continue to expand our successful portfolio of Galaxy Family Android devices, we have introduced steps to ensure these products are easier for customers to identify. The announcements of Galaxy M Pro, Galaxy W, Galaxy Y and Galaxy Y Pro will build on the success of the Samsung Galaxy range of smartphones adding yet more choices for consumers whether they want a top end smartphone or one with more basic functionality - our aim is to have a product that's right for them."
The W has an unspecified 1.4GHz chip, probably the single-core Hummingbird, and a 3.7-inch screen. The M Pro has the keyboard promised by the name, a 1GHz chip, an optical track-pad and some enterprise software support. The Y has a 832MHz processor, while the Y pro has, you guessed it, a QWERTY keyboard. No word on pricing and availability yet.
