Samsung – A good day.

Samsung relaunches the Nokia Communicator.

• Samsung has resurrected the Nokia Communicator (Galaxy Fold) and launched a good iteration of the Galaxy series that is different enough to warrant an upgrade.
• At the same time, Samsung has launched a 5G version of the s10 that is bigger by way of a 6.7” screen but importantly not thicker and also packs in a few added features such as a depth sensor camera.
• The sticking point, of course, is price.
• The Galaxy Fold comes at an eye-watering $1,980, the s10 at $899 and the s10+ at $999 for the base models but these will quickly go up when one adds in more DRAM and more storage.

Galaxy Fold

• Compared to the hype, the Galaxy Fold is a little disappointing as the device is a 1^st generation product and it shows.
• The device looks a little clunky when closed, the front screen has huge bezels and is much too small, and the internal screen as a large notch in the corner.
• This notch looks out of date when compared to the new hole punch designs on the s10 variants.
• No one could get their hands on the product implying that is still not quite ready to be manhandled by the press.
• The Galaxy Fold is essentially a reinvention of the Nokia Communicator which was very popular in its day and was pretty much exclusively an enterprise product.
• The Galaxy Fold will excel at productivity which helps to justify its very high price.
• I suspect volumes will be tiny, but this is obviously an experiment ahead of sleeker and cheaper things to come.

s10 5G

• The best part of this device is its size which is no thicker or clunkier than any other regular smartphone.
• That being said I very much doubt it will operate at true millimetre frequencies (28Ghz and up) giving it very little reason to exist in my opinion as lower frequencies can be just as well covered with 4G.
• There is no price for s10 5G but I suspect it is going to be extremely expensive and may require operator subsidisation if they want to see it ship in any volume.
• From the user perspective, it has to be a good value device in its own right without considering the 5G modem as I think that 5G is going to make no material or noticeable difference to the consumer user experience.

s10 / s10+ / s10e

• The infinity-O display is an elegant solution to the notch problem and the s10 screen looks a lot better for it eking out an edge over the iPhone Xs.
• Samsung has upgraded the cameras again with the s10+ now having 5 cameras as well as some funky upgrades to functionality.
• For example, in selfie and beauty mode the user can alter in real-time the size of the eyes, nose as well as the jaw.
• Samsung has also made a good effort with partners to integrate their apps deeply into the camera.
• Adobe has integrated Adobe Premier Rush for video editing on the device as well as the integration of Instagram into the camera and full support from Snap. Line and Snow.

Take Home Message

• The s10 is a much more interesting upgrade than the iPhone Xs was from the iPhone X meaning that it is likely to attract more interest from buyers and less price aversion.
• Bixby was relegated to a few mentions but sadly it has not been banished altogether and continues to be a blot on the Samsung brand and a reason not to buy a Samsung product.
• The real issue for Samsung is how it will stack up against a resurgent Huawei which has no Bixby and is beginning to cause Samsung real problems in its Android business.
• The s10 should help it stay ahead as its much more interesting than what Huawei has to offer at the same price point.
• The real winner is Google whose ecosystem will feature front and centre on these devices and attract more usage as a result of Samsung’s efforts.