Tight in his black shirt, Tae Moon Roh welcomes us with a curious look and a smile on his face. The head of Samsung’s Mobile Experience division can be satisfied. The South Korean company has just presented its new leaflets, il Galaxy Z Fold 5 e il Galaxy Z Flip 5during a spectacular event that took place in Seoul.
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When TM Roh sits at the table, he expresses his pride in a calm and measured tone: “Four years ago we unveiled our first leaflet and we were sure it would become a very popular format. There were obviously those who argued otherwise. But now many smartphone manufacturers have presented or announced their foldable. It means we were right.”
Indeed it is. Samsung has convinced consumers – and even the competition – that leaflets are the future. The risk that the South Korean company took by investing in a product that looked like something out of a science fiction film has paid off.
“This year we expect to sell 30 million of our foldables worldwide – says TM Roh – of which about two million in Europe. Market research tells us that over the next five years, the demand for leaflets will rise to one hundred million pieces a year”.
Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Z Flip 5 smartphones, the innovation of the new Samsung foldables passes through Seoul from our correspondent Pier Luigi Pisa 26 July 2023
The rise of foldables is witnessed by another significant figure. Just TM Roh, in the hours that preceded Seoul’s Galaxy Unpackedsaid overall sales of the Fold and Flip are on track to match – and surpass – those of the latest Galaxy Note released in 2020 [del Note 20 sono stati spediti 12 milioni di pezzi, ndr].
Before it conveyed in the “S” series, becoming de facto the “Ultra” model of recent years, the Note has been a much loved device by Samsung customers. Yet, even that it was a bet. The first Note, released in 2011, had a much larger display than the norm.
“At the time that smartphone received criticism – recalls TM Roh – because for some the screen was too big. They said, ‘Why would we need such a huge device?’”. But then that very display became the strong point of the Note. “And today, as you can see, almost all smartphones have five or six inch screens, or even larger – adds TM Roh – and this has improved the user experience. Now, if we hadn’t worked in this direction, and had stayed on 3.5-inch screens, global innovation would have been enormously delayed”.
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If leaflets are a reality today, and if Samsung has invested so much in these smartphones that fold like sheets of paper, it is also thanks to TM Roh and his vision. The 55-year-old engineer, who has worked at Samsung since 1997, took over the reins of the Mobile division in 2020, inheriting them from Dj Koh. And he has guided it brilliantly in a stormy period for the global economy, following the Covid-19 pandemic. The fruits of her work are there for all to see. In 2022, Samsung was the smartphone maker that shipped the most units in the world, with a market share of 22%.
Furthermore, the Mobile Experience division recorded results in the first three months of 2023 revenues of $2.5 billion. And the sale of the Galaxy S23 – announced last January – it surpassed that of the previous series, the S22, by 1.4 times. These are remarkable data if we consider that in recent months the demand for smartphones in the world has dropped considerably.
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Respected in the company for his “meticulous” work on smartphones, TM Roh has been following the “S” series for some time and already at the time of Galaxy S7 stated: “Consumers are driving innovation at Samsung. We will relentlessly pursue those technological innovations that will enrich people’s lives.”
Seven years later, TM Roh is still convinced – indeed, he is increasingly convinced – that the pursuit of innovation is vital to Samsung. “We started with smartphones, but in the future we will also extend foldable technology to other devices, such as tablets and PCs. I think tablets are perfect for the foldable format. I am convinced of this for a very simple reason: because [il piegare] it has been part of the history of humanity and human nature for a very long time. For example: people open books to read and notebooks to write. And when they no longer need them, and they have to move, they close them to make them more compact and portable and obviously to protect the information inside”.
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The future it won’t just be foldable. Last February, speaking with the Washington Post, TM Roh revealed that Samsung is working – with the collaboration of Qualcomm e Google – still wearable device which will allow access to an “extended reality”. “We are getting there – said the manager – we are not too far away”.
But Samsung also has its eye on another technology, more invisible to the eye, that has begun to revolutionize our lives. artificial intelligence, especially the generative oneis preparing to colonize all types of devices. ChatGpthas recently even been integrated into a bike. Algorithms that rely on Large Language Models will soon make smartphones even more “intelligent”.
“As far as Samsung and its smartphones are concerned, the future development of AI will follow two paths – says TM Roh carefully weighing his words -. The first will concern the development of artificial intelligence within the company, focusing on cloud solutions, with the aim of increasing the competitiveness of the products. The second way is instead external to the company: we will work with leading companies in the development of generative artificial intelligence like Google and Microsoft. This hybrid model, which involves internal development and external collaboration with various partners, is the best solution for us”.
AI will continue to improve smartphones, as indeed it has already done in recent years. The power of a camera, the photo editing functions and the extreme customization of a device are now also due to the valuable work of algorithms.
The examples are many. On our way to Seoul, accompanied by a Samsung Galaxy S23, the phone took care of our movements by suggesting on the display, with a series of notifications, the operations that we should have remembered by ourselves, or that we would have been forced to search laboriously in the email, or among downloaded files (for example boarding passes). The smartphone, by itself, figured out when to start showing – always on the display – two time zones: that of our country of origin and that of the country of destination.
In Seoul we tested the new foldable Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Z Flip 5
Many believe that our life, thanks to AI, it will be better. Others, however, are concerned about the direction this technology could take in the future. There is a risk, for example, that AI could replace a Samsung engineer who worked on AI Fifth generation Fold and Flip?
“For me, generative AI is not the end – says TM Roh – on the contrary it is the beginning of the “me”, I consider it a tool. The engineers you mentioned use computers to do their jobs. And software engineers use a programming language to write their codes.”
And what, then, is his talent that AI could never replace?
When the translator hands our question to the manager, TM Roh breaks down for the first time, laughing heartily. “This is the hardest question I’ve heard so far,” she says without losing her smile. And then he adds: “I dare to say that there are some specific things I think I’m good at: understanding the market, for example, and intercepting trends in order to invest in certain products at the right time, develop them and then always bring them out at the right time.” appropriate. These are the things that, I guess, an AI can’t replicate. And it is this passion for innovation, for the most exciting challenges, that continues to motivate me”.
When the translator finishes pronouncing TM Roh’s words in English, the man next to her intervenes, European CEO Simon Sungto reveal us – he too smiling – a backstory: “Regarding your question, you must know one thing about Tae Moon Roh: we call him “Mr. Creative””.
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This relaxed atmosphere, open to jokes, conveys extreme confidence in Samsung’s abilities and in its own leadership of the smartphone market.
Even the possible “threats” for the Asian company’s business turn into opportunities, according to TM Roh: “The competition on foldables? I think that the competition in this sector can only be good for those who produce these devices and above all for consumers”; “The desire of customers for used and refurbished products? I understand it, and for this reason we are working on premium products, more durable over time, and we have launched a program to repair smartphones independently”.
Hardware Samsung smartphones and notebooks can now also be repaired at Pier Luigi’s home Pisa 22 June 2023
We listened to TM Roh for over an hour, on topics ranging from sales to new European rules requiring smartphones with replaceable batteries (“We are working to satisfy these requests” said the manager), and the sensation was that of observing a man with the rudder firmly in his hands.
In tasca, invece, TM Roh has a Galaxy S23 Ultra. “I always use the latest model released – she says – and therefore I will soon switch to the Galaxy Z Fold 5”. Then he adds: “It’s one of the advantages of this job.” And he laughs again, relaxed, like an artificial intelligence could never do.