By: Ben Robinson, IntoMobile Saturday, October 4th, 2008 at 12:06 PM
Samsung UK say they are focusing on devices, rather than services
Samsung Mobile’s VP of Mobile for the UK was recently asked about the manufacturer’s strategy for content – the face of offerings by Apple and Nokia (particularly music), it’s a very interesting question.
The response was quite clear – essentially that Samsung are a manufacturer of devices, and it’s about enablement of content consumption in those devices. Their view is that the Operators should be responsible for sheperding content on to the devices, with their support.
So what do the IntoMobile readers make of all this? Is the right stance for the manufacturers to take the reins and deliver content to the devices, use the network as a bit-pipe? Or should the manufacturers stick to their core business?
Ben is a 10+ year veteran of the Mobile industry – starting his career
when SMS was a still a relatively new concept for most people (!), he has
now consulted on everything from bleeding-edge Mobile content, to the
next-gen accessories you might view it on. As a result he has a broad and deep knowledge in numerous areas of Mobile – from network operators to device vendors, to infrastructure and middleware vendors (not to mention content delivery) – and has worked for companies in all of these areas!
He is based in the UK, a hotbed of activity for mobile, and recently
became a father for the second time – as oppose to in his younger years
when he was happy spend time tweaking all manner of mobile devices to
'nth' degree, he now looks for services and hardware that provide the most efficient, compact, and reliable improvements to his already manic life! It’s his opinion that Mobile solutions should be there to help to make
your life better – if a particular solution (be it service or device)
isn’t doing this, he believes you need to ask the very important question
of why you continue to use it...
His focus at IntoMobile is mainly on Mobile content, services, and
infrastructure, particularly as regards the UK market – and with the
occasional look at devices. Additionally, using his extensive experience
in the industry, he will provide commentary on the industry at large, with
regular (and hopefully thought-provoking) articles.
Roger Browne
The world would be a better place if the device manufacturers made great devices, musicians performed and distributed great music, and networks sold cheap data and voice access but not devices or music.