[IFA 2023] Beyond Devices to Environment, People, and Future... Samsung Electronics Emphasizes 'Meaningful Connections'

Press Conference Held on the 31st (Local Time)
Benjamin Brown, European Head CMO, as Keynote Speaker

Samsung Electronics emphasized its commitment to leading the realization of 'Connections that matter'?meaningful connections beyond device-to-device connectivity, focusing on what matters most to people.

On the 31st (local time), ahead of the opening of IFA 2023, Europe's largest home appliance exhibition held in Berlin, Germany, Samsung Electronics held a press conference at the City Cube Berlin exhibition hall to introduce its new products and services for the second half of the year. Approximately 800 attendees, including global media and partners, participated in the event.

Samsung Electronics attracted visitors' attention with an integrated online and offline production that intuitively showcased the convenience of SmartThings embedded in daily life, featuring characters from the video coming on stage to continue acting. A special effect was used during a bread-baking scene, where the actual smell of bread spread throughout the venue.

Benjamin Brown, Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of Samsung Electronics Europe, who took the stage as the keynote speaker, said, "Our own research confirmed that 70% of European consumers have high expectations for smart home innovations. We will continue to develop the SmartThings ecosystem, which is currently used by more than 280 million people worldwide, to expand the experience of 'Connections that matter' that allows people to focus more on what is important in their daily lives."

Benjamin Braun, Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of Samsung Electronics Europe, is delivering the keynote speech at the Samsung press conference held on the 31st, one day before 'IFA 2023,' Europe's largest consumer electronics exhibition, taking place at Messe Berlin in Berlin, Germany.
Photo by Samsung Electronics

Meaningful Connections for the Environment... Efforts for a Sustainable Future

Samsung Electronics is striving to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. At the event, Samsung introduced its 2022 achievements, including reducing carbon emissions by over 900,000 tons during the product usage phase, achieving more than 30% renewable energy conversion rate at business sites, increasing water reuse at business sites by about 30%, and tripling the use of recycled plastics.

Various products and services equipped with eco-friendly technologies were also introduced. Samsung applied a wider range of recycled materials compared to previous products, including recycled fishing net plastics, recycled glass from waste glass, and recycled plastics from waste PET bottles, in recently launched products such as the Galaxy Z Flip5 and Fold5, and the Galaxy Tab S9 series. The product packaging uses 100% recycled paper. Additionally, Samsung plans to expand washing machines that support microplastic reduction courses and launch washing machines that consume over 40% less power than the highest European energy standard.

SmartThings Energy provides an 'AI Saving Mode' that predicts monthly usage and automatically switches to power-saving mode before reaching preset target consumption. It also offers 'Carbon Intensity' information that helps users understand carbon emissions in daily life and participate in carbon reduction. The AI Saving Mode, available for nine types of Bespoke home appliances including refrigerators and washing machines, as well as TVs, will expand to 68 countries worldwide within this year. Carbon Intensity information is currently available in 43 countries and will be expanded further.

In particular, Samsung emphasized the growth of the eco-friendly heating and cooling system EHS in the European market at the event. EHS is a system where refrigerant and water exchange heat in the indoor unit of an air conditioner to generate thermal energy, enabling floor heating and hot water supply. Samsung expects sales to increase by about 97% year-on-year as of August this year. In September, Samsung plans to further strengthen its European market presence by launching a new EHS product equipped with the eco-friendly refrigerant R290, which has a significantly lower global warming potential than the existing refrigerant (R410).

At the Samsung Electronics exhibition hall located at Messe Berlin, where IFA 2023 is being held, a Samsung Electronics model is introducing the 'SmartThings Energy Service.' [Photo by Samsung Electronics]

Meaningful Connections for Everyone... From Home Control to Accessibility

Samsung Electronics is launching the 'Samsung Food' service, which helps users enjoy food experiences all at once by suggesting personalized recipes and diets through food AI technology and enabling easy cooking through kitchen appliance connectivity. Samsung Food offers over 160,000 recipes and can convert them into customized recipes based on individual food preferences, desired nutritional balance, and cooking difficulty. Users can also share recipes with others through the community. The service is available in 104 countries and supports eight languages. By the end of this year, it will be linked with 'Samsung Health' to provide more personalized health-related services, and next year, it plans to apply vision AI technology to offer features such as nutrition information verification, food logging, related recipe search, and social media sharing using only food photos.

Samsung Electronics also introduced a diverse lineup of TVs that provide unprecedented powerful entertainment experiences. For the extra-large 98-inch models, three types are offered: Neo QLED 8K, Neo QLED, and QLED. Notably, the 98-inch Neo QLED 8K features an 8K Neural Quantum Processor utilizing 64 neural networks to upscale photos, videos, and gaming content to 8K resolution, allowing users to enjoy the extra-large screen with the best picture quality. The Micro LED lineup ranges from 76 inches to 140 inches, strengthening leadership in the ultra-premium screen market.

Samsung also introduced the second generation of the portable screen 'The Freestyle.' The second-generation product can link two units to create a panoramic view up to 160 inches, enabling users to create their own cinema anywhere. The 'The Frame Disney 100th Anniversary Edition' has also garnered significant attention even before its release. It features a dedicated bezel engraved with the 'Disney100' logo and a remote control inspired by Mickey Mouse. Users can also enjoy 100 pieces of special edition Walt Disney art content.

Samsung Electronics announced that it will exclusively offer 'Starfield,' a new game developed by Xbox Bethesda Studios for the first time in 25 years, through its streaming game platform service 'Samsung Gaming Hub.'

Meaningful Connections for the Future... Realizing Possibilities through Partnerships

Samsung Electronics concluded the event by introducing efforts to realize meaningful connections not only for the present but also for a sustainable future.

Samsung is collaborating with ABB and SMA to build future-oriented eco-friendly residential models that produce and manage the energy needed at home. SMA's solar home energy solutions and ABB's automation technologies seamlessly integrate with Samsung SmartThings Energy, enabling the establishment of low-carbon heating systems and efficient energy management. This makes homes smarter and more sustainable.

Additionally, Samsung Electronics has been developing 6G mobile communication technology for several years, which is expected to be tens of times faster and offer a wider network range than current 5G. 6G is anticipated to open new possibilities across all fields, including healthcare, entertainment, education, and remote work.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.