What you need to know:
- The companies are battling for wealthy individuals and institutions like hotels and bars that are increasingly turning to wider screen sets.
- The set comes with an inbuilt camera and wireless Internet connectivity and users control channels through the touch screen as well control the TV volume by their voice.
Samsung Electronics has taken the race for control of Kenya’s high-end television segment a notch higher by launching the country’s most expensive TV worth Sh3.7 million.
The 85-inch Ultra HD (High Definition) television beats Sony’s latest offering on cost since the rival 84 inch set is retailing at Sh3.5 million — underlining the appetite for premium TVs in the local market with bigger screens and sharper resolution.
Earlier this year, Samsung Electronics released a 75-inch full HD TV at Sh1.06 million while Japan’s Sharp unveiled an 80-inch model retailing at Sh1 million.
The companies are battling for wealthy individuals and institutions like hotels and bars that are increasingly turning to wider screen sets.
Allan Oyier, Samsung Electronics East Africa general manager, said the new model features not only a large screen but also higher resolution than existing high-definition model. “The TV will be the most premium in the market,’’ added Mr Oyier.
The set comes with an inbuilt camera and wireless Internet connectivity and users control channels through the touch screen as well control the TV volume by their voice.
The South Korean firm has stepped up its reach in Africa as it seeks to replicate its huge footprint in Europe, Asia and the US.
It’s targeting the continent with flat-panel TVs, mobile phones, laptops and colour laser printers that scan, fax and copy.
Samsung is expanding its huge supply chain reach into Africa withplans to develop new assembly facilitiesin Ethiopia, Nigeria and Kenya, where it will assemble TVs, laptops and printers.
Africa is faced with a growing well-off middle class that has the spending power for luxury items. Firms like Samsung are hoping to profit from the growing African middle class and its disposable income.
In Kenya, it has been active on the TV and smartphone segment, where the young and tech-savvy population is increasingly connecting to the Internet using higher-end handsets and tablet computers.
Globally, Samsung is shifting its focus towards new generation LED display technology as it reduces its interest on liquid crystal display (LCD) flat-screen business.
The outlook for LCD TVs has dimmed as shoppers, especially in developed markets, have traded in their bulky cathode-ray tube TVs for flat screens, and competition has intensified from low-cost Chinese manufacturers.
Samsung and others such as rival LG are shifting to newer organic light-emitting diode (OLED) flat-screen display currently used mainly in high-end smartphones, reckoning this technology will replace LCD in larger-sized panels such as TV screens.
This is catching up in emerging countries where the new LED screens and Smart TVs have added to the experience of home entertainment as the incomes in Kenya and other African markets rise.
With additional features like Internet connectivity, Wi-Fi, power-saving and 3D experience; the television sets are popular with high end clients.
