In June I attended the Samsung dealer meeting at the JW Marriott in Chicago for a 3-day overview on Samsung’s dealer program. Titled “Game On,” Samsung has taken a slightly different tact than most shows we attend.
Samsung is openly touting the strength of their brand based on the incredible success they’ve achieved in the smartphone and display markets. The first day started for us with an analyst luncheon and private tour of Samsung’s vertically organized product fair.
Tim Baxter, President – addressing the crowd
Rather than a traditional product showroom, Samsung has taken a unique approach and set up several rooms, each a different vertical market. The rooms were purposely very light on product. The intention is to show Samsung technology – not simply copiers and printers, but solutions, IT products, displays and more and how a customer in that vertical market could benefit from an all-encompassing Samsung solution. Executives also mentioned this vertical approach is a key strategy and they have hired experts from different vertical markets to run their respective Samsung vertical market groups.
Today started with the general session in which President Tim Baxter provided about 70 dealers with a big picture view of Samsung.
Baxter told the crowd of Samsung’s commitment to technology and the continued increase in R&D spending. Indeed, Samsung’s R&D expenditures, which are now nearly $11 billion annually is higher than the annual revenue of some competitors. They’re amongst the top players in the filing of patents and they have the strongest brand recognition in the print industry.
To say Samsung is ambitious is an understatement. With revenues growing from a mere $80 billion in 2005, Samsung reported revenues of $188 billion in 2012 and is targeting $400 billion for 2020.
Rather than a traditional product showroom, Samsung has taken a unique approach and set up several rooms, each a different vertical market. The rooms were purposely very light on product. The intention is to show Samsung technology – not simply copiers and printers, but solutions, IT products, displays and more and how a customer in that vertical market could benefit from an all-encompassing Samsung solution. Executives also mentioned this vertical approach is a key strategy and they have hired experts from different vertical markets to run their respective Samsung vertical market groups.
Today started with the general session in which President Tim Baxter provided about 70 dealers with a big picture view of Samsung.
Baxter told the crowd of Samsung’s commitment to technology and the continued increase in R&D spending. Indeed, Samsung’s R&D expenditures, which are now nearly $11 billion annually is higher than the annual revenue of some competitors. They’re amongst the top players in the filing of patents and they have the strongest brand recognition in the print industry.
To say Samsung is ambitious is an understatement. With revenues growing from a mere $80 billion in 2005, Samsung reported revenues of $188 billion in 2012 and is targeting $400 billion for 2020.
Baxter told the crowd, “…the interesting part about it is…we’re actually tracking slightly ahead of the compound annual growth rate of this $400 billion.
“Take a look at the portfolio we have. Today about half of our business is phones in the US…IT is about 10%. That’s today. We’ve got a view and a vision to 2016 that has a much different portfolio, with a bigger reliance on IT related products as our key portfolio composition.”
Baxter went on to say, “We’ve historically been a consumer company. We know that. We’re not ashamed about that…but we also understand the role and importance of the B2B and the Enterprise space and we expect it to go from less than 15% today to more than double at 30% in several years so we are looking forward to partnering with you to help realize that. To push each other. To pull each other. To create something new in this space.”
Hyesung Ha, VP Sales & Marketing Printing Solutions, Korea
In putting their money where their mouth is, Samsung has redesigned their website with a much stronger, vertically oriented B2B feeling than the old website, which was almost entirely consumer-based. Now when a retail customer visits the website, they will see products and solutions tailored around their needs and requirements.
Following Tim Baxter was Hyesung Ha, VP of Sales and Marketing Team, Printing Solutions in Korea. Ms. Ha provided a snapshot of what’s going on at Samsung Korea and how they got to where they are today. She discussed the 8 million hours of development that went into their first generation of printers. “We have more than 10,000 software engineers.” She went on to say, “More importantly, we have the products to cover the gamut.”
“We are [the] number 2 maker for the A4 laser space and in fact, we are [the] second largest maker and provider in the world next to Canon.” According to Ms. Ha, Samsung sells about 40 MFPs and laser printers every second.
Tod Pike, VP, chats with – Samsung partner Drew Brees
After Ms. Ha, VP Tod Pike took the stage to discuss the channel in a bit more detail. Pike detailed the changes Samsung is going through. Some items of interest include the addition of personnel to support the dealer channel, a strong vertical market approach that will leverage their customer base from other Samsung groups, most notably in the display and telephone groups and a continued commitment to partner with dealers rather than competing with them.
A couple of years ago we attended a Samsung dealer show in which executives discussed partnering with dealers and handing accounts to them. Yesterday, when I asked Tod about this and whether it’s really happening he said yes and provided me with several very high profile dealer names who have experienced this first hand, being brought into Enterprise accounts where they had no presence.
Many companies have discussed this strategy in the past – HP leveraging EDS and Xerox leveraging ACS to pull printers into network engagements, Panasonic leaning on their telephony group, etc. While others talked about it to no avail, it seems Samsung is doing it.
Dealers seem pretty happy. I spoke with one dealer that just signed up and in his first month he already sold 40 units. “They practically sell themselves,” he told me.
While the show itself was light on product and solutions considering the breadth of what Samsung has to offer, the real meat of this meeting was in the presentations from the key executives.
The bottom line is this; Samsung wins in every market they enter. They are the second largest printer engine manufacturer in the world and the largest IT company in the world. They have deep pockets, they spend more in R&D than anyone I can think of, they have incredible brand recognition and as they’ve now conquered the B2C market, they’re taking full aim at the B2B imaging market.
They have a lot to offer dealers, which is incredible considering they were so late to the printer dance and for most other companies this would be a death sentence. Not so for Samsung. They continue to gain momentum and traction in the market. While their solutions were woefully behind, they’re gaining ground rapidly. While they don’t have a full product portfolio in A3 at departmental levels, a breaking story suggesting they may be picking up Sharp MFPs could provide them with production level overnight.
Samsung is also making their other products available to dealers such as white boards, displays, tablets and IT products, allowing dealers to walk into an account and provide them with end-to-end solutions that no one but HP can match. And as HP isn’t as focused on this channel as Samsung, it appears Samsung and their dealers have an excellent opportunity.
Look out, because here they come.
