Osman Albora, senior director - mobile division at Samsung Gulf Electronics, predicts new launches will boost the company's overall growth this year. Courtesy Samsung
Osman Albora, senior director - mobile division at Samsung Gulf Electronics, predicts new launches will boost the company's overall growth this year. Courtesy Samsung
Osman Albora, senior director - mobile division at Samsung Gulf Electronics, predicts new launches will boost the company's overall growth this year. Courtesy Samsung
Samsung registered a 40 per cent increase in orders for its newly launched Galaxy Note20 series phones in the Gulf region, significantly higher than the number of orders it received for the Note10 series, according to a senior company official.
Orders for the latest offering from Samsung were even higher in the UAE, 52 per cent more than the Note10 series, Osman Albora, senior director – mobile division at Samsung Gulf Electronics, told The National.
“The Note20 series facilitates work and play. It brings the capabilities of a PC as well as a phone in the hands of consumers,” Mr Albora said, without disclosing the number of the orders.
The South Korean consumer electronics giant launched two 5G-enabled models – the Note20 and the Note20 Ultra – in Dubai on Wednesday, starting their region-wide sale. The company started taking advance orders for the devices on August 5, when they were launched globally.
Despite a tough market for consumer electronics, Samsung is very “confident and has high expectations from the new phones”, said Mr Albora.
The pandemic has changed consumers preferences and “people have started using smartphones much more [than in the past]," Mr Albora said.
More consumers are opting for 5G-enabled variants, as their orders constitute almost 80 per cent of total in the region.
"Staying connected has never been more important, as we have been propelled into the new normal,” he said. “We see 5G as one of the future enablers."
The company had launched its 5G-enabled phones with the Note10 series in August last year and since then it has introduced many variants to the market. Sales data show the company is on the right track and is aligned with what its customers want, he added.
With a 17.52-centimetre curved display, the Note20 Ultra has three cameras on the back. Its starting price in the UAE is Dh4,499.
The Note20 models have a smaller flat display at 17.01cm and is Dh3,549 in the Emirates.
The new phones also have larger storage capacity – 8GB to 12GB RAM and 128GB to 512GB internal storage space.
“We have a very positive outlook for [the] future … we are confident that current as well as future launches will propel our momentum further and help to increase our market share significantly in the region,” said Mr Albora.
“We held a 38.4 per cent market share in the UAE in the first half of this year. In the premium segment [priced $600 or above], we hold 33 per cent market share - almost 6 per cent more than the last year,” he said, citing, data from German researcher GFK's UAE panel market report.
Mr Albora, declined to share the launch date of the company’s new foldable phone, the Galaxy Z Fold2, in the region.
“We will announce it soon, sometime in September ... we believe in [the] foldable category and are very committed to it,” he said.
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The Florida Project
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Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
The bio
Favourite book: Peter Rabbit. I used to read it to my three children and still read it myself. If I am feeling down it brings back good memories.
Best thing about your job: Getting to help people. My mum always told me never to pass up an opportunity to do a good deed.
Best part of life in the UAE: The weather. The constant sunshine is amazing and there is always something to do, you have so many options when it comes to how to spend your day.
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1 The kind of water athletes drink is important. Gwilym Hooson, a 28-year-old British performer who is currently recovering from knee surgery, found that out when the company was still in Studio City, training for 12 hours a day. “The physio team was like: ‘Why is everyone getting cramps?’ And then they realised we had to add salt and sugar to the water,” he says.
2 A little chocolate is a good thing. “It’s emergency energy,” says Craig Paul Smith, La Perle’s head coach and former Cirque du Soleil performer, gesturing to an almost-empty open box of mini chocolate bars on his desk backstage.
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The two riders are among several riders in the UAE to receive the top payment of £10,000 under the Thank You Fund of £16 million (Dh80m), which was announced in conjunction with Deliveroo's £8 billion (Dh40bn) stock market listing earlier this year.
The £10,000 (Dh50,000) payment is made to those riders who have completed the highest number of orders in each market.
There are also riders who will receive payments of £1,000 (Dh5,000) and £500 (Dh2,500).
All riders who have worked with Deliveroo for at least one year and completed 2,000 orders will receive £200 (Dh1,000), the company said when it announced the scheme.
Racecard
6pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 Group 1 (PA) $55,000 (Dirt) 1,900m
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11 What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time. TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
