Samsung Unveils 8-GB Mobile Phone

Samsung plans to introduce a smartphone with an 8-GB hard drive, rolling it out to European markets in the second half of 2006. Called the SGH-i310, the handset is similar in form to a previous Samsung phone, the i300, that came out last year.

Both models are focused on delivering music, with the i310 especially targeted at digital-music mavens. The new phone will include a music player, amplifier, and Bluetooth wireless capabilities. The phone also will sport a digital camera, printing capabilities, and a video-out connection.

As the fourth Samsung phone to include a hard disk, the i310 is an indication of a major new direction for the company, which is likely to keep increasing storage capacity to meet consumer need.

Samsung is expected to detail more features of the i310 at the upcoming CeBIT computer show in Hanover, Germany.

Store House

Phones with such high-end multimedia capabilities are more likely to appeal to consumers rather than enterprise users, said Yankee Group analyst John Jackson, who pointed out that corporate cell-phone use tends not to require much embedded memory.

But consumers are increasingly making use of their cell phones to play videos, listen to music, and swap photos. Mobile-phone makers like Samsung are eager to provide the kind of high-level functionality and memory that such activities require.

"These type of memory densities are quite simply going to be increasingly necessary to allow phones to perform as multimedia-centric devices," said Jackson. "You have to have these larger densities to accommodate mainstream usage patterns."

Forward Thinking

The development of an 8-GB phone is made possible in large part because the cost of memory has seen remarkable price declines recently, Jackson noted. Those cost drops likely will spur more innovation, but phone makers like Samsung still could face difficulties with pricing in different channels.

"Is the operator going to subsidize 8 GB of memory?" Jackson asked. "If not, the question becomes whether consumers would be willing to pay an extra $70 to $150 for that phone."

In general, the SGH-i310 sounds like a proof-of-concept phone, Jackson added, noting that such a phone is more likely to show the direction of the market rather than be a bestseller as soon as it starts shipping.

"Samsung has done this in the past," he said. "They create these devices to show that they're a technology leader and to put a stake in the ground for the future."