Kashminder Singh

How long have you been in Malaysia?
It’s been almost a year and a half now.

So what’s it like living in Malaysia?
My family and I are very happy to be based in Malaysia. Compared to many other countries, Malaysia is such a nice place to live in. We love the food here especially the Chinese food.

Where were you working before coming to Malaysia?
I was working in the HQ in Korea where I was covering countries like India, Philipines, Indonesia and Vietnam.

Everyone knows that Korea is a very advanced nation in mobile and Internet usage. How far do you think Malaysia is from your own country?
Yes, we have an advanced tech lifestyle but I think that the gap between Korea and Malaysia is getting shorter all the time. In fact I think that Malaysia is almost at par with Singapore right now.

What is the secret for Korea’s success?
I think it happened because a number of large Korean companies back then were willing to invest in the future without expecting immediate returns or profits. Also there was a lot of government support too.

And how did so many Koreans become avid users of mobile technology?
Customers usually do not know what a technology can do to their lives and so operators and manufacturers have to take the time to educate them. This is what happened in Korea.

How is Samsung doing in Malaysia’s mobile phone market?
We are doing okay but I am not completely happy because we are not number one yet. Also there is a lot of competition these days.



What are Samsung’s plans going forward then?
We are strong in the high end range especially in popular segments like slider phones and clamshells. From this year, Samsung plans to have phones for all segments of the market. So users will now have budget Samsung phones, 3G phones and also smartphones. We will also sell phones using non-traditional channels such as Courts and Best Denki. Finally we will work on improving our support network even more. We want to shorten the time required to service Samsung phones.

What do you think will be the trend next year?
It’s hard to be sure but we have been right about slider phones and slim phones. I think next year we will see more 3G phones and these phones will be very slim. We will see the end of non-colour phones.

Anything else?
Yes. We can see that the people buying high end phones are the young and they want advanced technology. For example, young buyers want memory cards in their phones and they want more functions too.

What about 3G? How do you see that?
I sometimes use 3G phones but I am not a heavy 3G user. However, I think I will like mobile TV and I am looking forward to seeing that arrive in Malaysia.

What would you like the Samsung mobile phone brand to be known for?
That Samsung phones are very fun to own, that they have good designs and the best functions.