Samsung increases focus on business with new monitor range

Think Samsung and most people – outside the Republic of Korea at least – probably think phones and TVs. Maybe tablets, fridges and the occasional washing machine. What I suspect they don’t think of is business monitors.

Could that all be set to change? When I had the opportunity to interview Samsung’s “Mr Monitors”, Pepe Dijkstra, at a recent launch event in London I was keen to find out.

I should quickly add that Mr Monitors is not Pepe’s actual job title. I call him that because he’s Head of Monitors for Samsung’s European division, having joined it as a Product Manager back in 2010.

And note that the definition of monitors here stretches from gaming displays up to the huge signage you see in football stadiums.

Is Samsung shifting its focus to business monitors?

Like Pepe, I’ve spent the past 15 years steeped in monitors. Over that time, I’ve probably reviewed over 200 for the magazine I edit, PC Pro. Yet, I’ve never reviewed a single business monitor from Samsung – or even heard about a product.

Against the background of the company proudly launching ten new business monitors on the day we met, I asked – is this is a sign of Samsung more aggressively targeting the business buyer?

“A little bit more focused, I would say,” comes Pepe’s reply. “Are we more aggressive into it? Depends how you define aggressive. If you ask the salespeople, we’re not always cheap enough,” he laughs.

Certainly, Samsung isn’t joining the race to the bottom with its newest range of ViewFinity business monitors. I list the full RRPs of all ten at the bottom of this article, and the cheapest model – the 24in S60D – costs £250. However, for its specs, that looks like a reasonable price.

Pepe explains that B2B is a growing focus for Samsung as a company, and monitors are key to this shift. What I witnessed, the launch of business displays alongside the consumer devices we’ve come to expect from Samsung, is part of this “drive”.

“That’s where we want to grow,” he adds.

Related: Samsung Galaxy AI brings business benefits too

Too late with docking monitors?

Not there to make friends, I argue that Samsung has been slow to embrace business monitor trends, only now adding USB-C and wired networking to create the docking monitors that are in growing demand.

Pepe gracefully disagrees. “We were probably one of the first with a USB-C monitor,” he says, “unfortunately, it was with 45W [power delivery], the market wasn’t ready.”

In particular, he explains, at that point not enough laptops were powered over USB-C. And when they did arrive, they needed 65W to charge at full speed.

This fresh range, says Pepe, is targeted at the new breed of buyers. You have power users wanting 49in screens at home, but also an IT manager looking to buy a fleet of 27in USB-C docking monitors for its hybrid workforce.

His next reply surprises me: I ask, how many business monitors does Samsung currently sell, thinking the answer would be in single digits. “The exact number, I’d need to count, but maybe between 40 and 50,” says Pepe. “In there, you’ve got different flavours. 22in, 24in, 27in, 32in, with USB-C, daisy chains, some with webcams, 49in and even 57in.”

Perhaps, however, Samsung needs to work on its on-website filters. When I head to the UK website and click “for business use”, the list currently runs to five.

Curved vs flat

And what about curved monitors? “I would say, [a curved monitor] is the one to go for If you are thinking of 32 and above,” says Pepe. “In my opinion, you’re stupid if you’re not going for a curved one.” That’s the area, he explains, where Samsung sees curved monitors being embraced.

Stupid, I ask? “I might change that based on our announcement today on the 32in with a flat [panel],” Pepe laughs. “In my opinion, 30in and above is better curved, but that’s my personal view.”

After all, he points out, you “don’t need to continuously redirect your eyes” if using a curved monitor.

Why no Samsung OLED business monitors?

What about OLED? There’s a huge push for this in Samsung’s consumer and gaming range, so why not business monitors? “When you work a lot, you mostly view white content, Excel, PowerPoint, all of that type of document. The benefit of OLED is not optimal there.”

It’s hard to disagree with that statement. Both IPS and VA technologies can produce great whites and strong colour coverage.

Okay, I say, I’m an IT director and I’m interested in buying 200 Samsung monitors. What level of support do I get? “We go indirect,” says Pepe, citing Computacenter as one sales partner. “If something goes wrong, [resellers] will be getting involved because they will normally be the one that actually has special access to locations. They know the business in and out.”

The resellers will then bring monitors back to Samsung’s repair centres for refurbishment if they can be repaired.

The sustainable question

This brings us to our interview’s final topic: sustainability. Pepe cites a number of predictable measures it’s taking – 100% recycled packaging materials, easy-to-recycle boxes, the growing use of PCR plastics – but adds that Samsung is making it easier to “recycle plastic… as we don’t actually use any coating”.

“Recycled plastic, if you put coating over it, that’s a disaster,” he explains. “One other thing is that we actually do a lot of R&D ourselves. We have huge R&D in the plastics we’re using.” This includes adding air to the plastic to make it and thus the products lighter, all of which helps to reduce the manufacturing and supply chain carbon footprint.

Which is good news. But one last thing: when can I get a review sample of a new monitor to include in PC Pro? For once, Pepe doesn’t give me a straight answer, instead deflecting it to the UK PR team in attendance. I just hope it’s soon.

Specs for new Samsung ViewFinity business monitors

Across four different ranges:

• Samsung S80UD – 27in £330, 32in £380
• Samsung S80D – 27in £300, 32in £350
• Samsung S70D – 27in £250, 32in £300
• Samsung S60UD – 24in £250, 26in £290, 32in £330