Galaxy Note 7 release: Samsung UK phone head Conor Pierce on the launch of new handset

Before today’s launch of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, the Independent talked exclusively to Samsung’s UK phone supremo, Conor Pierce

Samsung's Conor Pierce (Samsung)

The launch of Samsung’s new Galaxy Note 7, is a big deal for the company. I talked to Conor Pierce, Vice President of IT & Mobile for Samsung UK and Ireland.

Pierce is a debonair Irishman whose quiet-spoken demeanour belies his evident passion for the company. I begin by asking why the Galaxy S7 edge handset released in the spring has been such a runaway success, much more than last year’s S6 edge to which it is at first glance identical.

“First, because it’s leaning on the initial design philosophy of a curved-edge screen. Everyone loves that. The number of people who are coming from our major rival over to Samsung, they tend to skew towards the S7 edge because of the design. But also, if you look at what we did with that phone, we listened to consumers and what they wanted. So we added water- and dust-resistance, which was a major selling factor. Another was memory. The S6 didn’t have a memory card slot but the S7 did.

“A sign of how important memory is to us is that next week Samsung is launching the world’s first 256GB microSD memory card. It’s phenomenal. And you know people want all their memory. They’re saying despite all the cloud storage that’s there, I want it on my device. The camera has been hugely successful, too.”

What Pierce discreetly refers to as the major rival is, if you haven’t guessed, Apple. It’s the sector of the market that Samsung has long wanted to be involved in and really it is only just getting there.

“The mobile phone market is incredibly saturated. There are really two major players in the premium sector, which represents over two thirds of the value of the market in the UK. We have seen huge growth on the back of the S6 and S7 in the UK so we really have some strong wind in our sails. It does take time for people to switch from what they’re used to, to a new operating system, to a new brand. But once you get the momentum, credibility and more importantly the word of mouth, we know that those who do switch from our major rival to Samsung are liking what they now have even more.”

Is it also down to features? “Yes, the market is desperate for innovation, it’s got quite staid. Samsung tries to bring meaningful innovation. My job is to make sure people have a chance to experience it and listen to their feedback.”

One of the things that has really helped a lot, Pierce says, is Gear VR, the virtual reality headset accessory which Samsung released for earlier Galaxy phones and has updated now. It works by allowing you to drop your high-end Galaxy into the front slot of the helmet where it provides the screen and computing grunt to deliver virtual reality experiences at a very low cost.

“Over half of those considering switching to a Samsung device, we learn, do so because of Gear VR, because they want to experience this new phenomenon. So we’re trying to excite the market and to innovate.”

Which brings us to the Galaxy Note 7, the first new large-screen phone from Samsung in the UK for two years. “I’m really excited about this. We have a huge base in the UK from the previous generations of Note users, and we know the users love the larger screen and the S Pen, The standouts this time include the brand new S Pen – you can now hover the tip of the S Pen over a word on the screen to instantly translate it into up to 71 languages, or you can use it to magnify part of the screen so it increases your accessibility. The always-on display means when inspiration strikes, rather than unlock the phone you can take your S Pen out and write on the screen. That’s going to help both in productivity and creativity.”

Another major concern today is security. As Pierce explains, “Everyone is painfully aware that they want to have complete control over their data so we’ve created the most intelligent and most secure device available on the market using biometric authentication with iris scanning and fingerprints. Actually, the iris scanning is 100 times more secure than a fingerprint. We overlay that with our Knox system and what that allows people to do is rather than storing stuff in the cloud you can store it in a secure folder on the device and that’s only accessible via Knox and iris or fingerprints. And you decide what goes in that secure folder, including apps and documents.”

I’m interested in why bigger screens are important. “Well, we know that those people with large-screen devices spend 20 per cent more time on entertainment apps and 30 per cent more time on playing games. So the screen estate, the quality of the screen and the HDR feature we have, I think that’s all going to be very powerful and bring us to another level.”

And there are other features which build on those in the S7. “The camera, for instance, is best-in-class and now has an aperture of f/1.7 which means it’s superb in low-light conditions. And it has fast charging, which is important.”

These are phones that use the Android operating system, as LG, Sony, Motorola and others do. How does Samsung stand out?

“It’s a fine balance. We’ve come a long way. We’ve decluttered to make the user interface more accessible. Like many of our competitors we had lots of overlays to create our own signature within the Android UI. So we’ve stripped all that back because we’ve listened to people and they want something much more simple. The challenge is to ensure there’s a Samsung feel to the UI over and above the base. What we’re doing is adding features like Samsung Folders and Samsung Notes which will be recognisable over time across the entire Samsung portfolio.

Finally, when will Samsung Pay, the company’s own digital wallet system come to the UK? “The plan is still that it will be in the UK this year. Watch this space. I think it’s important that we don’t just follow, that we do something that adds relevance to people, so obviously we have our Knox solution which will make it the most secure payment system on mobile and secondly we’re planning to add magnetic strip capabilities.”

This is Samsung’s USP – it will mean the phone can be used to pay even on older terminals which don't have contactless capabilities because the phone makes the terminal think it’s being presented by a magnetic strip card. “That will give us more coverage across the UK, so it’s definitely worth waiting for.”