The swelling strings… the soothing sounds of bird songs and running water… the Buddha-like invocations to attain heightened levels of enlightenment and creativity… yes, it’s time for another Samsung (005930) press conference, and this time Samsung just flat-out overwhelmed the tech world with a wide array of new gadgets that range from smartphones to tablets to phablets to ultrabooks to smart cameras. Samsung’s message to the tech industry was clear: Mock us all you want for our Apple (AAPL) envy but we’re still going to gobble up your market share with our huge line of gadgets.
Let’s start with the Galaxy Note II, the sequel to the popular Galaxy Note “phablet” released last year. The fact that Samsung is even producing a phablet sequel is a slap in face to many rivals and media members who mocked its enormous size when it was first released. But the Note’s success showed that there is indeed a market for extremely large smartphones and the Note II is basically a giant middle finger to its critics since with a gargantuan 5.5-inch display that is even larger than the original Note’s 5.3-inch display.
Next up was the Galaxy Camera, which is isn’t a camera so much as a mini-tablet that just happens to have high-quality optics attached. In addition to its 21x zoom lens and a 16-megapixel BSI CMOS sensor, the Galaxy Camera features an absurd array of cutting-edge technology that puts most smartphones and tablets on the market to shame: a quad-core 1.4GHz processor, 8GB of internal storage, a 1,650 mAh battery and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. Again, this is a camera we’re talking about! A camera that somehow got Jelly Bean before many versions of Google’s (GOOG) own Galaxy Nexus did!
Oh, and if any PC makers thought that Samsung would be content with only conquering the Android smartphone market, they’re in for a rude awakening. Samsung unleashed Windows 8 computers and tablets of all shapes and sizes during its press event Wednesday, including the Series 5 and Series 7 Windows 8 tablets that feature 11.6-inch displays and come with optional keyboard docks and styluses; the 10.1-inch ATIV Tab, a Windows RT tablet that Samsung pledges will “make everyone’s life extraordinary with excitement;” and the Series 5 Ultra, a Windows 8 ultrabook that features a 13-inch touchscreen.
There was even a Windows Phone 8 handset unveiled on Wednesday — apparently Samsung’s and Bernstein Research have a difference of opinion.
Despite being pushed around by Apple during the companies’ ongoing patent war, Samsung is not some scrappy underdog company. It has an enormous budget that it will plow into developing and marketing quality tech products, and it will keep tossing those products out on the market at a rate that other device manufacturers can only dream of. Like it or not, Samsung’s well of life-affirming, mind-expanding, creativity-enhancing magical devices will not run dry anytime soon.
