With an aim to take its success in the consumer space into the business frontier, Samsung India has set up a separate enterprise business division. It is expected to help enterprises improve their productivity and their efficiency

Tablets and high-end touch-screen devices are not only toys of high-flying professionals and the tech savvy. Soon enough, these mobile computing devices could, at least, partially, replace conventional educational aids. While parents usually may be a little wary of handing down the latest gadgets to their little ones, they might soon be very much a part of their school curriculum. Education is seeing a paradigm shift with technology taking a forefront.

Smart School solution by Samsung is one such new learning experience, courtesy the new, faster face of innovative technology. It claims to provide better teacher-student interaction, more efficient communications and improved classroom management. Launched in around 26 schools in the UAE, the solution has been incorporated in many schools in the US and a few European countries. So far, in India, Samsung has piloted its Smart School technology in just one school in Bangalore. It is expected to roll out this solution in more schools in the near future.

Smart School is one of the many solutions provided by Samsung India as part of the separate enterprise business division created by the company, aiming to take its success in the consumer space into the business frontier. Through this, Samsung India is looking for 10% revenue contribution in 2013, and by 2020, it expects business-to-business (B2B) to represent 23% of its total global revenue.

With the enterprise business division, the South Korean consumer electronics giant will aim to bring smart solutions to enterprises to help them improve their productivity and their efficiency, with solutions that can be customised according to different industry needs. It will focus on product segments like retail, education, healthcare, pharma, BFSI, transport and hospitality.

?Earlier the existing businesses would do enterprise sales, but not anymore. We have formed a separate division and will focus on many verticals for the first time to become a significant player in this space,? said Uday Bhat, director-IT, Samsung India.

Speaking at the Samsung Forum 2013, held in Hyderabad recently, he said, ?Over the last five quarters, we have been building the enterprise division. The ecosystem for enterprise business has become available from January this year. For the first time, it is a separate entity though it actually cuts across all our existing verticals for offering hardware, software, solutions and other solutions.?

Samsung Knox, which was first announced at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last month, was also unveiled at the Forum. Knox is a mobile enterprise solution that provides security for both work and play. For enterprises, Knox will provide comprehensive security and protect confidentiality of enterprise data. For consumers, it will provide security of personal data while keeping it separate from enterprise data. Along with Knox, the company also introduced STEP or Samsung Technology Enterprise Program to empower its partners to both sell and service Samsung?s enterprise solutions.

Samsung, which sells more mobile phones than any other company, was the star performer in 2012, extending its lead over Apple and Nokia. Said BD Park, president and CEO, Samsung Southwest Asia, ?In 2012, Samsung achieved sales of $200 billion. In Southwest Asia, the company tripled its growth rate over the past three years and achieved more than 35% sales growth in 2012.? He added, ?It also retained its number one position in categories like flat panel TV, smartphones, tablets and colour monitors.?

The Forum saw the launch of new products like the F8000 LED TV, the first Samsung television to feature a quad-core processor; the 85S9, the 85-inch Ultra High Definition TV (UHD TV); the revolutionary Evolution Kit?by simply adding the Evolution Kit to a Samsung Smart TV, users can have immediate access to the newest Samsung Smart TV offerings; Samsung refrigerator (RT42); Galaxy Note 510, among others.

While Samsung maybe on top of the industry, the finance minister P Chidamabaram?s Budget proposal seemed to have a cast a shadow over the growing trend of consumers shifting towards smartphones. The segment will attract 6% custom duty for all phones above R2,000. ?Such a tax increase will have an implication on pricing. We will try on our part to see how to soften the blow for the consumer and see how not to pass on the entire burden, because the burden is significant,? said Asim Warsi, vice-president, Samsung Mobile India.

Warsi said the hike is not desirable as the country?s mobile phone market is passing through an up-gradation cycle. ?Specifically if you look at the upgrade cycle that the country is poised for, towards smartphone, which necessary does not come at bottom of the end of price. They are in the middle or higher. So it is for sure is going to put a bit of a check on upgrade cycle.?