Since the last news of a Samsung store in Sydney, things have come a long way. This evening, Ausdroid attended the Samsung Experience Store launch event in Sydney, along with representatives of various other media outlets, and lets just say, it looks like a great idea, well executed, and it will no doubt increase Samsung’s already growing market reach.
Set out around the store at 450 George St, Sydney are various spaces, containing a pretty full set of Samsung’s devices – Galaxy S IIIs and Galaxy Notes were everywhere, Galaxy Tabs in various shapes and sizes, and even the Galaxy Note 10.1, which is due to launch tomorrow!
The displays had outright prices for all the devices on offer, and through deals reached with the major carriers, customers can get the latest Samsung gear and sign up to a Telstra, Optus or Vodafone plan in store – neat!
The formalities on the night included a bit of a speech by Tyler McGee, Samsung’s head of mobile, during which he mentioned highlights like Samsung having sold more than 10 million Galaxy S IIIs since launch. Tyler also told us how the Experience Store was all about demonstrating linkages between smart devices – for example, viewing tablet content on Smart TVs, and using a Galaxy S III as a remote viewfinder for Samsung’s SMART Camera WB150F. All this was rather impressive.
Tyler also made reference to some of Samsung’s newer devices, including the recently available Galaxy Beam which can project imagery up to a 50″ size – that’s pretty impressive for a mobile phone!
Tyler referred to the layout of the store – it’s really conducive to getting in and experiencing the technology. There are specific zones for children (and the young at heart), those who enjoy gaming and media consumption. Of course, there’s more than just mobile technology on offer – a range of Samsung SMART televisions and Bluray players are also on display, as well as a number of accessories for Samsung’s product range.
Before cutting into the giant Galaxy cake, Tyler made a surprise (though, it was widely anticipated) announcement that the Galaxy Note 10.1 would be available from 8am tomorrow from the Experience Store, and from retail partners JB HiFi and Harvey Norman from week’s end, starting at $589 for the 16gb WiFi model. Other sizes, and models sporting 3G will also be available very soon.
Just some of the photos I captured on the night.
It’s easy to draw a few parallels between this store, and the Apple store just up the road. Staff wear blue shirts, and are described as product experts, and not surprisingly, the term genius isn’t used… and thank goodness for that. The store is bright and well laid out, although it is a good deal smaller than the Apple store, and a lot less pretentious as well.
We think Sydney will like this store, and it’s in a great location – Samsung have been very, very clever in setting this up, no doubt.
Awesome store.. Smart tutors are actually smart.. They helped me with myGS3
I went and checked it out last night. staff were great, one of them fixed an issue I was having with naviagation on gs2. the note 10.1 looked interesting but it takes a while to really see how they have tweaked the interface. I was really impressed with the galaxy ace line, nice looking/clean phone. interestingly I had “allphones” printed on my eftpos receipt. I would have expected “samsung” who owns the store??
Melbourne??
I haven’t been the Burwood Westfield in a few years but there used to be a Samsung store there devoted solely to Samsung products. TV’s and White goods etc. Not sure if it was just some guy who really liked selling Samsung though…
Is it sales only, or technical support as well?
I’m fairly sure – but not certain – that it’s predominantly sales, but the staff there are pretty damned cluey, so I’d be surprised if there’s not some form of support available as well.
This is actually an experience store, customers will have the opportunity to play with the technology, all the display units are live. Also, there are Smart Tutors for those customers needing technical support, troubleshooting or assistance setting up their devices.
hum looks about the same as a good number of Samsung stores I’ve been to overseas though a good start, the one overseas took years to evolve to that.
Probably when the number in Australia increases you’ll see some with white goods etc. as well XD
I hope South East Queensland eventually gets a Samsung Experience Store.