Samsung will get hardware-software balance right

SINGAPORE--Samsung Electronics will not flounder because of its lack of software focus in the past, and its recent impetus in developing and partnering other software vendors to bolster its competency in this area means it will soon strike a good balance between both to stay competitive and successful.

That was the opinion of Hwang Chang-gyu, national CTO of the South Korean government, who was in town to participate in a panel discussion Wednesday organized by the National University of Singapore Business School.

Hwang, previously the CTO of Samsung between 2008 and 2010 among other positions, pointed out the South Korean giant is already a global leader in terms of manufacturing consumer electronics, mobile devices as well as component parts such as display screens, processors and memory chips.

Explaining why, he said: "Software cannot stand alone." As good an application may be, it still needs to run on a good piece of hardware for optimal performance and user experience, he added.

It is now turning a perceived weakness into a strength by making software a key focus going forward, the official said. Acquiring mobile software companies to provide digital content for its Galaxy-branded smartphones and tablets is one way the company is looking to achieve software parity with rivals such as Google and Apple.

Thus, the company's challenge and goal will be to find the right balance between hardware and software innovations to keep it at the forefront of the mobile industry, Hwang said.

IT fuels 'smartopia'
Hwang also touched on how IT is creating "smartopia", an era defined as humans being at the center of all technology and how people's lives and lifestyles will be improved and enhanced. Cloud computing, big data, artificial intelligence and IT convergence will be the four underlying elements for such a future, he said.

Elaborating, he said smartopia will be the fourth revolutionary stage since the inception of the modern world, following after the Industrial, PC and the ongoing mobile revolutions. There will be the rise of more applications, innovations and collaboration between governments during this stage of society's evolution, the CTO stated.