Harman House and Samsung have revealed the launch of the ‘Samsung Harman-Smart Academy,’ a first of its kind global concept that looks towards educating consumers on the complete functionalities of their Smart TV’s and home theater systems through more outstanding audio-visual hands-on learning and experience.
According to the announcement, ‘harman house’ is the only retailer to offer this unique service, which caters to the consumer electronics segment in the UAE. The launch complements continuing increase in sales of Smart TV’s and home theater systems in the Middle East in general and the UAE in particular.
According to the company’s senior executives, the Samsung Harman-Smart Academy will give customers the advantage of learning how to optimise and customise settings of their TV and audio systems; distinguish the difference between various home theater systems (i.e. 5.1, 2.1, 7.1, sound bars and AVRs) and the different kind of speaker outputs. The new concept will also allow customers to experience the new range of Samsung Smart TV units and its new offerings.
“These are truly vibrant times for the UAE’s consumer electronics market, which ably serves around two billion people from the Middle East and key parts of Asia. With this in mind, both Samsung and Harman have become innovators in introducing ground breaking tech savvy TV’s and audio systems,” said Amit Malani, president, Harman Middle East. “Despite the large volume of sales recorded for these new AV systems, many consumers still do not fully understand the key features offered by the units they have purchased. Many retailers speak about providing service to their customers but there is no retailer in the UAE who can give a dedicated space and personally give consumers a hands-on learning experience. Looking to address this, we have launched the Samsung Harman-Smart Academy, which aims at teaching users on how to use their Smart TV’s and home theater systems and afford them a more outstanding viewing and listening experience.”
According to recent industry reports, the country’s audio-video (AV) segment has been predicted to grow by 6% and reach a total value of over $1.6 billion in the next three years. The UAE is currently listed as the region’s largest consumer electronics segment, accounting for over 40% of total regional spending.
Reports have also forecasted that the total sales of AV and gaming devices in the UAE are likely to increase by 26% from the estimated value of $1.256 billion in 2011 to $1.583 billion in 2015. Also, home theatre appliances sales revenue is estimated to jump by 27%. LCD TV sets are projected to increase from 771,000 units in 2011 to 1,650,000 in 2015 while LED TV sales in UAE have witnessed remarkable growth in the recent years, with projections that the demand will more than double in the next five years.
“Consumers today have demonstrated a new found wisdom of learning more about the consumer products they want before making a purchase decision. For LCD and LED TV sets, the demand is for units that offer key connectivity and high clarity. With the ‘Samsung Harman-Smart Academy.’ we aim to live up to our commitment of extending assistance to customers even after the purchase has already been made,” concluded Malani.
