Hisense SA Adds SportsCast as a FAST-channel to its VIDAA Line-up

by Thinus Ferreira

While Samsung has failed to launch its built-in FAST (Free-Ad Supporting Streaming TV) platform, Samsung TV Plus in South Africa, which is a very bad and a massive drawback for its Smart TVs sold locally, rival Hisense has a great existing FAST service that continues to grow and has now added SportsCast Africa as a sports channel.

Samsung Smart TVs in South Africa don't have its Samsung TV Plus FAST service, but Hisense South Africa has VIDAA that continues to expand and has now added SportsCast Africa on channel 5208.

SportsCast Africa is a 24/7 linear sports TV channel for sub-Saharan audiences with continental and global sports news, highlights and live events.

It is distributed free of charge across FAST platforms and combines a fixed daily schedule of recurring sports strips with live event coverage.

SportsCast Africa, operated by Broadsmart, is already available and accessible on the South African public broadcaster's SABC+ platform as its own streaming feed, and is now on Hisense TVs too.

SportsCast Africa's schedule covers African and international football, motorsport, basketball, rugby, tennis and multi-sport action.

It is aggregated within daily shows like Football Daily, Soccer Highlights and SportsWrap for football fans, Pole Position for motorsport, Slam Dunk for basketball and Cross Court for tennis. Some live matches are also shown from time to time.

"Partnering with Hisense, a market leader in the region and a brand that takes a genuinely innovative approach to working with content providers, puts SportsCast Africa where African sports fans already are," says Yokow Quansah, managing director at Broadsmart.

"Our promise is simple: great sport, whenever and wherever you want it, free and with nothing to install. This is a meaningful step in building a genuinely free sports service for African viewers."

Luna Nortje, Hisense SA deputy general manager, says customers who support Hisense "can enjoy the sport they love without paying extra for it".

Created from sapphire materials Samsung SA unveils its new borderless Micro LED TV with a 'wow'-factor that comes with a price tag of R1.4 to R3 million.

by Thinus Ferreira

Created from sapphire materials, "borderless", and available in screen sizes from 76 to 126 inches, Samsung Electronics' new Micro LED TV now on sale in South Africa comes with a "wow"-factor that has a "wow"-price as well: Anything from between R1.4 to R3 million.

Samsung South Africa says that its latest Micro LED TV representing the "pinnacle of display technology" is now on sale in the country, boasting the latest advancements in picture quality, sound technology and smart features.

With a price tag of between R1.4 million and up to R3 million, Samsung SA says that the Micro LED TV again elevates "reality with lifelike images, immersive sound and hyper-personalised experiences".

Samsung SA says the Micro LED TV with 25 million micrometer-sized LEDs delivers "a front-row experience that feels like you're sitting in a movie theatre or a concert hall".

"Samsung understands that TV entertainment is more exciting when it's involving and more cinematic and the Micro LED TV heeds that call in exceptional fashion," says Samsung SA.

"With its innovative take on what's possible, it stretches viewing possibilities to grander levels," says Mike van Lier, vice president of consumer electronics at Samsung.

"The Micro LED TV demonstrates the potential of ultra-premium home screen products for Samsung and shows not only the tech leadership but the company's bold approach to creating products."

"Ultimately it is all for our customers and those who get to have the pleasure of witnessing this level of TV will attest to its majestic viewing experience and how it suits their lifestyle."

Samsung's Micro LED TV is available in size formats 126″, 114″, 110″, 89″ and 76″ and supports 20-bit greyscale depth.

It also expresses 100% of DCI and Adobe RGB colour gamut, which Samsung SA says "results in stunning, lifelike colours".

Samsung says the TV set's "Art Mode" allows consumers to turn any room into an art gallery making it possible to select and display artwork or digital photography.

"Multi View" lets users view content from four different sources simultaneously – from any or all of the four HDMI ports – in 4K resolution at up to 120fps. The set also has Dolby Atmos for a premier audio experience, with top, side and bottom channel speakers.

Samsung SA silent on how KwaZulu-Natal flooding has impacted it business.

by Thinus Ferreira

Samsung South Africa has been silent and hasn't responded with answers to a media query on how the recent devastating flooding in the country's KwaZulu-Natal province impacted it business, distribution and warehousing there as well as nationally, or what the company has been doing to help customers and minimise the impact.

Earlier this month South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal province experienced extremely heavy rainfall that led to disastrous flooding and the loss of hundreds of lives. With a growing humanitarian disaster, billions of rand of damage were caused to infrastructure and property, including the Durban port and cargo containers.

Samsung SA was asked in a media query last month, similar to competitors like LG South Africa, what impact Samsung SA experienced to its business in South Africa, and in KwaZulu-Natal due to the flooding.

On 20 April TVwithThinus asked Cheil, repping Samsung SA, if it could please say what the damage has been to its warehousing facilities in KwaZulu/Natal due to the rain and flooding in that province, if there were loss of production, distribution interruption, work and disruption due to loss of staff unable to get to work.

Samsung South Africa was also asked through Cheil for comment on what Samsung SA has been doing to minimise or help lessen the impact on its business in KwaZulu-Natal or to help customers.

Samsung SA failed to respond to any of the questions with no answers forthcoming from Cheil the past two weeks.

In July 2021 Samsung South Africa saw its biggest warehouse in Cato Ridge, Durban and service centres in the KwaZulu-Natal province looted and destroyed by fire during weeks of civil unrest in South Africa.

ALSO READ: KZN flooding: LG Electronics SA says it's working hard to prevent delivery disruption of LG products to retail and South African consumers.

ALSO READ: South Africa's KZN flooding disaster: How flooded sets paused production and pushed out filming on Uzalo, Durban Gen, Imbewu and a movie.

Sales of TV sets in South Africa have plunged after July's mass looting of thousands of televisions in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.

by Thinus Ferreira

The sales of TV sets in South Africa have plunged in July and August after the shocking mass looting of thousands of TV sets from shops and warehouses during the rampant looting that continued for days in parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.

Brazen looters made off with TV sets and others goods from warehouses used by Samsung South Africa,  as well as LG Electronics and others which also had their warehouses torched and burnt down; while looters also ransacked multiple shops and shopping mall stores.

According to a GfK Lighthouse market study, sales of TV sets, fridges and washing machines in South Africa fell during August compared to point-of-sale data benchmarked against the weekly sales of certain consumer goods during the first half of 2021.

Nicolet Pienaar, GfK South Africa's head of market insights, says that "While KwaZulu-Natal is seeing encouraging recovery in sales of IT and telecoms products - perhaps due to consumers wanting to keep safe and stay home - we're seeing countrywide week-on-week declines in fridge, televisions and washing machine sales".

"This is the direct result of the destruction of key manufacturing facilities as well as the ransacking of inventory from warehouses in KwaZulu-Natal, compounding existing component and product shortages due to Covid-19."

KwaZulu and Gauteng were severely underperforming in sales of certain products like TV sets compared to South Africa's other provinces.

TV set sales in South Africa showed a week-on-week decline of 11 points, and KwaZulu-Natal was 21 index points behind the average week.

Samsung South Africa has since activated its "TV Block" feature to render looted smart TV sets unusable once connected to the internet.

ALSO READ: Samsung South Africa's biggest warehouse in Durban and several of its service centres in KZN looted and destroyed after building is set alight by criminals.

ALSO READ: LG Electronics South Africa's warehouse and factory in Durban looted and destroyed after building is set alight by criminals.

ALSO READ: Samsung South Africa activates TV Block function to render all TV sets useless that were looted and stolen in July.

Samsung South Africa activates TV Block function to render all TV sets useless that were looted and stolen in July.

by Thinus Ferreira

Samsung South Africa has announced that it has activated a TV Block Function on all Samsung TV sets stolen during the looting, violence and unrest in parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng during July that saw TV sets stolen from Samsung warehouses.

Samsung has activated TV Block on all Samsung television sets looted from its Cato Ridge distribution centre in KwaZulu-Natal since 11 July.

Samsung's television block technology is already pre-loaded on all Samsung TV products and the company says that all sets taken unlawfully and stolen from Samsung warehouses are being blocked, rendering them useless.

TV Block is a remote, security solution that detects if Samsung TV units have been unduly activated, and ensures that the television sets can only be used by the rightful owners with a valid proof of purchase.

Samsung SA says that the aim of the technology is to mitigate against the creation of secondary markets linked to the sale of illegal goods, both in South Africa and beyond its borders.

"In keeping with our values to leverage the power of technology to resolve societal challenges, we will continuously develop and expand strategic products in our consumer electronics division with defence-grade security, purpose-built, with innovative and intuitive business tools designed for a new world," says Mike Van Lier, director of consumer electronics at Samsung South Africa.

"This technology can have a positive impact at this time, and will also be of use to both the industry and customers in the future."

Samsung Television Block works as follows: A TV blocking system has been activated on Samsung television sets stolen from its warehouse and the blocking comes into effect when the user of a stolen television connects to the internet, in order to operate the television.

Once connected, the serial number of the television is identified on the Samsung server and the blocking system is implemented, disabling all the television functions.

Samsung SA says that should a customer's TV be incorrectly blocked, the functionality can be reinstated once proof of purchase and a valid TV license is shared to serv.manager@samsung.com .

"As an organisation we acknowledge the critical role in giving our customers and clients the peace of mind. Working together, we can overcome the impact of the unprecedented disruption to business, as experienced by many of us recently. We will continue to review the situation and will make adjustments as necessary to ensure business continuity for all," says Mike van Lier.

ALSO READ: Samsung South Africa's biggest warehouse in Durban and several of its service centres in KZN looted and destroyed after building is set alight by criminals.

Samsung South Africa's biggest warehouse in Durban and several of its service centres in KZN looted and destroyed after building is set alight by criminals.

by Thinus Ferreira

A Value Logistics warehouse used by Samsung South Africa in Cato Ridge for distribution of TV sets was looted, then set alight and burned down by criminals, with several Samsung service centres across KwaZulu-Natal that have been destroyed as part of the ongoing unrest in the country.

Justin Hume, Samsung SA director of integrated mobility, said that the looting and destruction of the warehouse and distribution centre will lead to potential disruptions in the supply chain of appliances like refrigerators, as well as its ability to help customers at service centres.

Social media was filled with shocking videos showing looters ransacking the warehouse as criminals ran off with Samsung TV sets and other Samsung appliances kept at the Value Logistics warehouse.

ALSO READ: LG Electronics South Africa's warehouse and factory in Durban looted and destroyed after building is set alight by criminals.

ALSO READ: Telkom has closed all South African stores indefinitely after after violence and looting in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.

ALSO READ: MultiChoice shutters its main MultiChoice City campus in Randburg, closes walk-in service centres in KZN and Gauteng as a precaution following unrest.