Samsung Reportedly Explores New Design, Codenamed ‘Design 3.0’; Can We Expect It With Galaxy S5 In 2014?

Samsung reportedly held a strategy meeting at the company’s headquarters in Seoul on Wednesday, focusing on a new design strategy with the code name “Design 3.0.”

The news came from The Korea Herald, which reported that the meeting was attended by high-level executives of the company, including co-chief executive officers Yoon Boo-Keun and Shin Jong-kyun. The meeting was held mainly to discuss the company’s plans to implement the new design on future products.

“During the conference, new ideas on current design trend in the electronics market and strategies were exchanged,” said Yoon, according to The Korea Herald. “Everyone at the meeting agreed that consumers should be able to identify Samsung products easily.”

The report stated that “Design 3.0” will focus not only on the external looks and technical aspects of Samsung’s new products, but will also deal with “creating positive values and connecting with consumers.”

So, which of Samsung's products might feature the new design?

SamMobile has reported that every mobile device from the company before Galaxy S3 come under Design 1.0, while Design 2.0 represents devices, including Galaxy S4, which were released after that. Therefore, the new design strategy could be used for devices that are set to be released next year and beyond, such as the Samsung Galaxy S5, which is expected to come out in 2014.

Although the news about “Design 3.0” could lead people to think that the company may come up with something completely new in 2014, Samsung has been known to disappoint.

The SamMobile report notes that Samsung was expected -- prior to the launch of Galaxy S4 -- to use high-quality materials to build the new smartphone. But that never happened as Samsung stuck to the same plastic frame.

A Forbes article, published last month, cited Dong-hoon Chang, executive vice president and head of the design strategy team at Samsung, as saying that the company’s Design Management Center declared “Design 3.0” in 2011. Since then, it has been strengthening service design functions to implement the new design strategy.

“Design 3.0 is a third-phase design strategy that is aimed at creating new and meaningful product-service experiential value and lifestyles for users, thereby going beyond exterior style and convenient use,” Chang said.