Samsung

Remember that thing Samsung was meant to be doing at Phones4U on Oxford Street, London on March 30? Shockingly, it turns out it's not a Galaxy S III launch event, but instead the opening of a store within a store at the leading branch. What this means, according to Samsung, is that a large portion of the store will be dedicated to all things Samsung, with the latest phones and tablets on show, and "play areas" for prospective customers to try them out.

Samsung already operates "Samsung Digital Plaza" locations in South Korea, but this is the first we've heard of the manufacturer getting more involved in the retail world outside of its home turf. We're not expecting any new products to show up at Phones4U tomorrow. But the store's prime location in central London, combined with the new Samsung partnership, may make it an ideal spot for showing off upcoming Samsung phones in the future

We've got Samsung's press release after the break.

SAMSUNG AND PHONES 4U LAUNCH NEW ‘STORE WITHIN A STORE’
 
29th March 2012, London, UK – Samsung Mobile and Phones 4u have today announced the opening of a new Samsung branded store within a Phones 4u store, in the heart of Central London. The store, which is located at 112-114 Oxford Street, will officially open to the public tomorrow, Friday 30th March, and will feature the widest range of live Samsung handsets available for demonstration anywhere in the UK.
 
The mezzanine area and a large portion of the ground floor at the Oxford Street store will be dedicated to Samsung. Customers and fans of the brand will have the chance to try out and buy products from across the range of high end Samsung smartphones and tablets. Three play tables will be placed on the floor containing Samsung hero products such as the Galaxy Note and the Galaxy Tab series.
 
Within the Samsung dedicated area, demonstrations of product convergence will take place, as this becomes ever more important to customers who want their mobile phone to act as the remote control to their lives. The demonstrations will be run by a Phones 4u retail team extensively trained on, and passionate about, all Samsung products. 
 
Customers will have a chance to see future technology first-hand via a 32” TV which will showcase Samsung’s AllShare technology, which allows the sharing of content wirelessly between devices including phones, tablets, TVs, and cameras. Three large bays on the walls will display Samsung’s entire range of contract handsets and prepay handsets – all of which will be live – and an extended range of accessories.  As well as showcasing the latest and most technologically advanced products, the store will be used as a venue for launches and celebrity personal appearances in the future.
 
Simon Stanford, Vice President, UK & IRE Telecommunications & Networks Division, Samsung said: “We’re extremely excited to be working with Phones 4u to open this ‘store within a store’ in the heart of London. As well as being able to buy products, we want the store to be an immersive and enjoyable experience for our customers.”
 
John Welsh, Retail Development Director at Phones 4u comments: “This partnership between Samsung and Phones 4u combines expertise, reputation and product innovation, and we’re excited to be bringing our customers an interactive and customer focused Samsung experience at our flagship store in Oxford Street. We have a strong history of successfully launching and selling Samsung Galaxy devices, which continue to be popular amongst our customers, and this makes us the perfect partner for this commercial adventure with Samsung.  It reinforces that not only do we now offer the widest range of live Samsung handsets in the UK, our retail teams are the Samsung product experts on the high street.”