Unveiling a New Era of Home Entertainment in Southeast Asia and Oceania – Samsung Newsroom Malaysia

By CU Kim, President & CEO, Samsung Electronics Southeast Asia & Oceania

At The First Look during CES 2026, we moved beyond the traditional roadmap of hardware iterations to unveil a broader strategic vision: “Your Companion to AI Living.” This vision combines both hardware and visual intelligence to deliver an entertainment experience across our TVs, monitors and audio ecosystem that anticipates users’ needs and preferences in how they consume their preferred entertainment.

As the world’s leading TV brand for 19 consecutive years[1], we recognize that our leadership is no longer defined solely by the screens we produce, but by how effectively we integrate them into the lives of our consumers.

In the Southeast Asia and Oceania (SEAO) region, this shift is particularly critical. According to the latest e-Conomy SEA report by Google, Temasek, and Bain & Company, consumer interest in AI in Southeast Asia is three times the global average[2]. This heightened receptivity to innovation informs our 2026 strategy, driving a push towards a proactive, multi-agent experience.

From Tactical Usage to Intuitive Environments

With the rapid maturation of the digital economy across the SEAO region, our 2025 TV Awareness Study[3] show that 88% of consumers in SEAO now use a smart TV as their primary screen. This tells us that modern consumers are no longer looking for a passive display device, they want an intelligent Entertainment Companion: a device that understands context.

As daily life becomes increasingly complex, the value proposition of technology must shift from manual utility to proactive assistance. At the core is Vision AI Companion (VAC), designed to make television more intuitive, conversational and personalized. Simply ask a question while you’re watching the TV—about a film, a sports event, or even travel suggestions. Vision AI Companion delivers answers instantly, accompanied by helpful visuals and related content. Alongside SmartThings as the underlying architecture, the screen becomes a central command hub, orchestrating the home from climate control to household management. This is technology that simplifies life rather than adding to its cognitive load.

Defining the Premium Experience: Sight and Sound

The bar for home cinema has shifted towards premium, ultra-large screen experiences that demand zero compromise. In SEAO, 68% of consumers prioritize high-end, cinematic experiences at home 3. We are meeting this demand by scaling our ultra-large screen offerings and introducing the world’s first 130-inch Micro RGB TV (R95H model), marking a big step in display innovation and revolutionizing picture quality. The core LED light source is redesigned and re-engineered, delivering exceptional color performance on top of great brightness and contrast.

True immersion is a multi-sensory business. We pair our display expertise with 11 years of audio excellence to transform the home audio experience, creating a unified acoustic environment. In 2026, Q-Symphony evolves TVs and speakers into an adaptive ecosystem that intelligently optimizes sound based on each room’s unique layout.

This intelligence extends beyond entertainment to the battle station for gamers. Leading the Odyssey gaming monitor lineup is the 32-inch Odyssey 3D (G90XH model), the world’s first 6K glasses-free 3D gaming monitor that pushes the boundaries of resolution and refresh rates, ensuring a visual experience that is as seamless as it is immersive.

Elevating Home Expression Through Art and Content

Technology is most impactful when it enhances how we live and what we watch. In today’s vibrant and diverse consumer landscape, the visual display is not only a source of entertainment, but also a canvas for personal expression, supported by a growing ecosystem of content that enriches the home experience.

This year, we are bridging the gap between premium technology and home aesthetics through The Frame Pro. By utilizing advanced glare-free display technology^[4] and access to curated art via the Samsung Art Store^[5], the screen complements a room’s atmosphere rather than dominating it. It enables users to showcase their heritage and tastes, transforming a high-performance device into a centrepiece of artistic expression.

Samsung TV Plus, our free ad-supported streaming (FAST) service, has also surpassed 100 million monthly active users (MAU) in 30 countries worldwide, marking a 12 million increase in users since October 2024, further redefining entertainment for consumers with Samsung TVs leading the global TV market.

Inspiring the Next Two Decades of Innovation

At Samsung, our commitment is to ensure that technology is no longer something you must learn, but something that understands you. Through “Your Companion to AI Living,” we are evolving the visual display from the centre of the room to the heart of the home.

We are not just selling hardware; we are building the infrastructure for a more intuitive way of living. By aligning our global innovation with the unique digital appetite of the SEAO region, we are ensuring that the next era of home entertainment isn’t just about better pixels, but about being a better companion in your daily life.