At Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked event in Paris, Dr. Hon Pak, Senior Vice President at Samsung Electronics and Head of the Digital Health Team, unveiled the company's ambitious plans for the Indian healthcare market during a round table interaction with Businessworld. Samsung has announced the launch of its new Galaxy Ring in the US for $299, while the Indian launch date remains unconfirmed.
Samsung has indicated that the Galaxy Ring will be launching in India later this year, as its teams are still optimising the product for the Indian market. "The Indian market is highly important for us," Dr Pak stated, announcing plans to develop India-specific capabilities for their health features.
While specific details about the extent of development in India were not provided, Dr Pak highlighted Samsung's significant presence in the country. He revealed that engineers working out of its Noida facility are developing its digital health products. "We had about 200 people, young, bright people in India, working on health specifically," he added.
Although Samsung has chosen not to implement a subscription model for its current health features, Dr Pak left the door open for adopting a subscription format for next-generation models of the Galaxy Ring. He explained the current approach: "We think that when we obviously tested ours, and others, and we believe that, given the features that we are currently providing, we think that should be free." Addressing pricing concerns in India, Dr Pak acknowledged, "We also know that there's a price sensitivity issue, so the Fit 3 is our answer to the smartwatches as an example, with slightly limited capabilities to meet that need."
The new Galaxy Ring, despite its compact size, incorporates advanced sensors for health tracking. A key feature is the "ages index", which measures advanced glycosylated end products (AGEs) in the skin. Dr Pak explained, "It is a glucose molecule that binds to the skin protein." This index correlates significantly with HbA1c levels, offering insights into long-term glucose control over a three to six-month window. While the ages index is not a direct glucose measurement, it represents a step towards non-invasive glucose monitoring. Dr Pak was cautious but optimistic about progress in this area, stating, "We're on that journey." He added, "The ages index is one small step towards that. Because we can't do that. Technologically, we can give you a score, that is a sugar molecule that binds with the protein in the skin that correlates with hemoglobin a1c."
Dr Pak emphasised the importance of regulatory approvals for certain health features. "Right now, we have certifications that we work through country by country for certain types of features. Like atrial fibrillation, ECG, IHRM, and sleep apnea, these are the features in which we go through our regulatory process, country by country to get their approvals for these things," he stated. For features that go beyond wellness and into the realm of screening or diagnosis, Samsung seeks FDA clearance in the US and similar approvals in other countries. Dr Pak added, "We hope to hopefully take it to the FDA for clearance at some point," referring to future health monitoring features.
Samsung emphasises a "better together" approach with its wearables, suggesting improved accuracy and continuous monitoring when multiple devices are used together. However, the wearables are currently only compatible with Android devices, meaning the Galaxy Ring, like the Galaxy Watch models, will be incompatible with Apple's iPhone. The company has taken steps to ensure the device works accurately for different skin tones, with Dr Pak stating, "When we do the testing, we do it with their variety of different skin pigments to make sure that it doesn't have equity issues in this regard."
Samsung is working to gain acceptance of its health data among medical professionals, with Dr Pak noting the importance of understanding healthcare provider workflows and personalising data presentation. As Samsung expands its health technology offerings, Dr Pak emphasised the importance of data security and user trust, especially in healthcare applications. The development of these new wearables presented technical challenges, with Dr Pak describing miniaturisation as a significant hurdle in creating the Galaxy Ring.
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