Vodafone
804SS

The 804SS, or Z540 as it was known internationally, was important device for Samsung in its efforts to enter the Japanese market with Vodafone. At just 14.8mm thick it was one of the slimmest flip phones of its time and an ideal product to try and get a foothold with Vodafone in Japan. It had a bright 2.3” QVGA screen, but the camera was a mere 1.3 megapixels and therefore rather underwhelming for 2006. Furthermore, the phone had no external memory but instead came with 140MB, built in. Whilst that was above average for onboard memory at the time, it didn’t scream ‘multimedia talent’ which was hinted at by to the music controls on the outside of the phone. Given its memory constraints and the ability to store just 40-50 songs, it fell short as an MP3 player. However, it should be remembered that this was Samsung’s first attempt at cracking the Japanese market. The Z540 was never designed for Japan, and the 804SS could only offer a few tweaks at a software level. In the end, it was a great start for the Korean consumer electronics giant and in time its share in Japan would grow dramatically. Information courtesy of Christian Legere, the author of The Flipside Story.