Samsung Galaxy S6 Unleashes Gold Fever

Unprecedented demand blew away even the most optimistic of forecasts for the Company.

Golden Years

Historically, gold has been both in vogue and obsolete. However, it wasn't until the 1980s, an era known for hoop earrings, heavy gold necklaces and powerful shoulder pads, that gold really had its chance to shine.

Today, after more than two decades in the shadow of other colors, there are several indicators that gold may once again reign supreme. Among them is the growing presence of gold jewelry on international catwalks and the red carpets that the rich and famous frequent, as well as the resurgence of gold rings in weddings and golden makeup. Even gold teeth have made a comeback, with celebrities like Madonna, Rihanna and Miley Cyrus being photographed in recent months wearing their golden "Grillz", a jewel for teeth popularized by hip hop stars in the '90s.

The psychology of color

Samsung latest smartphones come in five different colors including emerald, blue topaz, white pearl, black sapphire and platinum gold. Psyscologist Donna Dawson, famous for her personality and behavioral studies, explains the psychological drivers behind each color choice.

Platinum Gold

"People who choose the color gold strive for prosperity, economic success and general welfare. They tend to be lovers of luxury, enjoying the finer things in life, and treating themselves whenever possible (sometimes even if it's not). They are sociable, warm people that enjoy the company of others. They often have a strong intuition. Facing challenges and 'winning' is important to them, but they are generous with their friends and family when they reach success. Gold is on the 'hot' end of the color spectrum and is a warmer version of yellow, so it collects its idealism and optimism from the underlying yellow. The color gold shines, illuminates and even seems to give off heat like sunshine, or the glistening of gold nuggets. Sunlight is essential to physical survival and gold metal is essential to our economic success. So there's something instinctive in human beings that pushes them to look for gold. Of all the colors, yellow (and by extension, gold) attracts the human eye like no other. It's therefore considered the 'biggest' color. This is because in broad daylight, yellow is the most visible point in the color spectrum: the eye focuses on it clearly, without distortion, and it is only slightly refracted by the eyes' lenses."

Emerald Green

"People who choose green tend to be balanced, loyal, hardworking, honest, benevolent and concerned about others. They tend (or aspire) to be good citizens with a taste for simplicity and a highly developed moral sense. Green also represents a new life and a new beginning, therefore inspiring hope, vitality and renewed energy in people. It also conveys friendship and connection with others, despite the fact that it's unobtrusively considered a 'cold' color like blue. Since it is the color of dollar bills, green can also transmit a feeling of economic success. Green can also help reduce anxiety, which is why people who are stressed out always look for a moment of peace in nature. This shade of green (emerald) reinforces the general attraction to everything green because of its depth and shine."

Topaz Blue

"People who choose topaz blue as their favorite Samsung color are sure of themselves, demanding, precise, sensitive, incisive and insightful. These people really need to be loved and they crave personal safety. The 'brilliance' of the color will attract people who are already sure of themselves."

White Pearl

"People who chose white as their favorite color tend to be extroverted. Since white contains all other colors, it, alongside black, is the other color of nature's duality. It can represent wisdom, honesty and purity, but also nerve, openness and overconfidence. The symbolic 'innocence' of white has been replaced in today's world by the status recognized by owning something white (suggesting you are rich because you can afford this 'clean' color). After yellow, white is the second biggest color seen by the human eye."

Black Sapphire

"The color black is technically not a color, but a representation of 'the absence of light'. Since we can feel 'nothing' in black, this color becomes a symbol of all that is hidden, veiled, uncertain or unknown. The black represents the end as much as it does the beginning of things (assuming that the world arose from chaos, so all colors are supposedly derived from black). This makes black, like white, a color with double meaning. Both historically and culturally, black has been associated with aggression and has always been the color chosen by the lonely, the rebel or the 'outsider'. Therefore, the person who chooses black as their favorite color strives to be recognized for their individualism, independence and ability to stand out from the crowd, they like to play their own cards and be a leader.They also insinuate their potential and sexual attractiveness, as well as their dark side."

Five things you didn't know about gold

• 1  There's genuine gold inside almost all smartphones, used for wiring microchips.
• 2     A ton of old phones (weighed without batteries) can hold up to 300g of gold.
• 3    Gold is edible (the Samsung Galaxy S6 in gold platinum is not).
• 4    Most of the gold on Earth comes from a meteor shower that took place 200 million years ago.
• 5    About 7% of gold production in the world is used to make electronic devices.

About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

​Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. inspires the world and shapes the future with transformative ideas and technologies, redefining the worlds of TVs, smartphones, wearable devices, tablets, cameras, digital appliances, printers, medical equipment, network systems and semiconductors and LED solutions. We are also leading in the Internet of Things space through, among others, Smart Home and Digital Health initiatives. We employ 307,000 people across 84 countries with annual sales of US $196 billion. To discover more, please visit our official website at www.samsung.com and our official blog at global.samsungtomorrow.com.