This photo provided by Samsung Electronics Co. on Tuesday, shows Eamonn Grant (L), head of online at Samsung Ireland, and Alan Hicks, chief technology officer of Irish drone service firm Manna. (Samsung Electronics Co.)
Samsung Electronics Co. on Wednesday said it will offer a drone delivery service to its Galaxy device buyers in Ireland under a partnership with Irish drone startup Manna.
The service will be first available to customers in Oranmore, some 200 kilometers west of Dublin, but the two sides said they plan to expand the drone service nationwide in the future.
"The new service, which is a first for Samsung globally, will facilitate an end-to-end contactless experience for Samsung customers from their initial online order through the company's Irish eStore, right through to fulfillment," Samsung said.
Manna will use "custom-developed aerospace grade drones" to deliver Samsung's Galaxy mobile devices to customers. Its drones can fly at an altitude of 50-80 meters with a speed of over 60 kph, which allows the delivery of products to customers in Oranmore within three minutes, according to Samsung.
Before Samsung, Manna has been working with Tesco and other local businesses to deliver groceries, books and pharmacy items, to residents in the area.
"Superior customer experience is at the heart of what we do and with this new service we are embracing what we believe will be the future of retail," said Eamonn Grant, head of online for Samsung Ireland. "In the current environment, there is no better time to provide a contactless alternative to 'click and collect,' and we are really thrilled to be partnering with Manna to achieve this." (Yonhap)