Kim Hyun-suk, center, vice president of Samsung Electronics Digital Media Business, talks about a 52-inch LCD TV set at the company’s technology headquarters in Suwon, southern Seoul, Sunday. The “Pavv Bordeaux 750” TV can play YouTube’s User-Created Contents on the screen.
/ Courtesy of Samsung Electronics |
By Kim Yoo-chul
Staff Reporter
SUWON, Gyeonggi Province ― Samsung Electronics plans to commercialize liquid crystal display (LCD) television sets, enabling users to watch YouTube’s User-Created Contents (UCCs) from late this month.
``We will introduce three flat screen TV sets ― two LCDs and a plasma display TV ― this month, making it possible to realize IPTV functions, as well as see YouTube’s UCCs on the 52-inch LCD set,’’ a Samsung spokesperson told The Korea Times at the company’s technology compound in southern Seoul, Sunday.
Despite mounting criticism over the possible infringement of intellectual property rights, YouTube, the world’s most popular video-sharing Web site and owned by Google, plans to expand its recently launched Korean-language version service in line with faster penetration of IPTVs, here. Samsung Electronics is the world’s No. 1 manufacturer of LCD TVs.
The Samsung official said details over the partnership with YouTube will be announced at an upcoming launching ceremony soon.
The 52-inch crystal display TV, nicknamed ``Pavv Bordeaux 750’’, is featured with the cutting-edge System on Chip (SoC) technology in addition to strengthened Infolink and Wiselink for easy access to YouTube’s UCCs. The set will sell for 5 million won in the local market.
``To meet growing demand for smart television sets, we are currently sharpening the development of SoCs ― commonly regarded as an original technology for IPTVs,’’ Kim Hyun-suk, vice president of Samsung Electronics Digital Media Business, said, adding 35 percent out of 1,400 research workers in the flat-panel TV segment are solely involved with advanced TV chips.
Samsung is also set to introduce another LCD TV set in a partnership with Naver, South Korea’s No. 1 portal service provider. The ``Pavv Bordeaux 670’’ enables consumers to look at Internet-based content such as weather, news and stock movement on the screen in real time.
The other 50-inch plasma display set, dubbed ``Pavv Canne 650,’’ is ready to steal the limelight on shelves with its increased contrast ratio, improved anti-reflective function and strengthened luminous efficiency.
Crucial Year for Samsung
At the meeting, Kim, who is also the chief of Samsung’s Visual Display Division, said this year it will be crucial for the South Korean TV giant to maintain the dominant position in global markets over rival Sony.
``I am sure that we will widen the market gap with Sony, especially in North America. Latecomer Vizio will fall victim to fierce competition between Samsung and Sony there, as consumer appetites in the world’s biggest consumer electronics market have been shifting to premium TVs with good quality,’’ according to Kim.
Sony and Samsung are currently engaged in a ``survival game’’ of LCD TVs in Europe and North America. Sony recently turned to local rival Sharp for the development of next-generation displays, riding on the bribery woes of its bigger South Korean rival.
DisplaySearch, a U.S.-based market research firm, has earlier said Samsung share in North America was 12.3 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, while Sony held the top at 12.8 percent. Samsung holds a bigger share than Sony in the newly-emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China.
``Local TV manufacturers should seek bigger shares in global markets and shy away from recent controversies over contrast ratios,’’ Kim said.
yckim@koreatimes.co.kr
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