Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest television maker, expects to fully utilize its Eastern Europe manufacturing plants, including its Slovakia factory, left, to cope with increasing television demand. Its rival LG Electronics is also trying to lure European consumers with its sleek new products, such as the SL9000 and SL8000. / Korea Times |
By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
Samsung Electronics, the world's biggest electronics company, is looking to cement its top spot in the flat-panel television rankings and hopes the European market will provide a major boost.
But getting bigger in the rear-view mirror is LG Electronics, the No. 2 television maker, which is pushing out a wave of new products to steal the thunder from its bitter rival.
Samsung, which has sold more than 10 million liquid crystal display (LCD) televisions in European countries so far, said that it will fully utilize its three Eastern Europe manufacturing plants in Slovakia, Hungary and Russia to cope with the growing demand for flat-panel televisions.
The Slovakia and Hungary factories combined for the production of 4.3 million TVs in 2006 and 8.1 million in 2007. With the Russian plant starting operations in August, the three plants combined to produce 11 million sets last year. Company officials are expecting the three factories to push out 15.25 million in 2009.
The increase in European production coincided with Samsung's growth in market share. The company controlled 19.9 percent of Europe's television market in 2006, 25.7 percent in 2007 and 26.7 percent in 2008. Samsung had a 30-percent market share through the first-half of this year.
According to market researcher, Display Search, Europe's flat-panel television market will reach 44.66 million in 2009 and pass the 50-million mark in 2012.
Making and delivering televisions to European consumers in their own backyard benefits Samsung by eliminating tariffs as a factor, and also allowing a cheaper workforce.
``Samsung's rise as the leading television maker is explained by the company's effective supply change management and quick adjustments to changing market trends, which were enabled by having a local manufacturing base,'' the company quoted Lee Jae-hyung, president of Samsung Electronics Slovakia, as saying.
LG Electronics is looking to generate a buzz with a slew of products at the Internationale Funkausstellung (IFA) electronics trade fair scheduled for Sept. 4 to 9 in Berlin. The highlight of the company's lineup will be a pair of ultra-thin LCD televisions that embody a number of innovations.
The company says the SL9000, a light emitting diode (LED)-backlit LCD television to be available in 42- and 47-inch versions, and SL8000, which uses cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) backlighting and to be sold with the same size options, will be made commercially available starting in the third quarter.
LG boasts the new models as ``borderless,'' using film lamination technology to eliminate the boundaries between outer frames and screens of the televisions.
Film lamination refers to the technology of coating the LCD display and television frame with a single sheet of film, company officials said. Aside from the aesthetic improvements, this contributes to improve picture quality by reducing reflection, and also offers better resistance to scratches.
The outer frames in conventional flat-panel televisions are measured at around 50 millimeters in width, but the frame of the SL9000 is only 35 millimeters. The new television set is just 29.33 millimeters thick.
The two television models are also equipped with advanced multimedia functions and Bluetooth capabilities, and also support Internet video files. They are also installed with sensors that automatically adjust the brightness of pictures according to the lighting conditions of the room, which results in reduced power consumption.
thkim@koreatimes.co.kr
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