By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
Samsung Electronics, the world's largest electronics maker, could credit consumer electronics and mobile phones for its emergence as a world beater.
Yoon Boo-keun, president of Samsung's visual display division, said that the company's strengths have been better manifested in the global economic downturn, with sales of its new flat-panel televisions and handsets remaining strong.
It seemed to start off as a dismal year for Samsung, which reported in January its first quarterly loss since 2000 for the fourth quarter of 2008, due to weak demand in its semiconductor business.
However, the company has since rebounded, with its televisions and mobile phones continuing to fly off the shelves and semiconductor demand starting to recover.
In a news conference at the Internationale Funkausstellung (IFA) electronics trade show in Berlin, Yoon said the company is benefiting from being quick out of the gate for light-emitting diode (LED) backlit televisions and the increasing popularity of its mobile phones.
The company has sold more than 1 million units of its high-end LED backlit televisions in the past six months, and expects to sell 2 million units by the end of the year, Yoon said.
Samsung is now firmly established behind Nokia as the world's runner-up handset maker, controlling around 20 percent of the global market.
The company believes it will finish the year selling about 200 million phones, although it still has a lot of room for growth left in the area of ``smart'' phones, or devices that provide Web browsing and multimedia features atop of voice, which offer higher margins compared to conventional handsets.
Samsung is hoping that the new models of its popular premium phone series of Jet, Galaxy and Omnia will build on their bright start.
``The decision to combine our telecommunications and digital media divisions has clearly benefited us by allowing us to introduce more innovative products and be more attentive to consumer needs,'' the company quoted Yoon as saying.
Last year, Samsung blended its telecommunications division, previously responsible for developing mobile phones and laptop computers, with its digital appliances unit, which had handled televisions, monitors and white goods.
The efforts to generate synergy was obvious, with the company introducing mobile devices with better display and multimedia functions, while improving the network capabilities of personal computers, televisions and other household goods, Yoon said.
Samsung's LED backlit televisions are equipped with advanced Web capabilities, and the company is also promoting a concept called Wireless DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance), which enables users to access their media content in phones and personal computers from television sets.
``It's hard for a product to succeed, no matter what compelling new technology it contains, if consumers are not interested in it. We are doing a good job in evaluating what consumers value most, and integrating our technologies and marketing strategies accordingly,'' he said.
Yoon said the company has been inspired most by its strong start in LED backlit televisions, which it managed to push out earlier than its rivals such as Sharp and Phillips. LEDs are expected to create new growth for the LCD industry due to their better color performance, lower power consumption, and by enabling electronic makers to produce slimmer television sets.
Market researcher Display Search forecasts that display LEDs, including active outdoor display and LCD backlights, will control about 35 percent of the global market of 167 billion LCD units in 2012.
Samsung is also accelerating its efforts to produce ``green'' products, which include the LED backlit televisions, solar-powered mobile phones and other devices that are better for both health of the environment and consumer wallets.