By Yoon Ja-young

Reigning as the top player in the global TV market for six consecutive years, Samsung Electronics is strengthening its leadership as a premium brand with smart entertainment systems.

It became the first seller of one million 3D TVs only six months after launching an LED 3D TV in February 2010, rising as the star in the 3D TV market as well as in LED TV market.

Always thinking ahead, the manufacturer has accelerated efforts to take leadership in the smart TV market. After opening an app store for smart TVs for the first time in the world, a year before its competitors, the multinational electronics conglomerate plans to launch a smart TV to kick start the paradigm shift from TV programming that is predetermined to one that is catered to individual preferences.

Its 2011 smart TV is the essence of Samsung’s cutting edge technologies and satisfying smart, full high definition (HD) 3D needs, as well as in terms of design.

At the smart TV app store, around 1,100 items in categories ranging from video and games to sports, lifestyle and information are available in 120 countries. The “Smart Hub” on Samsung’s smart TVs offer menus such as program information, smart searching, social networking and Web browsing conveniently on the screen. Consumers can use the TV for multiple purposes and attain diverse experiences as a result.

By thinning the bezel to be only 5 millimeters, it has minimized the visual hindrance between the TV and the room, maximizing the viewers’ immersion into 3D images.

When Samsung Electronics introduced smart TVs for the first time in the local market last year, they took up only 10 percent of its total TV sales. The ratio has risen steeply to over 50 percent as of July this year.

This is also true in the global TV market, marking 2 million sales in only 90 days since being released. On top of heading the North American digital TV market in the first half of this year, Samsung accounts for 30 percent of the smart TV market in Europe, as the top player there too.

“Households are rapidly switching to smart TVs, with half of the sets sold by Samsung Electronics locally being smart TVs,” said an executive of Samsung Electronics. “We will expand the application content on top of developing technologies for flexibility and easier use, so that consumers of every age group can enjoy a smart life. We will actively seek cooperation with leading content businesses around the world to maintain our leadership in smart TVs,” he added.