Samsung Ups Laptop Sales Goal With Reason
By Kim Yoo-chul
Staff Reporter
Samsung Electronics, the world's biggest producer of computer memory chips, confirmed Thursday its "positive outlook" on the global semiconductor market by doubling its notebook sales target this year.
"Samsung aims to sell five million notebook PCs in 2009, up from two million the previous year. We also aim to get up to a 15-percent market share by the end of the year," Uhm Kyu-ho, vice president of sales and marketing at Samsung's computer systems division, said during a press conference.
Of this year's five million target, Samsung hopes to sell four million netbooks ― inexpensive machines with pared-down features that rely on the Internet for multiple tasks.
One DDR2 DRAM is used in Samsung's notebooks, according to company officials.
The revised target came as shares of leading chipmakers have been steadily gathering momentum following a supply glut that wracked the semiconductor industry.
As a result of massive investment cutbacks by chipmakers to tackle falling profits amid meager demand for consumer electronics, the benchmark prices for dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips have been showing signs of recovery.
Samsung Electronics, a latecomer to the PC market, has boosted prices by as much as 10 percent with supply in the DRAM market apparently getting tighter, Samsung officials say.
DRAMs are widely and mostly used in personal computers, including notebooks and netbooks.
Samsung's Uhm added he was positive about the general outlook in the global small- and medium-sized notebook market, despite uncertainties in the global economy.
"The recession, of course, explains why people are more sensitive to prices. Conventional wisdom that salarymen will pay a premium for the most powerful notebooks has changed," according to the executive.
"The global netbook PC market is set to reach between 28 million and 30 million in volume despite the economic gloom," Uhm said.
Netbooks, or mini-notebooks, appeared last spring and have chalked up rapid growth even as the financial storm engulfed the globe in the fourth quarter of last year, on the back of competitive prices and advanced features.
Analysts say Samsung's ambitious notebook sales and market share target should be "achievable" considering the rising prices of computer chips and the brighter outlook in the global mini-notebook market.
"The global memory chip market will show firm signs of a turnaround in the second half, helped by growing demand for netbooks and solid-state drives amid the industry's consolidation," Lee Hak-moo, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities, said.
Samsung will release its first quarter earnings report on Friday. Industry observers are still divided over whether it will be positive or continue the red territory story for a second consecutive quarter.