Samsung CEO to visit AT&T, Verizon

By Kim Yoo-chul

Staff reporter

The chief executive of Samsung Electronics will meet four major mobile carriers to hold discussions regarding more shipments of Samsung's Galaxy S smartphones.

The rare meeting between Samsung CEO Choi Gee-sung and his counter-partners at AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile coincide with the company's announcing of selling the Galaxy devices via the four carriers from July.

"Choi will fly to the United States next week and hold a series of meetings with key mobile, television and distribution clients," a top-ranking industry executive told The Korea Times, Wednesday.

"As far as I know, the Samsung CEO will ask the carriers to sell more of the Galaxy S handsets on iPhone home-turf. Furthermore, the top executive will hold internal meetings to better deal with risk factors possibly distracting its North American business," according to the executive.

Leonor Lee, a Samsung Electronics spokeswoman, declined to confirm this, citing the sensitivity of the issue.

Samsung said in a press release that it is planning to launch the Galaxy line of smartphones via the four carriers from next month.

Samsung expects sales of the Galaxy S, which has been available overseas since the spring, to boost its average selling prices (ASP) and margins for the second quarter.

Samsung claims the Galaxy S will be "the answer" to Apple's iPhone, which quickly sold 1.7 million units of its latest iPhone 4 in the United States and other countries.

While Apple has so far limited U.S. distribution through its exclusive partner AT&T, Samsung is adopting the opposite approach by letting several carriers sell the Galaxy.

"Exclusive deals gather more market support and Samsung might compete better against iPhone if it could have grabbed a deal with an operator as its exclusive service provider," a Samsung Electronics official told the newspaper.

Samsung is the world's second-biggest handset maker overall. But its market share in smartphones is just 4 percent.

Samsung also aims to sell more of its LED-backlit LCD and 3D television sets in North America _ the biggest consumer electronics market in the world.

Samsung's market shares in LED-backlit LCD TV rapidly decreased in the first half of the year hit by more competition from its rivals including Sony and LG Electronics.

Trip to South America

After the week of meetings, the Samsung CEO will fly to South America to update the company's business strategies amid the rising demand for consumer products, there.

Samsung has been in a head-to-head battle for the South American television market with LG Electronics. In the first quarter, Samsung grabbed the top spot with a market share of 23.9 percent, followed by LG Electronics at 23.4 percent, market research firm DisplaySearch reported.

"Samsung believes that the South American market has higher growth potential in consumer electronics fueled by the expansion of digital broadcasting systems amid signs of regional economic recovery," another Samsung executive said.

"Time is critical to monitor its sales, distribution and client channels," he said, adding Choi will spend another week in South America.

In a recent internal strategic meeting, the chief executive presented the word ``uncertainty’’ as the top buzzword for the technology company in the second half.

Samsung is expected to report record quarterly profits and sales in the second quarter, respectively, thanks to the brisk shipment of memory chips and flat-screen products _ the components used in everything from TVs to mobile phones.

But Samsung is asked to wash off emerging business uncertainties such as economic troubles in the euro zone, volatile foreign currencies and increased facility investments by its bigger overseas rivals to maintain its growth momentum, analysts say.