Samsung to beef up white goods sector

People look at Samsung’s new F8000 television at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The new model has been garnering significant interest at the trade fair, Thursday (KST).

Korean technology giant widening customer lineup for chips

By Kim Yoo-chul

Yoon Boo-keun, president of Samsung Electronics’ consumer electronics division, speaks during a press meeting with Korean media in Las Vegas, Friday (KST). / Courtesy of Samsung Electronics

LAS VEGAS ― Samsung Electronics is a leader in televisions and mobile phones but an also in white goods. Yoon Boo-keun, head of the company’s home appliance division, has vowed to do something about that.

Talking to reporters at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Yoon stressed that the move toward smart products with interactive and communication abilities is opening new opportunities for the company in terms of both household and corporate customers.

Exploiting this shift and improving its network with U.S. retailers will help Samsung achieve its ambitious goal of becoming the world’s top provider of every major home appliance by 2015. This means cementing its current lead in televisions and also rising above competitors in refrigerators, washing machines and ovens.

``Of course, we will face serious challenges in achieving that goal. We will have to invest more in software, designs, user interface and overall solutions in product execution,’’ Yoon told reporters on the sidelines of the technology fair.

``Another priority for us is to strengthen the business-to-business (B2B) area of our home appliance business and achieve a balance with the business-to-consumer (B2C) part, which is always more volatile. The most important thing is obviously to keep releasing products that raise the bar in innovation.’’

Samsung entered into a partnership with U.S. retail giant Home Depot last year, which it hopes will boost the Korean firm’s home appliance sales.

For all the talk about balancing strengths, Yoon failed to stop himself from boasting about the company’s leadership in televisions. He was particularly proud of the F8000 light emitting diode (LED) backlight set, which he believes will be a massive hit commercially before more futuristic products like organic light emitting diode (OLED) televisions take hold.

The F8000 stands out for its picture quality, especially the contrast in colors and inkier blacks, enabled by Samsung’s Micro Diming Ultimate technology. The television also features advanced Internet capabilities, powered by a quad-core processor, delivering a smooth experience in streaming online videos and using software applications. The F8000 will be offered in different sizes, the biggest coming with a 75-inch screen.

Samsung has topped the global television industry for the past seven years and increasing its market share in the United States, the most competitive international market, would help cement its lead, Yoon said.

The electronics giant enjoys dual strength in finished products and parts, being the world’s largest maker of computer memory chips and flat screens.

Samsung’s bad blood with Apple over intellectual property concerning smartphones and tablets seems to be eroding their previously air-tight partnership in chips. However, company executives were confident that increasing demand from up-and-coming manufacturers in China will make up for the expected decline in orders from Apple.

``Samsung’s component business is focused on suggesting innovative ideas, sharing them with our clients and realizing them,’’ Woo Nam-sung, president of Samsung’s semiconductor business, said in a keynote speech at the CES. His audience included executives from major clients like Microsoft, ARM and Hewlett Packard and also former U.S. President Bill Clinton.

Woo highlighted the abilities of Samsung’s new processor, the Exynos 5 Octa, designed for mobile devices, which the company says provides better processing power and speed with less power consumption. This is critical when users of mobile Internet devices like smartphones and touch-screen tablets are increasingly complaining about battery life.

The debut of Octa also represents Samsung’s aim to further cut its reliance on U.S.-based telecom chipmaker Qualcomm and confident to further grow its logic chip business despite the legal battle with Apple, said the executive.

Samsung’s upcoming phablet, the 6.3-inch Galaxy Note III, is expected to use the Octa chip according to officials but it’s unlikely to be used in the Galaxy S IV.

Goldman Sachs estimates Samsung’s mobile chip sales to Apple will rise to 9.3 trillion won this year, or nearly 80 percent of Apple’s spending on Samsung processing chips, memory chips and flat screens. But that could tumble to just 2.5 trillion won next year, as Apple will shift 30 percent of its application business from Samsung and eventually 80 percent by 2017, according to the U.S. investment bank.

``Samsung will try very hard to diversify its customer base and leading Chinese technology companies are our target,’’ said Woo.