ID :
106794
Tue, 02/16/2010 - 13:14
Auther :

(MWC 2010) Samsung to target all price segments in smartphone market


By Lee Youkyung
BARCELONA, Spain, Feb. 16 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co., the
world's second-largest handset maker, plans to release smartphone models covering
all price ranges to advance its market share in the rapidly growing sector, the
head of the company's handset division Tuesday.

"We plan to release smartphones at affordable prices so more people can use
them," J.K. Shin, president of Samsung's mobile-communication division, told
reporters on the sidelines of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona,
Spain. "We will slowly release cheaper smartphones," he added.
On the eve of the MWC, Samsung unveiled the Wave, its first smartphone based on
the Bada operating system, also developed by the South Korean handset maker.
Industry watchers have been keenly anticipating the introduction of the
computer-like device as they say it will show whether Samsung can in fact make it
in the competitive smartphone segment.
Earlier in the month, Samsung said its annual smartphone sales target stands at
18 million units, a three-fold increase from last year.
Samsung, which easily held the world's No. 2 spot in handset sales thanks to its
advanced hardware technology, struggled as a latecomer to the smartphone segment,
losing ground to Apple Inc. and Research In Motion Ltd., maker of BlackBerry.
The Wave, Samsung's first smartphone and its flagship product, is priced at about
300 euro or US$500, slightly below prices for the highest-end phones in the
industry, Shin said.
"The Wave is a high-end phone," Shin said. "It is not the highest priced phone,
but is within the mid-to-high end range."
While the company ultimately plans to release lower-end models, preparations for
a full portfolio of smartphones will happen gradually, the head of Samsung's
handset division said.
The Wave's advanced technology, such as an improved display screen and
1-gigahertz processor, justifies its high price, Shin added.
Market watchers widely expect a downturn in the cost of smartphones, which are
usually priced at $500 or more, in the coming years. Some experts forecast a
rapid decrease in prices as early as the second half of this year.
Even with its own operating system, Samsung is still committed to a multiple
operating system strategy and will offer smartphones based on other systems such
as those developed by Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. But it will increase the
portion of Bada-based phones, Shin said.
ylee@yna.co.kr
(END)

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