:הל: סמסונג מובילה את מכירות מסכי ה-3D בעולם

[MartinHSabag]

[pressrelease]
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Samsung Electronics continues to lead the global market with its 3D TV.


Samsung has reached the milestone of 10,000-unit sales in 6 weeks since the launch of its new 3D TV in Korea that translates 2D to 3D only with a push of a button

Young-chul Park, Weekly Chosun


Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world’s best TV manufacturer, continues to exert global leadership in the next generation of TV revolution - 3D. The company is solidifying its top position in global TV market three years after it first topped other competitors. On February 25, 2010, Samsung unveiled the world’s first Full HD 3D LED TV in Korea. Its sales performance is encouraging. Since the rolled out day, the new product has reached the sales record of 13,000 units for the first six weeks in the country alone according to Samsung’s announcement on April 8, 2010. The sales result means that 245 units were sold per day, and the figure is 26% higher than that of LED TV products which were Samsung’s huge global success last year. Now, the Korean company seems to hit the jackpot of LED TV again, and also to become a legend in the global business world.

Continuing to Lead the Third Innovation in the TV Market
Samsung’s success in the 3D TV is notable in many aspects: a dramatic transformation of the global TV industry in its 84-year history is now being led by a Korean business. Since the invention of TV in 1926, the industry has seen three revolutions: first color televisions were launched in the 1970s; second, TV was first digitalized in the early 2000s; and third, TV starts to adopt 3D technology in 2010. The first transformation was a true breakthrough, but led by overseas manufacturers and the second one, though led by Samsung, did not have direct impact on the average consumer. However, the third transformation was led by Samsung, a Korean company bringing a radical change to the average consumer’s TV viewing experience. Therefore, Samsung’s success in this new area will significantly promote the corporate image of the company and overall awareness of Korea.

The success also dispels skepticism that it is still too early for 3D TV to be commercialized. Until last year, it remained controversial even whether 3D TV could be accepted in the market, but such a controversy disappeared with the success of Avatar, a 3D movie, at worldwide box office. Instead, the discussion continued about the timing. It was often said that 3D TV, though it will eventually makes its way to homes, will take off only after 3D contents become readily available as opposed to 3D cinema which is commercially feasible in itself. Therefore, it was a common belief that it would take a few more years before 3D TV penetrates conventional TV market. However, Samsung took a bold gamble by rolling out the world’s first Full HD 3D LED TV, and silenced the skeptics with positive performance.
Beating Sony and Maintaining Global Leadership in World’s TV Market
Samsung is also credited with exploring a “Blue Ocean” in the TV industry which is increasingly turning to a “Red Ocean.” Indeed, half of Samsung’s revenue in the Full HD 3D LED TV comes from big screen products such as 55” models. Such high-end products deliver higher margins. Indeed, 46” and 55” models in the 3D TV are high-priced - as much as 4.2 - 4.5 million won and 5.8 - 6.1 million won, respectively.

It is also notable that Samsung has built its foundation for long-term global leadership from TV business as Sony once did. Samsung first become world’s largest TV manufacturer in terms of sales in 2006 and in terms of both sales and revenue in 2007. Amid many difficulties last year, the company launched world’s thinnest LED TV which was a phenomenal success worldwide and served as a stepping stone for the company’s unmatched global leadership. On top of that, the world’s first rollout of 3D LED TV, a next-generation flagship product strikingly different from traditional TVs, will widen the gap between Samsung and its competitors this year. Samsung is challenging the top position which has been dominated by Japanese players including Sony for the past 35 years.

It is never excessive to stress how much leadership in the TV sector means in the consumer electronics industry. TV is truly the king of home appliances. TV represents the biggest portion in the consumer electronics markets amounting to US104.2 billion dollars, which is three times greater than 35.9 billion dollars of the refrigerator products and 33.5 billion dollars of the memory semiconductor products. Not only in the market size, TVs also have significance in brand awareness. For one thing, TV is a centerpiece at the living room of most homes, and one and only consumer electronics segment whose brands make difference to men. Consumers often buy home-appliance of the same brand as their TVs. Indeed, Sony built its consumer electronics empire and maintained its reign for 35 years before Samsung takes it over through its successful strategy of transferring the prestige of its TV products into other product offerings. That is why TV matters, and competition in the sector is fiercer than that in any other product segments. The worldwide TV market is a battleground for 374 brands, and among many different consumer electronics, only TV has such a huge group of manufacturers. In such a significant market, it is remarkable that a Korean company has maintained the world’s top position for three years and is expected to maintain the leadership for one more year.

2D to 3D Conversion, a Hard Lesson for Sony
Then, what is the secret behind the success of Samsung 3D TV? Many can be suggested, but one of the major drivers is the feature of 2D to 3D conversion. Samsung LED TV has a revolutionary function which renders inherently 2D content to 3D only with the push of a button on the remote control. This breakthrough gives painful lessons to Samsung competitors in the world including Sony.

Many consumers would hesitate to buy a 3D TV though they were fascinated by 3D movies such as Avatar or Titan. This is because only few contents for 3D TV are readily available. For now, it is no exaggeration that only a short list of movies is everything the market offers for 3D home entertainment. Furthermore, availability of numerous movies, TV show series, and animated films originally produced in 2D is useless for 3D TV which can process only 3D contents.

Technological Innovation that Surprised Even “Avatar” Director James Cameron
Samsung clearly understood such a dilemma consumers had and came up with 2D to 3D conversion on its 3D TV. At Samsung’s celebration of worldwide 3D TV launch at Times Square in New York on March 10, 2010, the conversion function drew good review from journalists at home and abroad.

On top of the conversion, technological innovations are leading Samsung 3D TV to success. Samsung’s TV division has more than 400 engineers transferred from the semiconductor business unit in 2004 to ensure the excellence in the TV space. This is what Samsung’s competitors cannot afford while creating Samsung’s unrivalled picture quality, excellent software and a variety of features. For example, while most TV manufacturers use universal processing chips in their 3D, Samsung use self-developed a unique processor, 3D HyperReal Engine, to improve the picture quality.

3D glasses are also a product of Samsung’s technological capabilities. Those glasses for Samsung’s 3D TV are called “Lee Gun-Hee (Chairman of Samsung Group) Glasses” after they were improved at Chairman Lee’s order for more comfortable wear during his visit to 2010 Consumer Electronics Show in the United States last January. They cr-eated a sensation for the light weight and comfortab-le wear when unveiled. James Cameron, acclaimed director of Avatar, a 3D movie, also used Samsung’s 3D glasses at the CES show and expressed amazement for the comfort and no dizziness. Samsung is currently considering whether to provide its 3D glasses to Japanese TV manufacturers at their request.

Free Video Calls and a Variety of Contents Available on Samsung 3D TV
Samsung has commitment to develop software for 3D TV as well as the hardware itself. Another enjoyment Samsung TV offers is a variety of convenient features: All share function makes possible to enjoy movies, TV shows, Music or any other contents saved in Digital Living Network Alliance certified PC, mobile Phones and cameras on a big screen via wireless connection.

With simple, fun and easy-to-use user interface, the Internet TV function delivers news, weather, stock prices, user generated content, movies, and other useful information available on the internet and allows the viewer to download applications from Samsung Apps, the world’s first multi-device application store.

Samsung 3D TV also attracts attention with other convenient features: free video calls over Skype, the world’s most popular internet phone service; My Library which transfers and shows digital contents stored on external memory devices onto TV; and a USB 2.0 Video function that allows the viewer to enjoy video, photo, or music files from a USB thumb drive onto the TV.

Partnership with DreamWorks and Broadcasting Networks
A full bloom of the fledgling 3D TV sector requires joint growth across the related industries. As part of such initiatives, Samsung and DreamWorks have forged alliance which translates four movies of the Shrek series into 3D contents and exclusively provides them to Samsung 3D TV customers. Such partnership will be expanded into more than 10 providers in the field of animation, education, sports, and other contents. Samsung is considering diverse forms of concerted efforts to promote 3D adoption with Korean broadcasting networks and content providers, and had already received some partnership offers.

Samsung wants to offer a variety of 3D contents such as sports, movies, music, and animated and documentary films, some of which can be included when purchasing 3D TV, to help its customers enjoy vibrant 3D TV images more conveniently.

Samsung’s target for 3D TV this year is to sell at least 2 million sets in domestic and overseas markets, especially as the 3D TV market is expected to show exponential growth. Following Full HD 3D LED TV, Samsung plans to release a comprehensive range of 3D solutions: 3D LED TV, 3D LCD/PDP TV series, 3D Blu-lay players, 3D home theater systems, 3D contents, and 3D glasses to provide the perfect 3D entertainment experience to consumers.

Samsung’s future will be bright as long as it continues to lead TV revolutions as it did until now. Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of DreamWorks, expressing his satisfaction with Samsung-DreamWorks partnership, also said that there was no denying that 3D would lead the future of the entertainment world and Samsung would continue to innovate and lead the market,.
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