Japanese Panel Makers Square
Off against Korean Counterparts
Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics showcase their latest
consumer electronic devices

LAS VEGAS -- Japanese TV and panel makers are apparently making all-out offensive to recapture the leading position in the digital TV business, now dominated by Samsung Electronics in the run-up to the Torino Winter Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup finals in Germany. The Japanese companies, trailing Samsung Electronics in terms of sales volume and market share based on units, have unveiled the world's largest digital TV sets during the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) that raised its curtain on January 5 here, renewing world size records, possessed by Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics.
Panasonic displayed a 103-inch plasma display panel (PDP) set during the CES, a slight bigger than the existing 102-inch sets developed by Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics.
Panasonic officials said their company used the same panel as the existing 102-inch one, but developed the world's biggest PDP TV panel by capitalizing on the masking technique to discover the hidden extra one inch.
PDP TV sets, produced by Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, are in good quality, but Panasonic products are excellent color reproducibility and resolution, they said.
Toshiba has introduced a 72-inch DLP Projection TV set, one inch bigger than its Korean counterpart by Samsung Electronics.
Sony has launched the 82-inch "Bravia"LCD TV set, the same size of Samsung Electronics'put on the market last year.
Marking the 60th anniversary of its founding, Sony borrowed a large-size exhibition space equivalent to that of Samsung Electronics during the 2006 CES unlike previous exhibitions that the Japanese consumer electronics giant operated a negotiations space.
Besides the finished TV sets, Japanese companies have launched a foray into LCD and PDD panel areas in which Korean companies have taken over the leading position from Japanese counterparts. Sharp, trailing Samsung Electronics and LG Philips LCD in the global LCD sector, is to go into a full-fledged operation of eighth-generation LCD lines in coming July and August.
Samsung Electronics is pushing for the operation of eighth-generation LCD lines next year to mass-produce 50-inch or bigger LCD panels.
Lee Sang-wan, president of Samsung Electronics LCD, said during the CES that the timing has yet to be determined, but investments into eighth-generation LCD lines would be made as earlier as possible. He added that Samsung Electronics would decide on the timing of investing into eighth-generation LCD panels so as not to be overrun by its archrival Sharp, which is poised to mass-produce eighth-generation LCD panels next July and August. Samsung Electronics has already secured sites for constructing eighth- or higher generation LCD panel production plants at the Tangjeong Industrial Complex in South Chungcheong Province, said President Lee, adding that its investment into eighth-generation LCD panels depends on the competition with PDP panel sets, and chances are good that LCD panels would win PDP panels.
Choi Ji-sung, Samsung Electronics digital media division president, said he took a relatively long time out in meeting with Korean reporters during the CES to explain Japanese companies'movements and latest developments. He played down Sony's massive offensive into the LCD TV area, saying that it could be short-lived due to an overload of marketing blitz costs.
President Choi forecast that sales of Samsung Electronics'digital TV sets are projected to grow to $10 billion by 2007, becoming the first consumer electronics product to post the $10 billion mark in sales. He noted that Samsung Electronics raised its market share in terms of units marketed from 10.3 percent in 2002 to 11.1 percent in 2005 to maintain the No. 1 position in the color TV sector. Starting 2006, Samsung Electronics will shift into a quality-oriented growth strategy with the goal of evolving into a world-class digital media corporation.
The atmosphere of Samsung Electronics'exhibition hall appeared to be boosted with a succession of such influential figures as Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, NFL superstar Dan Marino and Philips Chairman, distribution firms'presidents and broadcasting VIPs.
Meanwhile, LG Electronics showcased 42-, 50- and 60-inch PDP TV sets and 42- and 47-inch LCD TV sets, all with the world's first "time-machine"function. The launch of such digital TV products was aimed at strengthening its presence in the North American digital market, one of LG Electronics'strongholds. Also under the limelight were 102-inch PDP TV, gold-plated 71-inch PDP TV and panel TVs with the time-machine function and 50-inch Viiv PDP TV, demonstrated during a keynote speech by the Intel new CEO Paul Otellikni.
LG Electronics'wireless PDP TV won the innovative award in the display category, capturing the eyes of global consumer electronics manias. The TV set adopts a wireless transmitter that allows the reception of HD broadcastings, and the wireless transmitter can be used for connecting DVD players and camcorders wireless remotely.
Samsung Electronics unveiled the MP3 player supported by XM satellite radio during the CES. Also among a wide range of devices and equipment Samsung Electronics showcased were the so-called QWERTY phone, named MITs SCH-i730, designed to solve the daunting job to input many letters into cell phones in a short time, as well as Personal Data Assistant-type WiBro phone, SPH-M8000. nw

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates tries out a device produced by LG Electronics at the Korean company exhibition hall during the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show (left photo). He also visits Samsung Electronics Exhibition Hall (right photo).