Samsung Showcases
Latest Handset
"Soul"in Barcelona

Some 1,200 exhibitors participate in Mobile World Congress

The Mobile World Congress 2008, held in Barcelona from Feb. 11 through Feb. 14, was the venue for a look at the best of what global mobile phone powerhouses will offer this year.
About 1,200 exhibitors, including some major service providers, handset makers, telecommunication equipment makers, chip manufacturers and software companies participated in the Mobile World Congress, previously known as the 3GMS Congress.
Spectators were given the opportunity to see what next-generation mobile phones, mobile Internet and the hegemony over 4G mobile telecommunications look like.
Korean exhibitors including Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and SK Telecom showed off their latest mobile handsets and advanced technologies.
Samsung Electronics announced its latest ultra-mobile handset "Soul."It is a 19.8 mm-thin slide phone with a touch-sensitive navigational pad that automatically changes according to functions, including music player and camera functions.
The latest handset also has a 5-megapixel camera with a flash using a power LED, a power amplifier produced by global audio maker Bang & Olufsen, a headset and Bluetooth 2.0.
The Korean electronics giant also showcased other touch-screen phones: "Touch Card Phone"(F480), "Music Phone"(F400), "Business Smartphone"(i780) and "Symbian Smartphone"(C810).
LG Electronics showed off diverse touch screen phones, including the "Touch Menu Phone"(LG-KF600), to be sold in the European market.
Choi Ji-sung, president of Samsung Electronics Information and Telecommunication division, was upbeat about the company's prospects for its newest handsets on the global market. He told reporters covering the Mobile World Congress 2008, "Samsung Electronics"global handset market share is forecast to rise from 14.4 percent in 2007 up to 20 percent this year at the earliest and during the first quarter of next year at the latest."President Choi said he made the prediction based on booming sales at the beginning of the year, suggesting the possibility that Samsung would revise its goal of selling 200 million handset units and raising its market share to 17 to 18 percent.
Samsung Electronics plans to sharply increase its handset production capacity, especially on the overseas front, in order to meet growth targets.
"Last year saw production capacity growth in such countries as China, India and Brazil, but Samsung Electronics, unfortunately, failed to meet a surge in demand there, so we plan to raise capacity in areas where demand is mounting."Choi reconfirmed Samsung Electronics'plan to raise capacity abroad, saying that the wage costs are around $30,000 per employee in Korea, far higher than the $2,000 to $2,500 in China and $1,500 to $2,000 in India, so raising capacity in Korea is "tantamount to suicide."However, he noted that Samsung Electronics makes sure to maintain its technological competitiveness here by securing high-end production and manufacturing technologies. nw

Choi Ji-sung, president of Samsung Electronics Information and Telecommunication division

Samsung Electronics'latest ultra-mobile handset "Soul.