'Come Rain or Shine'

Samsung Electro sets out to achieve 2.6 tln won in sales this year from core products

Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co. had a terrific rebound in performance in the fourth quarter of last year, with sales of its MLCC and other core products rising sharply, the company said recently.
Its operating profit jumped 64 percent year over year to 74.3 billion won, the largest in the past five years.
During the company's investor relations session on Jan. 18, the company said the operating profit ratio rose 7.7 percent compared to a 5.8 percent rise in the previous quarter.
The Q4 sales rose 14 percent Y-o-Y to 962.8 billion won and net profit came to 51.2 billion won.
The company's consolidated sales recorded 3.51 trillion won and operating profit reached 168.3 billion won with net profit of 112.8 billion won. The sales figure is up 10.8 percent from last year, while operating profit is up 42.3 percent and net profit rose 15.1 percent over last year, the company said.
The RF sector of the company's operation producing the GS Brutus digital tuners had an excellent year with Q4 sales amounting to 327 billion won, up 5 percent from the previous quarter. Other business sectors such as chip products and semiconductor circuit plates saw sales dip, but most of the sales were centered on high value-added products such as LEDs, improving the company's overall profitability.
Company officials said the company will focus on strengthening its competitive edge in all areas of its operations, especially its three key areas, which include the MLCC camera module, among others. They said the sales of the three core products alone should reach 2.6 trillion won this year from 2.1 trillion won last year.
An analyst with Woori Securities said Samsung Electro would experience a slow down in the first quarter, which is an off season for IT products, but the company's restructuring of its core product lines would pull it through the year to meet the expectations as a whole.
Samsung Electro-Mechanics recently completed development of the first CMOS camera module that takes pictures with a resolution as high as eight megapixels. A mobile phone outfitted with this module can produce prints as large as 27.64 by 20.73 cm that have 3,264 pixels across by 2,444 rows high with a resolution as high as 300dpi.
Samsung has used CMOS sensors to create an 8-megapixel camera module that measures just 105 x 11.5 x 9.4mm and features a mechanical shutter as well as an automatic focus. It is the same size as the 3-megapixel models, so it can be mounted on existing mobile phone models.
The company has applied its proprietary piezoelectric* ultrasonic technology to produce such high resolution and an automatic focus function in such a small package.
Samsung Electro-Mechanics managed to build a mechanical shutter into its 8-megapixel camera module and raised the resolution while at the same time accelerating processing speed. The device has most of the features found in a regular digital camera, including back focus mode, red eye reduction, face recognition and vibration correction.
These changes, combined with uncompromising quality, helped Samsung Electro-Mechanics to become the leading electronic parts maker in Korea and a major world player. SEM's management is determined to become the world's top electronics parts maker by selectively concentrating resources on constant quality improvement and advanced technology development.
The Six Sigma initiative followed to help the company achieve the highest quality possible in all operations, from the initial stages of product development to the moment it reaches the customer's hands. The ultimate goal is to streamline operations by implementing a global supply chain management system and online procurement and sales procedures.
As a global player, Samsung Electro-Mechanics will continue to expand worldwide manufacturing and sales operations and ensure high customer satisfaction by offering the shortest delivery times.
The company's key technologies, superb quality and top-notch management will lead the way in the digital era, while continuing to satisfy customers and shareholders. nw

President Kang Ho-moon of Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co.