Samsung Electronics Snatches Unprecedented $50 Bln Export Award

Posts better than expected Q3 business performance thanks to the release of differentiated products, cost competitiveness and aggressive marketing activitieswon

Samsung Electronics has won the $50 billion Export Tower Award from the government as it exported $54.29 billion from the period between July 2007 and June 2008, representing a 14 percent surge over the same period a year earlier.
Samsung Electronics surpassed the $50 billion export barrier one year after winning the $45 billion Export Tower Prize. It was in 1971 that Samsung Electronics, with a staff of five, began exporting. Since its engagement in exporting in earnest in 1973, Samsung Electronics became the first Korean company to receive the $10 billion export award as it posted $11.87 billion worth of exports in 1996. The electronics giant went from strength to strength: it posted $23.6 billion worth of exports in 2002 before shattering the $40 billion barrier in 2005.
The Korean electronics giant, a maker of such mainstay electronics exports as wireless handsets and DRAM chips, has been credited with having achieved a higher than expected business performance during the third quarter of 2008 thanks to the release of differentiated products, cost competitiveness, and aggressive marketing activities amid such market uncertainties as slumping demand caused by the global recession and fierce price competition.
Samsung Electronics posted third quarter revenue of 30.27 trillion won on a consolidated basis for the period ending on Sept. 30, 2008, an increase of 4 percent compared to the second quarter. Operating profit for the quarter was 1.48 trillion won, a 38 percent decline from the 2.4 trillion won in the second quarter.
Despite unfavorable conditions overall, the company reported favorable or better than expected results in key business sectors including semiconductors, which maintained profitability despite steep price declines in major chip categories, and telecommunications, where Samsung achieved record quarterly sales in handsets.
Samsung Electronics has seen its brand value surging to $17.86 billion to rank 31st in the world while the company has been recognized as a premium brand, winning such prominent awards as IDEA, Good Design Award and iF.
Here is a look into division-by-division business performances:
Digital Media Division
A survey of LCD TV makers by the market research agency Display Research, showed that Samsung Electronics sold 4,837,000 LCD TV sets for the second quarter of 2008 to fortify its No. 1 position with a market share of 20.4 percent. Samsung sustained quarterly growth to take the lead in the global LCD TV market for the eighth straight quarter since Q3 of 2006.
Samsung Electronics has released million-selling TV sets with new designs each year since 2005. The "Rome" LCD TV set surpassed the 1 million unit mark one year after its debut in 2005, followed by the "Bordeaux" TV set, which became a million seller six months after its release in 2006, and the "2007 Bordeaux" TV set, which hit the 1 million unit mark within three months of its launch, and the "Crystal Rose" TV set, which adopted new materials and new design engineering methods. The company has introduced the "Info-Link" TV set that audiences can search such information as news, weather and stocks, as well as the YouTube and the "Content Library" TV set with built-in content, including games, education and cooking information. It has also released the latest and most advanced TV sets, including the world's slimmest, 44.4mm-thick TV and the LED LCD TV set with an environmentally friendly LED backlight.
Handset
The company's handset division sold 51.8 million units in the third quarter, surpassing the 50 million-unit mark for the first time. It saw its market share rising to a record high of 17.1 percent. The division achieved remarkable achievements in quantitative growth (market share) and revenues (profitability).
It fared well in advanced markets like Europe as well as emerging markets, including the Middle East, Africa and Russia. Samsung Electronics maintained the leading position with a large market share margin with the first runner-up in Paris. Samsung Electronics has built up its image as a premium brand with a more than 20 percent share of the European market, as it has ranked first for the second straight week recently in the French handset market and other parts of Europe.
In the emerging Chinese handset market, Samsung Electronics saw its market share more than doubling to over 20 percent for the first time in the recent 12 months. As such brands as Heptic, Omnia and Instinct showed explosive growth in the touch-screen market, the company plans to introduce a variety of handsets tailored to meet consumers' demands.
Semiconductor
The semiconductor division posted third quarter sales of 5.29 trillion won and operating income of 19 billion won on a consolidated basis. The division focused on such differentiated products as Multichip Package (MCP) and NoviNAND together with differentiated competitiveness in order to raise profits. The products posted profits in the semiconductor industry, which was grappling to deal with red ink.
LCD
The LCD division registered third quarter sales of 3.75 trillion won and operating income of 450 billion won. The division concentrated on the TV panel sector, which showed stable prices by selling 24.6 million large-size panels. It maintained its competitive edge in the TV panel sector by selling more than 5 million TV panels for four straight quarters. nw

(right) President Lee Myung-bak presents the $50 billion Export Tower Award to Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman & CEO Lee Yoon-woo during the Trade Day ceremony. (left) Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman & CEO Lee Yoon-woo