Samsung & LGE at CeBIT of Germany and CTIA
Slacker,
I missed this when first published. It's pretty good.
The article has interesting comments on LGE's GSM plans.
I think the comment that most surprised me was this EDGE reference:
"LG's EV-DO phones will be introduced in the U.S. market in the second half of this year, and phones customized for EDGE services will be available in Europe as early as in July."
I'm still wondering whether the LG-U8100 utilizes a Qualcomm chipset (MSM6200) or the Ericsson U100 platform. Have you been able to gleen anything on this?
>> Korea's Electronics Makers Shape Tech Trends
Insight
Yang Sung-jin
Korea Herald
2003.03.25
koreaherald.co.kr
South Korea's major electronics firms have strengthened their market positions dramatically by showcasing their high-powered home appliance and mobile gadgets at the two high-profile trade shows - CeBIT of Germany and CTIA of the United States.
LG Electronics and Samsung Electronics took part in CeBIT, one of the world's largest high-tech trade shows, held in Hannover March 12-19, and CTIA (Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association) 2003, a major wireless industry exhibition in New Orleans March 17-19.
At CeBIT, LG and Samsung ratcheted up their marketing blitz for the European market by unveiling high-powered display panels and demonstrating third-generation (3G) mobile handsets.
The two electronics giants promoted their products customized for the European market at CeBIT. Although worries mounted over the protracted slump in the high-tech sector, Korean and other global IT heavyweights took steps to stay ahead in the race for better, future-oriented technologies.
LG unveiled what it calls "K/K" PDP (plasma display panel) TV at the DDM (digital display and media) pavilion. The new model, designed to offer the world's highest brightness and contract ratio, is one of the 30-odd PDP models targeted at the European market.
LG said it would expand local PDP production lines and strategic distribution network in Europe, while staging a variety of marketing campaigns including a road show of new PDP models.
LG said a mass production of PDP TV sets will go into full swing from April in Wales, Britain, as part of efforts to increase its share in the European high-end television market. The production line is capable of churning out 100,000 PDP units per year.
New manufacturing facilities are set to be established for the company's Poland production line next year.
LG said it will work with Thomson of France and other European electronics makers to strengthen its PDP module business. The European PDP TV market was estimated at 196,000 units in 2002 and is forecast to reach 400,000 units this year. A meaningful turning point is likely to come in 2005 when some 1.5 million PDP television sets are expected to be sold in Europe.
LG also showcased its video recording technology by offering Blu-Ray VDR (video disc recorder) at CeBIT. "Although Europe is yet to adopt HD (high-definition) television broadcasting, LG is leading the technological innovation in the field by introducing Blu-Ray VDR," said Park Sang-myeon, a ranking LG official at the DDM pavilion.
Park said LG's ultra-slim digital projector and wireless home theater system also attracted keen interest from CeBIT visitors.
LG also disclosed a dual-band 3G mobile handset at CeBIT to take a bigger share in the European wireless phone market. LG's strategic item for CeBIT visitors in the Hall 26 was LG-U8100, a dual-band handset that can handle both GSM/GPRS and W-CDMA services.
GSM/GPRS mobile services are the so-called second-generation (2G), and its upgrade version, while W-CDMA stands for wideband-CDMA, a full-fledged 3G service that is powered to handle multimedia and videophone over the faster network.
LG-U8100 comes with 2.2-inch, 26,000-color TFT-LCD screen. It is equipped with 300,000-pixel digital camera and various multimedia features such as VOD (video-on-demand) and MMS (multimedia messaging service).
LG officials at CeBIT trade show, which focuses largely on business deals related to Europe, said the new product sets a new milestone in its bid to support both 2G and 3G mobile technologies.
The European wireless market is currently dominated by 2G, or GSM (global system for mobile communication), while select carriers are upgrading the networks to introduce GPRS (general packet radio service) and W-CDMA.
The transition means dual-band, dual-mode handsets will become mainstream for a while before the European network fully embraces 3G technology.
"The company exported 2.6 million GSM handsets worldwide, and we aim to increase the volume drastically this year, and the new dual-band product is part of our efforts for the European mobile market," said Yi Ho, vice president of the Overseas Marketing Division of LG Electronics.
Yi, who is in charge of GSM marketing, said the company will launch a brand marketing in China, forge supply deals with major European carriers and intensify marketing for its GSM handsets in North America this year.
Yi, who had spearheaded CDMA phone marketing at the LG subsidiary in San Diego, the United States, said the North American market is now waking up to the potential of GSM-based services, a departure from the hitherto CDMA-oriented trend.
LG grabbed the Gold Prize of the prestigious IF Design Award 2003 at CeBIT with its cdma2000 1x color-screen handset, LG-KP6100. The mobile handset comes with an organic EL (electro luminescence) display panel, which is a cutting-edge solution appealing to fashion-savvy mobile phone users.
Korea, which is at the forefront of cdma2000 1x service in the world, is set to launch W-CDMA 3G service later this year, a step that will likely help handset manufacturers like LG to export more handsets to overseas markets dominated by GSM technology.
Korean mobile operators are currently offering cdma2000 1x EV-DO services, which are capable of delivering data at up to 2.4Mbps, thanks largely to the rapid commercialization of CDMA technology.
Meanwhile, Samsung, the world's largest memory chipmaker and No. 3 handset maker, demonstrated its latest 3G mobile handset that is compatible with Europe's UMTS, or universal mobile telecommunications system, standard, at CeBIT.
"Samsung's 3G phone demonstration is being held through the service network of T-Mobile, the largest wireless carrier of Germany," said Seo Gi-yong, senior manager of Telecommunication Network Business at Samsung Electronics.
Seo said Samsung's 3G UMTS phone created a buzz at CeBIT largely due to its technological edge compared with other European and American mobile handset makers.
Samsung disclosed SGH-Z100, a new 3G handset which is geared up for UMTS in Europe, or otherwise known as W-CDMA in Korea. The handset is armed with high-end functionalities such as video telephony and high-speed data transmission.
Samsung officials at the large-scale exhibition booth said Samsung's SGH-Z100 marked the first time 3G mobile telephony has been successfully demonstrated in Europe.
Meanwhile, CeBIT organizers said this year's fair showed the global tech industry is moving toward a recovery. "We can already detect the first signs of a slowly recovering economy in the United States and especially in Asia. The information and communication technology industry and the exhibitors and attendees at this year's CeBIT expect the event to clearly signal that things are beginning to look up again," said Jorg Schomburg, managing director for CeBIT.
Meanwhile, LG and Samsung made efforts to carve out a bigger share in the fast-growing North American mobile phone market at CTIA 2003. Visitors also paid keen attention to the latest handsets manufactured by LG and Samsung during the show which wrapped up its three-day run March 19.
LG, in particular, revealed its ambition to put mobile handsets at the center of home networking products, marking a departure from other foreign vendors.
"We have our handset division, and a large consumer electronics business for everything from TVs to refrigerators. So we have melded our technologies together, creating a home networking solution that we nicknamed Dream LG," said John Koo, chairman and CEO of LG Electronics during his keynote speech on the opening day of CTIA 2003 in New Orleans, a city known for its distinctive cultural diversity.
CTIA is one of the largest wireless technology fairs in the world, attracting major industry heavyweights in North America and elsewhere like Qualcomm Inc., Verizon Wireless, and Nokia.
Koo's presentation of LG's wireless and home networking strategy stood out largely be cause there is few appliance maker well versed in both mobile and home electronics.
In a keynote speech session hosted by Thomas E. Wheeler, president of CTIA, Koo stressed LG's competitive edge lies in face-paced convergence of different technologies that can create more value to people around the world.
While Nokia Chairman Jorma Ollila opted for mobile imaging and Motorola Chairman Chris Galvin preached the virtue of voice in mobile services, LG's Koo focused on the company vision for videophone, m-commerce and home networking solutions.
In what was the first keynote speech by a Korean executive for the prestigious wireless trade show, Koo said Korea is setting the stage for future-oriented mobile technologies.
Korea's Electronics Makers Lead Tech Trends
One of the underlying themes for the wireless technology industry is how Korea has pulled off a rapid advance of the mobile industry and is now offering a full-fledged 3G service while other foreign service operators are still stuck with 2G.
Mobile carriers in some advanced countries are now grappling with saturation, particularly in connection with voice services. As carriers hit a plateau in terms of growth, handset makers including LG are now offering a new momentum through technological innovation, CTIA President Wheeler observed in a keynote session with Koo.
"We are now producing fashionable phones, and I think color screens will definitely change the rule of the game soon as demand for data and multimedia goes up," Koo said.
Monochrome handsets, in other words, will not offer enough value to customers and manufacturers as the market shifts toward faster transmission speed and multimedia-oriented wireless solutions.
Already, 8 percent of mobile handsets sold worldwide are equipped with built-in digital cameras, and LG plans to introduce more high-powered multimedia phones to the global market.
"LG's EV-DO phones will be introduced in the U.S. market in the second half of this year, and phones customized for EDGE services will be available in Europe as early as in July," Koo said.
He said Korean and Japanese carriers have been trendsetters in data services, and their experiences show data is crucial to boosting ARPU, or average revenue per user, for other carriers.
"Last year, of the total ARPU in Japan, data revenue per user accounted for 19 percent and it was 10 percent in Korea, and these numbers are steadily increasing in both markets," Koo said.
Promising data services include VOD (video on demand), MMS (multimedia messaging service), LBS (location based service), m-commerce and network-based games, Koo explained.
Koo's smooth keynote presentation, meanwhile, marked a turning point for the Korean electronics maker in its bid to carve out a share in the North American market.
LG, the world's sixth-largest mobile phone maker, is keen to strengthen its market position here by rolling out high-powered handsets and teaming up with major CDMA operators like Verizon Wireless and Sprint.
LG targets to export 9 million handsets to North America this year in an attempt to position itself as a leading handset manufacturer in the region.
In a press conference following the keynote speech, Chairman Koo said the company aims to become the world's No. 5 handset maker this year, providing some 23 million units to the global market. The target figure marks a 46-percent increase from 16 million units sold in 2002.
The global handset market is estimated to grow up 6 percent to 450 million units in 2003. Of the total, the U.S. CDMA/GSM market will account for 67 million units, and Europe's GSM market 15 million units.
Samsung, meanwhile, unveiled a wide array of camera and multimedia phones including SPH-i700. Notably, Samsung showed what it calls "Matrix" phone, which will appear in a sequel to the world-renowned si-fi flick "Matrix."
Nokia, a rival to LG and Samsung, set a new standard in its push for entertainment and multimedia phones by announcing N-Gage and the Nokia 3300 music phone. The company said the two products are aimed at revolutionizing the games and music industry with an injection of wireless connectivity.
N-Gage lets gamers play popular video games and enables multiplayer gaming via short-range Bluetooth or high-speed cellular networks. The screen capture allows uses to grab and send game screenshots or game sequences via MMS. It features an eight-way rocker directional thumb pad, raised number keys for gaming and a backlit liquid crystal display capable of showing 4,096 colors. <<
- Eric - |
