Although Samsung is the world's largest supplier of memory chips and liquid crystal displays it is only the eighth largest supplier of MP3 players, the report said.

Samsung sold a total of 1.7 million MP3 players in 2004, the report said, while the worldwide MP3 player market is expected to reach between 35 million and 45 million units in 2005. The report went on to quote a Samsung roadmap which had the Korean electronics giant securing a 25 percent to 30 percent of the global market for MP3 players in 2007, accompanied by 50 percent to 55 percent of the domestic market.

As part of its MP3 strategy Samsung intends to add video playback capability to MP3 players to create new equipment capabilities and standards, to create partnerships with content providers, to create online communities of people that use its players, and to advertise aggressively, the report said.

"Samsung Electronics has set its worldwide MP3 player sales target to over 5 million units this year. By shoring up our digital audio device business, we will grow into the world's top MP3 player vendor by 2007," the report quoted Ahn Tai-ho, senior executive director of Samsung Electronics and CEO of Samsung Bluetek, as saying.

"In the next two to three years, the global MP3 player market, currently ruled by Apple, will take a shift to having three to four major players, including Samsung, Sony and Panasonic, in addition to Apple," the report quoted Ahn saying.

By: DocMemory
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