Samsung 2008 Annual Report Download - page 21

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BUSINESS OVERVIEW 2008 HIGHLIGHTS
We are a global leader in consumer electronics and premium home
appliances. Our comprehensive product portfolio includes digital flat-
panel TVs and monitors, audio and video equipment, cameras and
camcorders, computers and peripherals, printers and multifunction
devices, and home appliances. In addition to our global market
leadership in TVs and monitors, we continue to deliver innovative
products that combine form and function such as the industry’s
thinnest LED TVs and the industry’s most compact color laser printers
and multifunction devices.
In 2008, we marked our third consecutive year at the top of the
global TV and LCD monitor markets as we continued to deliver
products with innovative designs and features. Our printer
business continued to hold steady at No. 2 in the global laser
printer and multifunction printer market. Our home appliances
business also led the industry in growth as we continued to win
new customers around the globe.
We are a global leader in mobile phones and telecommunications
equipment. Our product portfolio includes the industry’s widest
range of cutting-edge mobile phones and MP3 players as well as
turnkey telecommunications network solutions. As our premium
designs and unique features propel us ever closer to the top of the
global mobile phone market, we’re also playing a key role in the
development and standardization of next-generation 4G network
technologies such as Mobile WiMAX and LTE.
In 2008, we shipped more than 196 million mobile phones
worldwide, solidifying our position as the global No. 2 maker. Our
success was driven by the steady rollout of premium phones with
advanced features such as touchscreens with “haptic” tactile
feedback and high-resolution cameras of up to 8 megapixels as
well as aggressive marketing in key markets. We also expanded
our market base in the telecommunication systems business by
delivering Mobile WiMAX network equipment to major operators
in the US, Japan, Russia, and other markets.
We are a global leader in memory, logic semiconductors, and hard
drive storage systems. In addition to our long-standing market
leadership in DRAM, we are the industry’s top supplier of flash
memory, SRAM, display driver ICs, and MP3 player system-on-chip
devices. We are also on the leading edge of development in
emerging high-tech market segments such as solid-state drive
(SSD) storage and “fusion” or hybrid semiconductor solutions.
Despite rapidly declining DRAM and flash memory prices in 2008,
our continued investment in product development and manu-
facturing technology, combined with unrivaled economies of
scale, kept us solidly at the forefront of the memory industry. In
addition to gaining significant market share in key logic and
microprocessor segments, we also expanded our storage
systems lineup with external hard drives.
We are a global leader in LCD panels for the TV, monitor, notebook,
and digital information display markets. Backed by timely investment
in new panel and module production capacity, we have now led the
industry in sales revenue for seven consecutive years since 2002.
Today, we’re targeting growing demand for 40-inch-and-larger LCD
panels, LED-backlit LCD TVs, digital information displays, and
netbooks as we continue to work on flexible displays and other next-
generation display technologies.
The successful launch of our first 8th generation LCD line in 2007
and growing demand for 40-inch-and-up LCD TV panels and
other high-margin products kept us at the top of the global
industry in 2008 for a seventh consecutive year as the industry’s
most profitable panel maker. In addition to launching new panels
for LED-backlit TVs, digital information displays, and ultra-high-
definition TVs, we continued to drive the industry forward with
work on flexible displays and other next-generation technologies.