The all mighty SKorean...TGV

KTX

Sweet.

Samsung in Desperate Bid for MP3 Clout

Samsung Electronics is driving itself crazy with MP3 players, churning out products on an almost weekly basis in a desperate bid for recognition as a world leader in the field.

In the U.S., the birthplace of HDD MP3 players, the company has issued a challenge to Apple while introducing to markets its W900,000 (US$870) diamond-studded luxury MP3 players.

But the background to Samsung's MP3 frenzy is best summarized in one word: pride.

They felt it was absurd that Samsung failed to take the lead in MP3 players when it boasted a record US$10 billion in net profits last year and is a world leader in state-of-the-art cell phones and semiconductors. It is ironic that Samsung controls more than 50 percent of the world market for NAND flash memory chips, which are used in flash memory MP3 players, yet has not been able to make a name for itself for its MP players.

"The mood within the company is puzzlement why Samsung can't get recognition for its MP3 players, even through they aren't lacking in quality, design or branding,” a Samsung official admitted.

Full news @ ChosunIlbo

You lack something you'll never have: branding. Samsucks will always be a second-hand company, a copycat jealous on its master: Sony...


Samsung diamond-laced YP-W3

Do we see a pattern here?

Korean cab?


Hyundai pWnt

Go figure.

Samsung: the Start of an Era of US$10 Billion Profits

"Samsung Electronics last year made a net profit of W10.8 trillion (US$10.3 billion) to become the country's first corporation joining the exclusive club of those earning US$10 billion in net profit. In 2003, only about nine corporations worldwide made an annual net profit of $10 billion, among them MCI, Exxon Mobil, Citigroup and Toyota."
If it is to cement its position as a leading world corporation, Samsung Electronics must not rest on its laurels. It has thus far employed a strategy of swiftly modifying products developed by others, solidifying its own technologies and then contesting through bold investment. Memory chips, liquid crystal displays and cell phones are all such profitable commodities. But that managerial strategy cannot succeed forever. The firm must foster the capability to invent its own technology and create new markets."

Yes! Stop stealing from the others.

"To do so, Samsung has to boost research and development investment and take initiatives in securing core technologies. Though it boasts top-level technologies domestically, Samsung Electronics' technological base is nonetheless poor enough for it to pay W1.5 trillion in patent royalties last year. It also has to raise the localization rate of products from the present 50-60 percent and increase value added income."

Yeap. Go and ask Fujitsu about those patents(remember the PDP patents scam?)

Full news @ Chosun Ilbo

Samsung's Recruiting Policy Angers Job Seekers

"Samsung Group disqualified job seekers who graduated from high schools or universities more than six months previously in the hiring of new staff this year.

Recruiting about 5,000 new employees in September, the nation’s biggest conglomerate limited job applicants to university or high school seniors graduating next February and those who graduated this summer.

As a result, among 55,000 applicants, roughly 26,000 did not pass the preliminary document screening, most of them failing to meet the graduation timing conditions.

The policy has jangled the nerves of young job hunters who hoped to enter the nation’s top business group amid growing youth unemployment, especially among university graduates.

Four of every 10 recent university graduates in Seoul are currently without jobs, according to data from the Ministry of Education and Human Resources.

The youth unemployment rate reached as high as 7.3 percent in August, compared to an overall unemployment rate of 3.5 percent during the same period, the National Statistical Office reported.

``Samsung should not shut the doors completely for those who have already finished their studies. It should give job hunters a second chance,’’ an Internet user said on a job-related Web site." Full Story @ The Korea Times

Pretty shitty for a Fortune 500 company...