Samsung Strengthens Its Leadership in Blu-ray

SEOUL, KOREA – April 28, 2008 – Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. today announced its latest additions to the product lineup: a fourth-generation Blu-ray player and a second-generation Blu-ray home theater. Samsung boasts the most diverse selection of Blu-ray products in the industry, and company officials revealed plans to make the high quality video and audio format a full-fledged market that Samsung will lead.



Samsung Electronics introduced the world’s first Blu-ray player in June 2006 and has to date developed three successive generations of the product. Last December Samsung unveiled the first-ever home theater-in-a-box that includes a Blu-ray player and now has come out with an upgraded version. As such, the company remains ahead of the competition in new product development.



Dongsoo Jun, chief of Digital AV Business Division at Samsung Electronics, said he expects the overall Blu-ray market to achieve average annual growth of at least 80% through 2012, with 51 million units sold a year by that time. A conservative estimate for 2008 would be 5 million units sold, or three times the number for last year, he added.



“We will maintain our technology and market leadership, working together with many other companies in the Blu-ray business to drive market expansion. Our own Blu-ray product sales should increase to W400 billion this year and surpass W1 trillion by 2010,” Jun said.



In the days ahead, Samsung Electronics intends to differentiate its technology governing the basic Blu-ray functions—video and audio quality. Its strengths as a consumer electronics maker will be leveraged to strengthen the connectivity among home-use products (such as the TV) and mobile products (camcorders, mobile phones, etc.). In addition, access to various media services will be added to provide consumers with a steady stream of new lifestyle options, setting Samsung clearly apart from its rivals.



Importantly, Samsung expressed determination at the Blu-ray Strategy Briefing to stimulate market growth as a Blu-ray product manufacturer. Jun said, “The DVD market took off once 1,000 DVD titles became available, and Samsung will help to create an environment that will allow film studios to produce their titles on BD. This we will do by informing the consumers of the value that Blu-ray offers and by expanding the number of competitive products to drive market growth.”



The increase in full-HD TVs is seen as the impetus for Blu-ray market expansion. Full-HD TVs are now in widespread use, but consumers are having a difficult time in finding the players and contents that are up to the capabilities of their TV. The Blu-ray market will grow because this format is a sure way for consumers to enjoy full-HD video and audio quality. Samsung Electronics will broaden the synergy between its Blu-ray product line (players, home theaters) and full-HD product line (TVs, camcorders and so on). Samsung’s goal is to provide an environment for consumers to create and play back contents in full-HD, and to make full-HD a format second to none.





4G Blu-ray Player (BD-P1500)



The recently completed fourth-generation Blu-ray player(BD-P1500) will play CDs and DVDs as well as the high quality BDs. This is a full-HD Blu-ray, offering the same high picture quality as the original movie. With dual decoding, the product offers a Bonus View function whereby you can watch picture-in-picture contents at the same time as the main program. Built-in memory enables a Bookmark function. In addition, internet and USB memory provide easy firmware upgrades now and will bring BD Live interactive service in the days ahead.



Future Blu-ray players from Samsung will be equipped with an HQV processor to deliver even better picture quality the ability to upgrade standard-definition video to high-definition output. The high-definition audio function will also be enhanced.





2G Blu-ray Home Theater (HT-BD2F)



In December 2007 Samsung Electronics released the world’s first home theater-in-a-box that includes Blu-ray(HT-BD2), and it comes with 7.1-channel, lossless surround sound—the same as a regular movie theater. The product supports various HD surround decoding formats, including Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus, DTS-HD and lossless DTS-HD Master Audio, and it reproduces sound ranging up to 50KHz. With the second-generation Blu-ray home theater, Samsung changed the speaker system to 5.1 channels and lowered the price accordingly to increase sales.




Reference


1. Blu-ray Market Demand Forecast (units sold)
- 2007 : 1,760,000
- 2008 : 5,930,000
- 2009 : 12,832,000
- 2010 : 25,770,000
- 2011 : 39,930,000
- 2012 : 51,130,000

*Source: TSR, January 2008

2. History of Samsung’s Blu-ray Business

l 1998: Development of a gallium nitride-based blue laser diode is begun; work starts on basic technology for next-generation optical devices.

l 1999: A 0.6mm ROM is completed.

l 2000: A 0.4mm ROM/RAM is completed.

l 2001: A 0.1mm RW/ROM is completed.

l 2002: Samsung becomes a charter member of Blu-ray Disc Founders (consisting of 9 companies).

l 2003: The world’s first single pickup (BD/DVD/CD) is developed.

l 2004: The world’s first Blu-ray recorder with single pickup is released.

l 2005: A hybrid Blu-ray recorder with network hard drive is released.

l June 2006: The world’s first Blu-ray player (the BD-P1000) is released.

l April 2007: The 2G (with enhanced picture quality) Blu-ray player (the BD-P1200) is released.

l September 2007: The 3G (supports HD audio) Blu-ray player (the BD-P1400) is released.

l November 2007: A dual-format (BD and HD) player (the BD-UP5000) is released.

l December 2007: The world’s first Blu-ray home theater-in-a-box with 7.1-channel sound (the HT-BD2) is released.

l February 2008: A Blu-ray home theater with satellite speakers (the HT-BD2S) is released.

l April 2008: The lower-priced Blu-ray home theater with 5.1-channel sound (HT-BD2F) is released.

l May 2008: The 4G BD player (the BD-P1500) is scheduled for release (will include Bonus View).





About Samsung Electronics

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2007 consolidated sales of US$103.4 billion. Employing approximately 150,000 people in 134 offices in 62 countries, the company consists of five main business units: Digital Media Business, LCD Business, Semiconductor Business, Telecommunication Business and Digital Appliance Business. Recognized as one of the fastest growing global brands, Samsung Electronics is a leading producer of digital TVs, memory chips, mobile phones and TFT-LCDs.

For more information, please visit www.samsung.com.

Tags: samsung, strengthens, leadership