South Korea¡¯s Samsung Electronics declared a challenge to become the first player in the mobile phone and smartphone markets. It also put an emphasis on early expansion of the tablet PC business, Hong Won-pyo, Executive Vice President of Samsung Mobile said in its weekly executive meeting held in Seoul on Wednesday.



Smartphones accounted for 22% (300 million units) of 1.36 billion units of mobile phones last year. This year, the proportion has grown by 5% points to 27% (420 million units) of 1.55 billion units in total. By value, smartphones took up 54% ($99 billion) of the total value of mobile phones $183 billion last year. The figure swelled by 64% to $127 billion out of $200 billion in total this year, Hong explained.



By market, smartphone sales volume surged from 16% in first quarter of last year to 72% the same quarter this year in the domestic market. The percentage has gone above 80% as of now. During the same period in North America, the figure grew from 31% to 49%, in Europe from 29% to 49%, in Asia Pacific region from 16% to 25%, in Latin America from 12% to 16% and in Middle East and Asia from 10% to 14%.



Hong forecast that the tablet PC market will see an annual growth of 53%, selling 59 million units this year and 150 million by 2015. A total of 18 million units were sold last year.



Hong declared Samsung¡¯s goals to become the leader of the global mobile phone market by producing high-class smart devices in the advanced market and by enhancing its leadership in the emerging market. Along with that, in the smartphone market, Samsung will strengthen its dominance in the premium market and penetrate into the emerging market by distributing mass-market models. At the same time, Samsung whose sales currently reach 80% of that of Apple in the U.S. will try to narrow the gap, Hong said. The company also aims to achieve a five-fold growth in the tablet PC business through early expansion.



[Written by Su-hyun Song / edited by Soyoung Chung]






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