Samsung on track to become top home appliances maker

LAS VEGAS — South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co said it is on course to achieve its goal of becoming the world’s top home appliances maker by 2015, with sales growing an estimated 50 percent by then.

Samsung Electronics, which makes more chips, flat-screens, handsets and TVs than any of its competitors – including the world’s best-selling smartphone – is aiming to boost its home appliance segment and narrow the gap with companies including Whirlpool Corp and Electrolux AB.

“I’m confident of Samsung becoming the world’s top appliances maker by 2015 with $18 billion sales, as we set up a very well structured framework for key products and moving step by step to the goal, first starting with fridges,” Yoon Boo-keun, president of the division, told Reuters in an interview at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Monday.

Analysts estimate Samsung Electronics earned around 13 trillion won ($12 billion) last year from home appliances, part of the firm’s consumer electronics arm.

Samsung Electronics would ditch unprofitable product lines and boost research into consumer tastes across different markets, Yoon said.

“It’s a business that can ensure steady cash flow with little earnings fluctuation, once you have a proper system in place,” Yoon said. “It’s not dull at all and has great potential to become Samsung’s next earnings driver.”

Mr Tv aims for growth

Yoon, who was head of Samsung’s TV business until 2011, was put in charge of the thin-margin home appliance division a year ago with a mission to match the TV outfit’s success.

Known as Mr. TV, he had a pivotal role in ending Japan’s more than three decades of leadership in the global TV industry in 2006.

“We see lots of opportunities in the appliances segment but we didn’t strongly grow the business – simply, it didn’t get proper treatment,” Yoon said after unveiling a new four-door Internet-connected fridge at the electronics show.

His remarks come only hours after Samsung Electronics said it likely earned a record quarterly operating profit of $8.3 billion, aided by roaring sales of smartphones.

Samsung’s CE division is estimated to have earned around 13 trillion won ($12.22 billion) of revenue in the fourth quarter, or roughly a quarter of its total revenue.

TV sales generally account for around 70 percent of CE performance, and the rest comes from selling appliances such as fridges, ovens and laundry, according to analysts. Samsung does not provide breakdowns.

It’s been a low-margin business compared with smartphones, which generate around 25 percent of margin, and the division’s operating profit contribution is estimated at around 4 percent.

Yoon also said Samsung, the world’s top maker of TVs, was aiming to sell 55 million flat-screen TVs this year, up from 51 million last year, even as the industry is set to remain stagnant due to the weak global economy.

Betting large TVs with over 65-inch screen sizes will lead the growth, Samsung Electronics unveiled three models of ultra high-definition (HD) TVs that boast four times better picture quality than full HD models.

Acquisitions in medical sector

Yoon also heads Samsung’s corporate design centre and oversees the medical equipment business, which was added to the consumer electronics division this year.

Samsung Electronics acquired a controlling stake in Korean ultrasound equipment firm Medison in 2010 and its affiliate later for around $300 million in total, its biggest ever acquisition in the healthcare industry.

Yoon expected sales from its medical devices would reach $500 million this year, up from $300 million last year, and will grow with the acquisition of companies that make MRI scanners and computed tomography machines.

Samsung Electronics has said it plans to spend 1.2 trillion won in the medical equipment business by 2020 to make it a $10 billion operation by then.

In the long run, Samsung Electronics aims to become a global healthcare leader, taking on GE, Philips, Hitachi, Toshiba and Siemens

source: interaksyon.com

Cars, homes smarten up at CES 2013

SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK — At the world’s largest technology conference that kicks off on Monday, the most intriguing innovations showcased may be gadgets and technology that turn everyday items into connected, smarter machines.

This year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas promises a new generation of “smart” gadgets, some controlled by voice and gestures, and technology advancements in cars, some of which already let you dictate emails or check real-time gas prices.

Pundits have long predicted that home appliances like refrigerators and stoves will be networked, creating an “Internet of things.” With advancements in chips and the ubiquity of smartphones and tablets, it’s now happening.

“We’ve been talking about this convergence of consumer electronics and computers and content for 20 years. It will actually be somewhat of a reality here, in that your phone, your tablet, your PC, your TV, your car, have a capability to all be connected,” said Patrick Moorhead, principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy.

Despite the absence of tech heavyweights Apple Inc and Microsoft Corp, CES still draws thousands of exhibitors, from giants like Intel Corp and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd to startups hungry for funding.

Wireless chip maker Qualcomm Inc’s CEO, Paul Jacobs, opens the festivities with a keynote speech on Monday, taking a spot traditionally reserved for Microsoft, which decided last year to sever ties with the show.

Jacobs said in a recent interview on PBS that he will show how wireless technology will be pushed way beyond smartphones into homes, cars and healthcare.

SMARTER SMARTPHONES

With venues spanning over 32 football fields across Las Vegas — more than 1.9 million sq. ft. (176,516 sq. meters) — CES is an annual rite for those keen to glimpse the newest gadgets before they hit store shelves. The show, which started in 1967 in New York, was the launch pad for the VCR, camcorder, DVD and HDTV.

While retailers prowl for products to fill their shelves, Wall Street investors look for products that are the next hit.

Intel and Qualcomm are expected to highlight improvements in “perceptual computing,” which involves using cameras, GPS, sensors and microphones to make devices detect and respond to user activity.

“The idea is that if your devices are so smart, they should be able to know you better and anticipate and react to your requirements,” said IDC analyst John Jackson.

This year, snazzier TVs will again dominate show space, with “ultra high-definition” screens that have resolutions some four times sharper than that of current displays. The best smartphones will likely be reserved for launch at Mobile World Congress in February.

There will also be a record number of auto makers showing the latest in-vehicle navigation, entertainment and safety systems, from Toyota’s Audi to Ford, General Motors and Hyundai. The Consumer Electronics Association has forecast the market for factory-installed tech features in cars growing 11 percent this year to $8.7 billion.

BMW, for one, already provides speech recognition that is processed instantly through datacenters, converted into text and emailed without drivers taking their hands off the wheel. The luxury carmaker also offers data about weather, fuel prices and other items.

“Automotive has been this backwater of technology for a long time. Suddenly, we’re seeing a lot of real innovation in automotive technology,” Scott McGregor, CEO of chipmaker Broadcom, told Reuters ahead of the show.

source: interaksyon.com