Samsung Electronics has generated better than expected sales in the fourth quarter of 2005, with a 1.5% rise and a 7.5% rise from the previous forecasts, according to Samsung Securities who made the announcement at the CES Show in Las Vegas.
The electronics giant made 1.589 trillion won (approximately US$1.580 billion) in revenues and 2.49 trillion won ($2.477 billion) in operating profits in the fourth quarter, up 9.3% and 17.3%, respectively, over the prior quarter,
By business sector, sales from NAND flash and TFT-LCD segments were better than expected, while earnings from the DRAM business remained close to expectations. Samsung Securities also estimates the performance in the information and telecommunication segment remained below expectations due to the increasing costs.
Samsung Securities adjusted upward its operating profit forecasts from TFT-LCD and semiconductor units by 14.7% and 0.6%, respectively, whereas the information and telecommunication operating profit estimates were revised downward by 1.3%. In addition, the securities company predicts that Samsung Electronics will earn 2.58 trillion won ($2.566 billion) in operating profits in the first quarter this year and 2.12 trillion won ($2.11 billion) in the second quarter.
Samsung has also announced what it claims is the world’s fastest multimedia-downloa mobile handset. The phone, equipped with an MSM6 chip from the Qualcomm of the Uni States, enables users to download music or other multimedia content speed of 3.6 megabits per second, approximately 10 MP3 music files aminute.
It also appears that Competition between European and U.S. standards is heating up as rival phone makers support both standards.Simultaneous announcements of cell phones that support competing standards from South Korean rivals Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics could kick the emerging market for mobile broadcast-style TV into high gear.
Both Samsung and LG said they have developed cell phones that support the two leading standards for broadcast-style TV on cell phones: DVB-H (digital video broadcasting-handheld) and Media FLO (forward link only). And both companies will unveil the phones at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) taking place this week in Las Vegas.
DVB-H was developed by Nokia and is designed to optimise broadcast video on personal handheld devices such as cell phones. Italian operator 3 is currently using DVB-H technology to launch a broadcast TV service (see TechSpin: Triple Play for 3). So far the DVB-H standard is most popular in Europe.
Media FLO was developed by Qualcomm and is being championed by US Carrier Verizon Wireless, which announced a month ago that it plans to offer TV services in late 2006 or early 2007 on Qualcomm’s Media FLO network. Qualcomm’s Media FLO network is not scheduled for full commercial launch until the end of 2006. Telstra is expected to launch TV services either late in 2006 or early 2007 when the new broadband network comes online.
DVB-H and Media FLO are not the only standards in development or use. In South Korea, there is a competing standard, DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcasting), for sending broadcast TV via cell phones. And in Japan, there is the ISDB-T (Terrestrial Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting), which seems to have been developed primarily for domestic consumption. These standards make it possible for cell phone users to tune into broadcast TV, which has a one-to-many architecture, much like regular over-the-air, traditional broadcast TV. It is video offered on a parallel over-the-air network employing something that works more like traditional signaling.
In the case of Media FLO, it will operate on a parallel network instead of on the cluttered voice network. In the U.S., the pricing structure for broadcast-style TV over cell phones has not been established. But with TV networks charging in the neighborhood of $1 or $2 for the rebroadcast of TV shows online, the pricing model may be forming.