Samsung targets 24 per cent share in Middle East's MP3 player market

Chief among the digital audio players unveiled were the YP-F1, a necklace-type wearable player exclusively targeted at female users; a colour JPEG image viewer player powered with 20-GB (gigabyte) HDD (hard disk drive), the YH-925; and a motion sensing games-embedded player, YP-T8, in addition to other state-of-the-art MP3 players with memory capacities ranging from 128 megabyte (MB) flash memory to 20-GB HDD and capable of holding up to 5,000 songs, equal to 350 hours of music.

Speaking at a press conference Mr. J. H. Park, President, Samsung Gulf Electronics (SGE) said: 'Samsung is already the world's biggest chip maker. We will leverage our dominance in LCD display, chip making and cool-design that our products have come to signify to win market share in Middle East. With the launch of our newest range of unique digital audio players Samsung will consolidate and grow its MP3 market share to 24 per cent in Middle East. In 2005 we aim to grow our MP3 business by 100 per cent in the region.'

'Samsung is committed to offering the most innovative, compact and user-friendly line of portable digital audio solutions available on the market today,' said Mr. Kris Lee, Product Director, Consumer Electronics division, SGE. 'Samsung's top priority has always been delivering on the wants and needs of our customers, and our newest additions of audio/photo file players offer multi-format and photo viewing capabilities that users have been clamoring for.'

'We firmly believe in our consumers and our research showed that female customers wanted a digital audio player that reflected their personality - elegant, stylish, and very feminine - yet equally modern and boasting the latest technology. This gave birth to the YP-F1 digital audio player,' Mr. Lee, added.

The 256MB memory-size YP-F1 is a fashionable player and comes with changeable covers in three colours. It is targeted at female users and comes in a necklace design or clip mechanism. The YP-T8 player, featuring a 2GB flash memory, voice recorder and FM tuner, also includes built-in motion sensing games. The player, loaded with pre-installed gaming software, can play games in 3Dimensions using hand movements instead of button operations, offering a perfect combination of visual, sound and feel.

Featuring a super sharp 260K colour TFT-LCD and a 20GB capacity, the YH-925 is sure to be a top choice for true multimedia file storage and portability. The high-quality screen is perfect for viewing JPEG picture files. The device supports MP3, WMA, Ogg, and is compatible with secure WMA. Users can choose their preferred format, and download their favorite songs from a variety of online music providers. The YH-925 offers plenty of powerful features for audiophiles in addition to its expanded multimedia capabilities. Even the most discerning music lover will be satisfied by the player's 20GB 1.8' HDD, which offers enough storage to encompass more than 5000 MP3 songs equal to 350 hours of music.

'To expand our leadership position in the market, Samsung plans to enhance the product line-up by focusing on segments beyond flash and hard disk drive categories. Samsung's product strategy will include the launch of customer-oriented digital audio players that target different needs through a diverse array of devices for the premium, fashion and video-enhanced segments,' said Mr. Makarand Phadke, Sales and Marketing Manager - Consumer Electronics division, SGE.

'Samsung Electronics is expanding on the MP3 player concept, which originally was designed for music. The company is developing multi-functional and multimedia products that allow users to play electronic games, watch music videos, movies, view digital photographs and other images.'

The other models Samsung showcased included the YP-53 audio player, available in 128MB to up to 1GB memory, featuring a unique USB pin that allows the audio player to act as a USB host for file transfers; the YP-60, targeted at sports enthusiasts, featuring a heart rate monitor, calorie counter and stop watch functions with armband for sports usage and a high-end 2GB flash memory player, the YP-D1, which comes with a 2-megapixel still digital camera function. The YP-D1 will be available by the end of the second quarter.

'Multi-purpose digital audio players will augment sales as they offer consumers the most favoured features. Samsung's new portable audio / photo file players put the 'Multi' in multimedia, as they are designed to take advantage of the upsurge in demand for multi-format and multimedia-enabled audio players,' concluded Mr. Makarand.