Samsung joins with Napster in new online music service

Samsung Electronics Co. is gearing up for an online music downloading service in partnership with Napster. Samsung said yesterday at an investor relations meeting in New York that it had signed an agreement on cooperation in technology and marketing. Samsung’s vice president, Eric Kim, and Roxio’s chief executive and chairman, Chris Gorog, said they would launch the “Samsung-Napster player” in the United States. Roxio acquired Napster last year. Music fans can download music files from the Internet by using the player. The two companies will jointly develop and market the player and use both companies’ brands. Napster is an Internet site which once claimed 70 million members who downloaded music files, but after intellectual property right infringement lawsuits against the firm, the site stopped its service. Roxio will introduce a paid music downloading service, called Napster 2.0, before Christmas. Analysts say the partnership between a hardware giant like Samsung and Napster would create a strong synergy. With this opportunity, Samsung is expected to establish a firm base in the online music market, which is seen as an emerging gold mine. In April, Apple Computer Inc. successfully introduced its iPod MP3 player, which can store 2 million songs. Other information technology companies such as Sony Corp., Microsoft Corp., Yahoo and Amazon are also planning to join the fray. “The convergence of digital software and hardware is leading the transformation of the electronics industry, and the recent development of the electronics industry is equal to that during the last 50 years,” said Yun Jong-yong, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics. “Samsung Electronics hopes to become a leader in the digital convergence revolution by taking advantage of its IT products and technologies” by Kim Chang-gyu