Samsung Electronics purchases audio unit

Samsung Electronics said yesterday that it bought the digital audio division of its affiliate Samsung Bluetek for 6.7 billion won ($6.6 million). About 100 workers in Bluetek’s research and development department and marketing department were transferred to Samsung Electronics’ digital media division. Bluetek was created in 1998 as a spinoff of Samsung Electronics when the latter went under restructuring because of the Asian financial crisis. Now that Bluetek’s researchers have moved to Samsung Electronics, the company will focus on production at its plant in China, continuing to make mini-audio components. The company said the takeover is part of a larger plan to expand in the home audio and mobile audio markets. “Our liquid crystal display and plasma display televisions are at the top of the global digital visual equipment market, and we wish to achieve the same in the digital audio market,” a Samsung official said. In the home audio market, Samsung will focus on home theater products; in the mobile audio market, it will concentrate on MP3 players. “The convergence of audio and visual products is accelerating, and we feel there is a need to merge related R&D and marketing workforces as well,” the official said. “We want to raise our market share in the global digital audio market to around 10 percent within this year, aiming to become the largest MP3 maker by 2007.” by Wohn Dong-hee