Samsung envisioning online music platform

Samsung Electronics Co. is considering launching a music download service platform that resembles Apple's iTunes online music store, said Choi Jee-sung, vice president of visual display division, last Friday. Meeting with reporters at the Digital Media Research and Development Center in Suwon, Gyeonggi province, Mr. Choi said that sales of the firm’s mp3 players doubled from a year earlier, totaling 3.7 million units this year. “Considering that Samsung's market share is bigger than Apple's in Asian countries and that the iTunes service is not offered in the region, except in Japan, we definitely have a competitive edge there,” Mr. Choi said. Samsung Electronics plans to initiate the service in the domestic market and then gradually expand it overseas. The digital media center, open to journalists for the first time, was completed a month ago and is the largest of its kind in Asia. Dedicated to developing digital consumer electronics such as liquid crystal displays and MP3 players, the complex currently accommodates 5,200 researchers, including 150 of foreign origin. by Kim Chang-woo