Electronics makers aiming to top Korean firms

HANOVER, Germany ― At the CeBit technology fair currently underway here, Taiwanese mobile-phone maker BenQ-Siemens has a booth next to global top players: Finland’s Nokia, and Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc. At the BenQ-Siemens booth, a presenter holding the EF91 cellular phone explained that the handset is equipped with a portable Internet technology called high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA), and emphasized that the development of the phone followed moves by both Samsung and LG. At this year’s CeBit fair, BenQ-Siemens has won nine awards from the German Design Association for its slim phones. On the other hand, Samsung and LG ― despite having made clear contributions to the “slim boom” across the world ― ended up winning only a few awards for their handset models. Kim Jin, managing director of the design research center at LG Electronics, offered a plausible excuse for the unexpectedly palty accolades at the design awards. “We haven’t presented new handset models here because Asian firms tend to copy our design within a short time period,” he said. At an electronics goods shop in a crowded shopping district on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, Sony-Ericsson’s Walkman phone, which combines a mobile handset with a Walkman-quality music-file player, was on display. “The product is intended to grab consumers attracted to the music phones mostly developed by Korean firms,” a shop clerk said. The mood here evidently shows that Asian digital appliance makers are rushing to catch up with the global dominance currently held by Samsung and LG. Panasonic, a brand under Japan’s leading consumer electronics group Matsushita, showcased a 103-inch plasma display panel TV, the world’s largest, at its booth ― one inch larger than the 102-inch PDP TVs Samsung and LG unveiled last year. The 103-inch model was first introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas early this year. Despite intense competition, Korean firms are not dropping out of the race. LG has plastered its PDP televisions with signs reading, “World’s best 102-inch TV,” while Samsung uses the phrase “World’s first 102-inch TV.” A spokesman for the latter firm said a one-inch difference was meaningless and what matters most was “resolution quality.” Sony, in a bid to beat its competitors, has dragged down the prices of liquid crystal display TVs in the European market. “Some LCD TVs by Sony cost lower than those from Samsung,” said Kim Yang-kyu, president of Samsung Electronics’ French subsidiary. He added that not only Sony, but also other Japanese makers such as Toshiba and Hitachi, are offering competitive discounts. by Hong Joo-yun, Seo Ji-eun