Avatar team to film ads for Samsung 3-D TVs

From left Lee Soo-man, SM Entertainment producer, Yoon Boo-keun, Samsung Electronics’ president, James Cameron and Vince Pace. [NEWSIS]

Samsung Electronics Co., Korea’s leading electronics maker, said yesterday it will work with director James Cameron, whose blockbuster “Avatar” started a 3-D wave in the movie industry, to create new 3-D content.

Cameron and his Avatar production team will film concerts and music videos with Korean singers managed by S.M. Entertainment Co. in 3-D format, to be used to market Samsung’s 3-D TVs, the company said.

Cameron helped launch Samsung’s 3-D HD LED TV - the world’s first - in the U.S. in March, hailing the arrival of high-definition 3-D TVs as a breakthrough in entertainment.

Samsung aims to sell more than 2 million 3-D TVs this year.

“A total of 270,000 units of 3-D TVs have been sold worldwide since we rolled out the product at the end of March, and the number is likely to reach 600,000 in the first half of this year,” Yoon Boo-keun, president for Samsung Electronics’ display division, told reporters after announcing the company’s plan to cooperate with the director.

“We have already received an order of about 1 million units of the high-tech TV, though we struggle to meet soaring demand due to lack of panels for 3-D TVs,” he said. “Total sales volume this year is expected to exceed 2 million units.”

3-D technology, which gives an illusion of depth on a flat screen, has been aggressively pursued by global TV makers, including Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics Inc., both of South Korea, and Japan’s Sony Corp.

Riding on the success of Avatar, TV makers have been increasingly betting on 3-D TVs to prod consumers to upgrade their TVs. Yonhap