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Lee Ki-tae, the head of Samsung Electronics¡¯ telecommunication network business, has rejected suggestions the company could join an emerging international trend for cheaper, simpler handsets. ¡°It¡¯s wrong to compete in the world market with mid- and low-priced handsets,¡± Lee told the Chosun Ilbo on Friday. ¡°I don¡¯t want to sell cheap products.¡± He stressed Samsung would stick to its premium strategy to produce high-end mobile phones. ¡°It¡¯s too shortsighted to insist on expansion of our market share,¡± he said, despite the fact that Motorola of the U.S. has dislodged its Korean rival as the world¡¯s No. 2 in the market.
¡°If Samsung puts mid and low-priced handsets on the market, sales may increase,¡± Lee said. ¡°But what counts more is to produce quality products for a reasonable price. It pays off more. Over time, they will see that I was right.¡±
Lee believes if the choice is between market share and profitability, profitability is better, and that there is no point selling unless you are paid adequately. If business partners ask the company unconditionally to supply goods cheap, he stops dealing with them, he said.
Lee professed himself unfazed by the widening gap with Motorola in market share, which he said he fully expected. ¡°Motorola has great potential. People tipped Samsung to overtake Motorola, but it¡¯s of no significance whether you rank second or third,¡± Lee said. However, he predicted his company would take off in the later half of this year, when it will launch a new version of its best-selling ¡°Blue-Black Phone¡± and make forays into the third-generation WCDMA market that enables video calls. ¡°Whatever the market thinks of me, I have my own growth curve,¡± Lee said. ¡°I have my own way of producing the world¡¯s best and first products.¡±
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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