Lee Sang-Wan Samsung Electronics President in Charge of the Company's AMLCD

Samsung Electronics has been no. 1 in the world LCD industry since 1998. Last year, the company's turnover in LCDs amounted to $5.38 billion, the largest of all the global producers. In large-sized LCDs over 10 inches, too, the company is maintaining the no. 1 position it first attained in December last year.

According to Display Search, Samsung Electronics is forecast to consolidate its top ranking position by shipping 30 million units of large-sized LCDs of over 10 inches this year. Samsung Electronics is spearheading advances in LCD technology by developing a 57-inch large-sized LCD module for TV applications, the largest of its kind in the world, in November last year. Lee Sang-Wan, Samsung Electronics president in charge of the company's active matrix LCD (AMLCD) business, said in an interview with The Korea IT Times, "Samsung Electronics envisions setting a new standard in the world LCD market by producing a 7th generation LCDs in Asan, Chungnam through its S-LCD joint venture company with Sony of Japan."

World's top ranking in LCD turnover

Samsung Electronics has commenced a program to strengthen its position as the largest display company in the world.

Mr. Lee explained: "Samsung Electronics will strive to be the leader across the entire spectrum of LCD products by producing LCDs for notebook PCs, monitors, LCD-TVs, and mobile telephones. With regard to turnover, we're aiming to hit $20 billion by 2010, building on the $5.3 billion of last year."

Moreover, Samsung's LCD production of units over 10 inches is scheduled to increase to 30 million units this year, to 90 million units in 2010, after starting with an output of 2 million units in 1998, Mr. Lee said.

Accordingly, the company plans to boost its market share of the burgeoning LCD TV market from the current 10% to 40%, once production at its 7th-generation production in Tangjeong-myon, Asan City, gets under way. According to market survey firm Display Search, the LCD-TV market will expand from 5 million units last year to 9.9 million units this year and will increase to 16.40 million units next year and to 28.90 million units by 2006.

Samsung Electronics plans to capture the small and medium-sized LCD market markets with its independent core technologies such as mPVA (Mobile Patterned Vertical Alignment) and SLView (Samsung Light View). These LCD markets are rapidly growing because of increasing applications in mobile devices such as a cellular phones and PDAs.

Mr. Lee said, "From the second quarter of next year, Samsung Electronics will produce panels for LCD-TVs and for large-sized monitors as well as at its 7th generation LCD plant in Tangjeong myon, Asan, an area we have dubbed 'Crystal Valley.'" He added the company will manufacture small- and medium-sized LCD panels for mobile devices in Giheung and LCD panels for monitors as well as notebooks in Chunan in the near future.

The 1.8-million square meter Asan Tangjeong Complex is expected to serve as Samsung Electronics' main production base along with its 4 lines in Chunan. Mr. Lee emphasized that, "Samsung's Asan Tangjeong Complex will generate employment for 20,000 people as well as a turnover of 10 trillion won by 2010."

Samsung Electronics will active for leadership across the spectrum of LCD products.

Another advance slated for 2005

After joining Samsung Electronics at its Bucheon semiconductor operation in 1976, Mr. Lee Sang-Wan was closely involved for 16 years in top decision making in such fields as development, production and marketing in core divisions of the semicon business including memory, Sys, and LSI. He played a decisive role in boosting Samsung Electronics AMLCD business to the world's no. 1 spot in 1998 as the chief of the department, one that Samsung Electronics was promoting as a new core business as early as 1993. Because Samsung has kept its position despite increasingly tough competition, Mr. Lee's reputation has spread from Korea to top LCD competitors, Japan and Taiwan.

Industry observers say that Mr. Lee is dubbed "the bulldozer" because of his ability to drive business forward once he decides upon a course of action.

The following anecdote typifies his business approach. When large-sized corporations were demanding 11.3-inch panels, in anticipation of future trends and to steal a march on bigger competitors such as Sharp, Mr. Lee decided to develop and introduce a 12.1-inch panel in conjunction with Toshiba as part of a strategic decision Samsung Electronics made to focus upon next-generation products.

By investing in large-scale third-generation lines that even Japanese firms would not consider because of difficult financial investment circumstances, Samsung Electronics set the stage to enable it to become the no. 1 LCD company it is today. In the meantime, the 12.1-inch panel has become an industry standard. On the basis of the company's success with the 12.1-inch panel, Samsung Electronics introduced the first 3.5-generation production line to promote the standardization of 14.1-inch products for notebooks as well as for 17-inch monitors.

Mr. Lee is now planning another major advance for the Korean LCD industry by pioneering new, rapidly growing markets, in particular, LCD-TV.

He asserted, "Samsung Electronics will make another advance in the LCD business through its investment in the 7th generation line in a bid to boost our competitive edge and get ahead of the competition in the LCD-TV market in 2005."