MEET THE VISIONARIES DR
MEET THE VISIONARIES DR JONGW OO PARK PRESIDENT – DIGITAL M EDIA BUSINESS SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS THE “SEAMLESS EXPERIENCE” As IFA’s opening keynote speaker, Dr Jongwoo Park President – Digital Media Business - Samsung Electronics, will be presenting “Seamless Experience – the completion of Digital Renaissance”. IFA International’s Editor-in-Chief, Richard Barnes met with Dr Park for this exclusive “pre-keynote” interview… a ”spicy Korean“ foretaste. Over the past years, many companies have been claiming to be working towards a “seamless expe rience”. You are saying that with Samsung this experience has arrived. Can you tell me a little bit about what the seamless experience is and how do youbelieve Samsung has achieved this? A “seamless experience” is not just technological matter. We see it in a broader sense. For us, it’s about a genuine experience for our customers. This means anyone should be able to enjoy the benefits of our digital devices at anytime, anyplace without any stress so they can communicate around the world and share their new experiences through the product. However, if you look at the situations around the world, due to the complexity of devices, the digital convergence, the development of network systems, it is getting harder for customers to use high technology digital devices. So they are feeling “digital fatigue”. This is true particularly for elder people or people in underdeveloped or emerging countries, who are isolated or left behind in terms of digital experience. Therefore, the right direction of a “seamless experience” is to remove the gap in the digital experience among people, caused by age, location, and income differences, by resolving the digital fatigue. So this is not only our duty as a major electronics company, but also the way to repay ourclients around the world in helping us become a global leader in the electronics industry. What does Samsung offer them that other companies don’t? We are in the best position to secure the “convenience of connectivity” point of view. If you look at the “seamless experience”, it actually means the convenience of using digital products as I pointed out before. Now more and more digital devices are coming to the market and they are also slowly connecting to each other. So in that sense, the convenience of connectivity is very critical and essential. If you look at Samsung’s product portfolio, it is very comprehensive, ranging from home products like TVs, home cinema and Bluray Players to mobile devices, like camcorders, digital still cameras, cellular phones and MP3 players, right through to IT products Opening keynote today at 9.45 ICC Berlin, Hall 3 like printers, monitors and PC’s. We are in the best position to converge all of these devices. In addition to those advantages, Samsung has also established vertical integration with important components, such as semiconductors, displays, mobile CPU and secondary batteries and also all kinds of electrical components to finish the products. So it is also through this vertical integration that we provide a value to our customers. What is Samsung doing to further develop what you term the “digital renaissance”? If you look at the history of electronic trends, around early 2000, many analogue devices were converted into digital appliances. Therefore in 2003, Samsung presented its “digital renaissance” at IFA. After that, digitalisation has accelerated very quickly. Now there are many products coming out in the market as the second phase of the digital renaissance. In 2006, Samsung also highlighted creating “rich digital” at IFA. And now we are focusing on the “seamless experience” as a completion of digital renaissance. This means people use a variety of products and the contents in an easier, more convenient, and more pleasant way. So we are really striving to realise a “seamless experience” in various areas including the UI (user interface), design, connectivity, communication technology and home wireless solutions. So overall, Samsung is the right company to provide a better solution and better value to the clients than any other company in the world. Samsung is strengthening alliances now. With who and what are your goals? We have a lot of alliances right now, especially in the TV area. For example, we just launched the Armani TV in alliance with the famous designer. This is just more than a TV. This TV is an achievement made by the combined power of Samsung’s excellent technology and Armani’s emotional design concept. We pursued a high quality premium product for our customers. The second alliance is for “TV 2.0” through our partnership with USA Today, Google, and Naver, so we will keep on expanding our alliances with global content companies. The third example is in the mobile phone area. We have also forged an alliance with Adidas so we keep on expanding our alliances. We have arrived at a very special time because of this convergence. What does the future hold for Samsung and what is your vision for the way the company will evolve? That question is very difficult and also very critical to answer. If you look at the global economy, it’s now facing the 3 F’s: finance, food, and fuel. So although the CE industry is expected to maintain a healthy level growth, it wouldn’t be kept intact if the global economy slows down. In addition, CE products must become basic commodities like food and 14 www.ifa-international.org IFA International • Friday, 29 th August 2008
MEET THE VISIONARIES energy, otherwise sales could be limited. We will provide value to our customers. They will find the most value through the different variety of products and the seamless experience. How important is IFA for Samsung? IFA is very important for us. IFA is the largest consumer electronics trade fair in Europe. It is fair to say that IFA has had 80 years of history which encompasses the whole history of European electronics industry. Particularly since the 1990’s, IFA has led the new digital media era and its role and status is getting much more important in the 21st century. It is now time… we need to think about our future seriously, so it was gratifying to be asked give the keynote speech at IFA! What excites your about the CE industry in general? The most exciting is the “seamless experience”. As more and more digital products are coming on the market and networks are being developed, contents of digital information are increasing at an explosive rate. T he market information is expected, based on my studies, to grow by about 1,000 times by the year 2020. This is because we are moving into the Web 2.0 era. Now everyone is creating and sharing knowledge, and recreating information in two-way communication. So it is very important that we at Samsung put a priority in the CE industry to develop and offer product service solutions for efficient production management and sharing of digital content. What are the challenges for the future? I have two major challenges. One is from the technical point of view and the second is from the business point of view. First point is that many consumers do not keep up with development of digital device networks. Somehow the gap between the technology and the consumers’ understanding should be reduced. So in this regard, “seamless experience” would help narrow this gap. From the business point of view, my challenge is how to maintain profit margin in digital devices. The more we introduce digital devices, the harder it is to maintain the margin. This is also a challenge. Being green is becoming important. What is your vision on this? This is an important subject in the 21st cent ury f or all of global companies, because green manufacturing processes are required in most countries these days. This is true in Europe, which already asks most companies to reduce hazardous materials and lessen consumption. So, as a model for green management, Samsung is making all possible efforts, including elimination of poisonous waste, reduction of electricity consumption, recycling, etc to live up to green ideas. We are also actively responding to the world’s regulation directives, such as ROHS, WEEE, EUP, etc. Our 1,400 products have been awarded 6 kinds of eco-levels around the world. In March this year, we topped the Greenpeace environmental ranking among 18 global IT companies. So basically, we are fully committed to a green manufacturing process. Also, we think highly of CSR, Corporate Social Responsibility, as we consider it’s one of the most important management tasks. Don’t miss our wrapup of Dr Park’s keynote presentation in tomorrow’s edition. Dr Jongwoo Park was named President of the Digital Media Business of Samsung Electronics in January 2007. After joining Samsung Semiconductors in 1992, Dr Park led the design of the world’s first 16Mb SOI DRAM, 1Gb DRAM, and 1Gb NAND flash memory. Dr Park holds a Master’s degree from Yonsei University and also holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University. www.artdisplay.fr IFA International • Friday, 29 th August 2008 www.ifa-international.org 15
