In 2005 Samsung's total Middle East sales increased by more than 18.5 per cent to $3.2 billion. In 2006 Samsung expects its regional sales to top $3.7 billion. "We expect LCD television segment to be a big driver of growth this year in the Middle East. Internally, we refer to this year as the Audio Visual (AV) Year. The market trend is in favour of flat panel televisions with huge demand for LCD panels. M. Ashraf Sajid, Senior Manager, Sales and Marketing, Digital Media Business, Samsung Middle East.

Samsung expects LCD to grow at a faster rate in the Middle East than Plasma TVs and conventional televisions. "In the future it is much easier to grow in this segment as the technology has improved tremendously and the production costs of LCD screens are dropping substantially due to the low material costs and the capability to make larger panels, he said.

This year, at the Cebit Samsung has the largest participation in the consumer electronics and mobile telephony segments, "Ours is the largest pavilion at Cebit this year. These efforts are targeted at showcasing our latest technologies in mobile telephony and consumer electronics. We are already a household name in the Middle East in these two segments and targets to achieve the same level of success throughout Europe during the next few years, Lee said.

The Cebit participation is a prelude to the big marketing drive the company is planning for Europe starting this year. This is a prelude to our marketing effort that will coincide with the World Cup 2006 in June. The event will be a major platform for us to promote Samsung as a leading consumer electronics and mobile phone brand in Europe, he said.

Driven by the Gulf's economic boom and the huge growth in population, the company more than doubled its mobile phone sales last year. The Gulf markets have been witnessing big growth in sales during the past two years. In the UAE its second in terms of marketshare (17 per cent) with Nokia leading the market.

Samsung officials expect Doha Asian games to give a big fillip to its growth this year. Samsung is a prestige partner of this sporting event. The partnership includes exclusivity in the audio and visual equipment, household appliances and mobile telecommunications hardware categories for the 15th Asian Games Doha 2006.

In addition to the mobile phone and LCD business, the company is also expecting unprecedented growth in digital camera and MP3 business. The market size for digital still cameras (DSC) in the Middle East is projected to record a 12 per cent growth to 390,000 units. In 2005 the DSC market size was 350,000 units. "The current trend is in favour of the slim cameras. Samsung is fully geared to meet the style and technology demands of our generation and the generation next."

During last year all Korean manufacturers came under pressure in the Middle East due to an import ban imposed by Iran over Seoul's stance on the nuclear issue. However Samsung said the impact was minimal on the company as it has manufacturing units in Iran. "We are a major player in television market in Iran with our own production facility. In the near future we will be setting up a unit for home appliances. Compared to many other manufacturers, the impact of the import was minimal on Samsung."