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Samsung Ready to Take On iTunes

Monday, October 31st, 2005 at 10:20 AM - by Staff

Samsung announced that it is developing an iTunes-like application and music service in an effort to improve its MP3 player sales, according to The Korea Times. No date for Samsung's music service has been set yet.

Choi Gee-sung, Samsung's president, commented "We are now in talks with our partners to debut a service program like iTunes of Apple. Our No. 1 priority is to help customers use our products with ease."

Compared to the iPod, Samsung's MP3 player sales are tepid. The company sold only 1.7 million units last year. In contrast, Apple sold 22.5 million iPods. Apple's dominance in the music market will be difficult to beat. Samsung's best bet may be to focus on markets that Apple hasn't entered yet, like China and Southeast Asia.

Samsung's strong suit is in manufacturing memory chips like the ones used in the iPod, which has landed it in some trouble. The company recently pleaded guilty in an investigation for price fixing, and was negotiating a memory chip deal with Apple that fell through.

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Billy K said:

member since 06 May 2004 with 297 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Mon Oct 31, 2005 12:10 pm

Oh, this'll be fun to watch.

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fartheststar said:

member since 04 Jan 2004 with 222 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Mon Oct 31, 2005 1:32 pm

ahhh finally. So glad they've come to bat now.

The quote "Our No. 1 priority is to help customers use our products with ease." would be better attained with a better product as WELL as a store, not just the store.

Billy K, you got it right.

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A guest said: (hide)

Mon Oct 31, 2005 2:14 pm

As the article says, Samsung's best bet is to jump into China feet-first, before Apple can get there.

They'll never be able to beat the iPod or ITMS, but they can carve out a sizeable niche, if they move fast.

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A guest said: (hide)

Mon Oct 31, 2005 2:15 pm

As the article says, Samsung's best bet is to jump into China feet-first, before Apple can get there.

They'll never be able to beat the iPod or ITMS, but they can carve out a sizeable niche, if they move fast.

Quote this post ↓

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