Samsung: iPhone could help, hinder us
updated 03:05 pm EST, Fri January 12, 2007
Samsung on iPhone
Korean firm Samsung says the iPhone is a threat with a hidden blessing, according to analysts and Samsung executives speaking with the Associated Press. The company on Friday acknowledged that Apple's cellphone likely posed a direct threat to its own cellphone line, which includes high-end smartphones such as the BlackJack, but may by association draw interest to devices that were previously seen as too expensive.
"We have an opportunity [to create demand]," Samsung telecom VP Kim Jeong-han said of Apple's entry into the field.
Analysts also suggest that the iPhone may have an incidental benefit to Samsung in particular, as its ability to produce both CPUs and flash memory that could be used at the heart of the iPhone could profit the Korean corporation even as Apple potentially erodes its marketshare. Apple "will create lots of demand for NAND flash," says Dongbu Securities' Lee Min-hee. Samsung has not yet confirmed its exact amount of involvement with the handheld.
