(29 October 2005 4:00 pm)

MUMBAI: Samsung Electronics, which claims to be the number one producer of television sets by revenue, has opened a digital research center in Korea.

This is a new research facility dedicated to its digital media business. Samsung claims that the new facility is the largest R&D center in Asia and is expected to become a major R&D hub for development of digital TVs.

Samsung Electronics president digital media business Geesung Choi states, “The Digital Research Center will play a key role in our drive to be the digital TV leader. This facility will turn out a steady stream of innovative printers, camcorders, monitors and notebook PCs that are on the cutting edge of the digital renaissance.”

The center houses special-purpose facilities that will elevate the level of technological development and innovation in digital consumer electronics and IT products. These labs are built for functions such as picture and sound quality assessment, safety, reliability testing and environmental testing.

Ground was broken in September 2003 and construction was completed at the end of September 2005. The floor space is the equivalent to the area of 30 soccer fields. Currently, 5,200 employees work at the R&D Center and it will eventually accommodate 9,000 researchers.

Of the 4,100+ R&D personnel who are part of the Digital Media Business, around 1,500 hold post-graduate degrees. There are also more than 150 expatriate researchers from India, China, Japan, Russia, UK and the US.