Samsung reveals 3D TVs and Samsung Apps

Big queues and big numbers

At a press conference where hundreds of hacks had to be turned away for fear of overcrowding, Samsung Electronics unveiled its new slogan - 'Inspire the World, Create the Future' - and then promptly talked about world domination.

David Steel, Vice President of Sales in Northern America, detailed that Samsung has sold over 2.6m LED-backlight LCD TVs in 2009, and is planning to sell over 10m in 2010. Samsung, too, he said, had an 80 per cent market share for LED-backlit TVs in the US last year.

On the back of news that Samsung also controls 25 per cent of the market share for cellphones in the US, the company is looking to boost group-wide revenues from $110bn in 2009 to over $400bn in 2020.

Innovation 2010 - Samsung Apps

Much like other TV manufacturers at CES 2010, Samsung is stressing services as much as products, and is hoping to further meld applications to televisions - meaning 'connected TV'.

As a multi-product goliath, the company is launching the cross-platform Samsung Apps - an open-source project much akin to Apple's Appstore - that's aimed at TVs, Blu-ray players, and, of course, mobile phones. Free apps are coming in a couple of months whilst premium apps will arrive in H2 2010.

3DTV ecosystem

We heard it last year and Samsung is putting significant stock in 3D by including a television, Blu-ray player, and home-entertainment system that has 3D at heart. Like Toshiba and LG, Samsung is equipping the newest TVs - one-third of the 2010 range of LED-backlit TVs - with built-in processors for handling 2D-to-3D conversions.

New TVs

Samsung is launching the premium LED 9000, LED 8000, and LED 7000-series, and each incorporate the 3D processor and much of the design we saw in 2009. The 3D range is fleshed out by the mainstream LCD 750. The lower-specification LCD 650 is similar but does without the 3D gubbins. We'll have a picture frenzy during our booth tour tomorrow.