Samsung aims for double-digit sales growth

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – Samsung Electronics predicted a strong 2010 as economic expansion in advanced and large developing economies gains speed and said it is aiming for double-digit sales growth from last year’s record high.

The world’s largest manufacturer of flat screen televisions and second-biggest seller of mobile phones held its annual shareholders meeting yesterday, where it also reveled in its status as a force in world business.

“Our financial standing is on a global level,” Samsung president and CEO Choi Gee-sung told shareholders. “We have become a world class company.”

Over the past decade Samsung has become one of the world’s top technology companies in both consumer electronics and some of the key components that go into them.

The Suwon, South Korea-based company is also the world’s largest manufacturer of computer memory chips and liquid crystal displays. It ranks behind Finland’s Nokia Corp. in mobile phones.

Choi said that the global economy was likely to build on momentum from the second half of last year when it benefited from government stimulus measures put in place to bolster growth following the 2008 financial crisis.

“In particular, the advanced countries such as the US and EU are likely to see a plus, or a positive, growth and the newly emerging countries, including BRICS, will accelerate their growth rate,” he said, referring to Brazil, Russia, India and China.