hankyoreh

South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. will expand its research and development (R&D) centers overseas to provide mobile phones and other key consumer products that appeal more to customers in other countries, sources said Monday.

"We plan to expand our R&D activities for mobile phones and home appliances such as TVs by opening a research center in Warsaw, Poland," said a Samsung officials on condition of anonymity. "We will also increase the number of researchers at existing R&D centers in China and India to strengthen our grip on those Asian markets."

He didn't give details on when and how many researchers will be assigned to R&D centers in those countries.

The move seems to be in line with Samsung's recent change of business strategy in the mobile phone market to focus more on less expensive products, moving away from the premium goods, observers say.

The business strategy is aimed at increasing its market share in emerging markets such as China, South America and Asian countries.

Thanks to robust sales of low- and mid-priced products, Samsung reported that it sold 37.4 million mobile phones in the second quarter, outpacing Motorola to become the world's second-largest cell phone manufacturer.

SEOUL, Aug. 27 (Yonhap)