Samsung Reaches the Pinnacle of the Design World

Samsung's design expertise is gaining increasing attention around the world. Each year the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) selects the best new product designs from specific industry categories for the Industrial Design Excellence Award, or IDEA. The winners are then published in BusinessWeek magazine. Five Samsung products were honored in IDEA 2004, more than any other company. As a result, Samsung has won a total of 19 Industrial Design Excellence Awards over the past five years, tying with Apple for first place.

A Samsung 17'' LCD monitor (model: SyncMaster 173P) and portable circular printer (concept product) each won the Gold Award at IDEA 2004. Two of the company's 50'' DLP projection TVs (models: SVP-50 and SVP-56L7) and a microwave oven (model: MD1000) received Silver Awards, while the Samsung Smart Screen (a background computer screen that automatically organizes icons) got a Bronze Award.

The foldable 17'' LCD monitor has only a "Power On" button (all adjustments are performed with the mouse), and the cable connection is hidden in the back. This exquisitely simple design won not only at IDEA 2004 but also at this year's iF Design Awards and Red Dot Design Awards.

Senior Vice President Chung Kuk-hyun at the Samsung Electronics Design Center says, "We currently have over four hundred specialist