South Korean major Samsung has chosen Dubai as the site of its first digital showroom abroad, with high-tech devices and staff dressed in Star Trek inspired outfits - all part of the attraction at the Dh3.67 million facility in the Al Ghurair Centre.

The showroom was officially inaugurated yesterday, with Byung Woo Lee, vice president of Samsung Electronics for the Middle East and Africa, hoping it will increase the company's profile in the region.

Dubai was chosen as the first destination due to the region's emerging market status, he said.
Last year Samsung's worldwide sales hit $33 billion; the mea region accounted for almost $800 million.

New to the job, Lee is ambitious to double the region's sales figures. He also aims to make Samsung the market leader by next year. "Our target is to double our sales and I think we have a chance of doing it," he said, barring economy crises.

Samsung is aiming for leadership in mobile phones, PCs and flat-screen televisions, Lee said. Its mobile phones are rated fourth in the world and sales are improving in the Gulf.

Dubai is important to Samsung because of its trend-setting quality. "Once we promote our brand in Dubai, it spreads through the other countries in the Middle East." The region is an important market for Samsung because of its one billion people. "It is clearly one of the world's top niche markets."

"People in the Middle East, especially here in the Gulf, demand quality at reasonable prices. Samsung delivers on both counts." Lee hoped that in the near future product launches would be synchronised between South Korea and the region.

While there are more showrooms planned here, Lee felt it unlikely they will have a direct bearing on sales. The aim of the showrooms is to increase the brand's visibility and "draw people in to see what we have got and that it is affordable", he said.