Things were going well for Samsung in Q4 last year; the company has reported that its fourth quarter sales in 2005 hit a record high of 15.5 trillion won ($15.6 billion), up 7 percent from a year earlier. However, performance for the whole year was down compared to 2004, with net earnings sinking 29 percent. Chu Woo-sik, Samsung's chief of investor relations, was still very optimistic, though.

"Considering that we spent more on marketing in the digital media sector and set aside 1.3 trillion won in incentives for our employees after scrapping stock options, our actual operating profit should be around 2.8 trillion won," said Chu Woo-sik, Samsung's chief of investor relations, in a meeting with reporters.