Middle East- March 7, 2010 - Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., a global leader in digital media and digital convergence technologies, received the 4th Middle East Government and Business Organizations' award for "Global Customer Care" under the category of "Electronics." Under the patronage of Sheikh Mohammad Maktoum bin Gomaa Al Maktoum, the award was presented to Mr. June Woo Lee, General Manager of Samsung Gulf Customer Service (GCS), in recognition of the division's outstanding commitment to customer service and meeting international benchmarks of service excellence.

The winners were honored at the GCC Government and Business Global Competitiveness Customer Care Strategy Development Conference in Dubai, now in its eighth year. The award recognizes customer service excellence across a total of 14 sector categories: Government, Automobile, Airline, Airport, Banking & Finance, Manufacturing, IT, Healthcare, Telecom, Food, Hotel, Transportation and Property Development. The evaluation is conducted by a panel of judges who rate companies on the basis of the quality of their customer service, professionalism, accessibility to customers, and the presence of clearly defined customer service processes. 

"We are honored to be recognized for Samsung's efforts in positioning service differentiation and customer excellence as our highest priority," said Mr. June Woo Lee of Samsung. "At Samsung we recognize that our customers are the foundation of our success and the focus of everything we do. It inspires us to be acknowledged for this, and we will continue to uphold the highest standards when it comes to meeting and exceeding our customer needs."

As part of Samsung GCS' mandate to enhance customer service levels in the region, a number of industry leading initiatives were implemented such as the regional "Samsung Service" campaign. Launched in 2009 across the Middle East and Africa, the program enabled customers to repair their "In and Out-of-Warranty" Samsung products for free. The program saw over 6,700 products successfully repaired over nine months. Samsung GCS also established the "Customer Interaction Centre," a call centre where consumers in the UAE can call the toll free 800-SAMSUNG number to obtain product information and seek after-sales support. Furthermore, the service center is tracking every service status from the repair registration up to service completion in real-time to avoid any delay and exceed customer satisfaction.

Organized by DataMatix, the conference helps regional organizations stay on top of customer-service trends and provides service-based organizations with best-practices service guidelines. Sponsored by Al Ain Municipality and Qatar Central Bank, the other winners of the 2010 awards were Al Ain Municipality, Qatar Central Bank, Dubai Metro, Emirates Skywards, Qatar Airways and the Institute of General Management.

-Ends- 

About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2008 consolidated sales of US$96 billion. Employing approximately 164,600 people in 179 offices across 61 countries, the company consists of two business units: Digital Media & Communications and Device Solutions. Recognized as one of the fastest growing global brands, Samsung Electronics is a leading producer of digital TVs, memory chips, mobile phones and TFT-LCDs. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com.

© Press Release 2010