Samsung chief Yun Jong-Yong wants to double revenues

The South Korean firm said it aimed to become one of the world's three largest consumer electronics firms within the next five years.

Demand for memory chips in digital cameras, mobile phones and portable music players was strong, it said.

Samsung has enjoyed almost 20% sales growth in each of the past five years.

Research emphasis

The world's largest memory chip maker and second largest semi-conductor manufacturer, Samsung is also a leading producer of flat-screen televisions and display panels.

It has also climbed rapidly up the league table of mobile phone makers, overtaking such brands as Sony Ericsson to sit third behind Nokia and Motorola.

Samsung executives told analysts at a conference in Seoul that they aimed to double the company's sales to $110bn (�62bn) by 2010.

"We hope to become one of the top three electronics companies in the global market by the end of 2010 and to double the revenue we posted last year," said chief executive Yuan Jong-Yong.

The company has pledged to further increase its spending on research and development, which totalled $4.1bn in 2004.

It hopes to become the world's leading supplier in 20 product categories, compared with its current market leadership in eight areas.