Samsung Electronics Co Ltd aims to sell at least 2 million liquid crystal display (LCD) televisions that use light-emitting diodes (LED) in 2009 and at least 10 million units in 2010, an executive said.

The LED sales forecast comes on top of an initial sales target of 22 million for all LCD sets. The initial target was below DisplaySearch's forecast of a 15 percent growth in the global LCD TV market, and Samsung had said it would strive to post higher growth.

TVs featuring LED backlights are about a third thinner than those lit by traditional cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFLs) and have a longer lifespan. They offer more vivid images, with greater contrast and color range, proponents say.

Yoon Boo-keun, president of Samsung's visual display division said Samsung plans to outperform the rest of the industry in the LCD TV segment, while vastly outperforming the LED TV market next year.

However, unlike in 2009, when Samsung was virtually alone in the LED category in the first half of the year, Yoon said he expects heated competition in 2010.

Yoon was speaking at a press conference ahead of the IFA trade show in Germany. His remarks were embargoed until Friday.

Television panel makers plan to ship 4.3 million LCD units with LED backlights in 2009, research firm DisplaySearch said in a report released in June.

DisplaySearch said Samsung was expected to have a 59.8 percent global market share in the LED television market in 2009, with Japanese rival Sharp following at 27.9 percent.

As LED televisions consume less power than traditional LCDs, they are both economical and environmentally correct, Yoon said, adding that Samsung expects its LED TV segment to grow to the same size as its traditional LCD category by 2012.

On the market for televisions using active-matrix organic light-emitting diodes (AM-OLEDs), touted for their extreme thinness, superior picture quality and energy efficiency, Yoon said much more time was needed for commercialized models to become profitable.

Right now, LEDs are the leading force, he said.

Samsung will still develop the OLED segment as part of its future TV strategy, Yoon said. Samsung is the main proponent of AM-OLED screens in small displays used in mobile phones and media players.

Japan's Sony Corp launched the world's first AM-OLED TV in late 2007, but has not followed with new models.

LG Electronics, Samsung's home rival in televisions, unveiled a 15-inch television set using AM-OLED technology, the largest commercial model so far, and even promised a 40-inch model in the not too distant future.

(Reporting by Marie-France Han; Editing by Anshuman Daga)

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