Samsung starts testing next ‘Matrix’ phone

Samsung has landed a deal with AOL Time Warner unit Warner Bros. Pictures to provide a cell phone that will be used in ‘The Matrix Reloaded,’ the sequel to 1999’s ‘The Matrix’ movie, a Samsung spokesman told IDG News Service on Tuesday.

Not much is known about Samsung’s Matrix phone except for a teaser Web site, at http://www.thematrixphone.com, which is already live. The Web site allows anyone to sign up for e-mail updates and a Flash animation communicates “15 May, 2003” and “Samsung” before providing a brief flash of the handset. The date corresponds to the date of the movie’s planned premier.

A company spokesman confirmed that Samsung had reached a “certain agreement” with Warner Bros. but declined to provide more information ahead of an official announcement.

The deal gives Samsung a high-profile platform from which to promote its cellular telephones and could help contribute to reaching the company’s goal of selling 20 percent more cellular handsets in 2003 than it did last year. The company has set a shipment target of between 50 million and 52 million for the current year, against 42 million last year, and has stated a particular emphasis on overseas markets.

Samsung would not be the first handset maker to benefit from a Matrix association. Nokia’s 8110 handset became a must-have item for some after it was featured in the last Matrix movie and even sparked a small business in “Matrix-style sliding covers,” which third party vendors were offering to replace the face plates on other Nokia models.

Samsung became the No. 3 cellular handset maker in the third quarter of 2002, according to the most recent estimates from market research company Dataquest. During that three-month period, Samsung sold 11.1 million handsets to place it behind Nokia and Motorola and ahead of Siemens and Sony.