SEOUL, 5 January 2006 — Samsung Electronics Co.’s market value surged past $100 billion yesterday as its stock jumped 5.1 percent, putting it among Asia’s largest companies by market capitalization. The value of Samsung’s common stock rose to about 103 trillion won, or $103 billion, after its share price rose to a record high 699,000 won ($699) yesterday. The won’s strength against the dollar also contributed to crossing the threshold.

Samsung, the world’s biggest manufacturer of memory chips, became the first in South Korea to achieve such size, and is more than twice as big by this measure as Japanese rival Sony Corp., valued at about 4.7 trillion yen, or $41 billion.

The milestone puts Samsung among the region’s biggest companies by market capitalization, but it still trails several corporate giants, including Toyota Motor Co., which is valued at about 22 trillion yen, or $190 billion.

Investors scooped up Samsung shares, which gained 46 percent in 2005, on anticipation of improved earnings during the fourth quarter and into the first quarter of this year, analysts said. The company, the nation’s biggest, is also a leading maker of mobile phone handsets and other consumer electronics including digital music players.

Consumer demand is moving toward gadgets that can do several things, such as cell phones that can also access the Internet or play video clips, and Samsung seems to have anticipated that change in the evolving information technology market, analysts said.