South Korea’s Samsung Electronics will roll out six new models in the MP3 music player market in the second half of 2005 and plans up to 10 more next year in a bid to catch up with leader Apple Computer, an official said on Thursday.

Samsung Electronics, the world’s most valuable technology firm outside of the United States, introduced six new additions to its eight-model range of Yepp players in the first six months, in an effort to treble its annual sales to more than 5 million units.

But the target is still a sixth of the expected 2005 sales of rival Apple’s iPod player.

The thumb- to pocket-size gadgets of both Samsung and Apple also face growing competition from mobile phone makers who are adding MP3 music functions to high-end models.

“We will have a total of 12 new MP3 models this year and plan to introduce five to seven flash-type models and some two-hard-disk-drive models in 2006,” Park Hyun-joo, an assistant manager of the Seoul-based company’s marketing division, told Reuters.

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