Samsung to pick Amazon.com's brains, officially

Samsung's Korean retailing division has formed a partnership with Amazon.com to speed the Internet bookseller's move into the Korean market. The deal specifically relates to Amazon.com providing its retail services through Samsung's Internet shopping site. Aamzon.com will also "pass on its online sales expertise", shorthand presumably for telling Samsung's people how to market books online. A Samsung representative also said the company hoped the current alliance would be expanded to allow it to take a 50 per cent stake in an Amazon.com Korean subsidiary should the bookseller ever decide to form one. However, he admitted that the company had no idea when -- or even if -- Amazon.com had such a move in mind. ®