Is Samsung's green focus too much of a good thing?

Samsung is no stranger to taking chances and making investments in big time technology trends before they hit. It is a part of the core strategy that has made the company a player in high end 3D LED TVs, home entertainment systems, mobile phones, and appliances. Samsung's latest ambitious plan, for better or for worse, could be a glimpse into the Samsung's product future: green. 

In late January, Samsung made the announcement that it would be mass manufacturing 3D LED screens. Amid the buzz of 3D on the big screen, the aggressive announcement to not only carry the innovative technology, but to produce mass quantities of the 3D LED screens before a single 3D TV had even been bought off the shelf says something about the aggressive nature of the company.

The result of the risky venture is the ultra slim, Energy Star 4.0 compliant Samsung 9000 series that offers innovative features like 2D to 3D video conversion, Wi-Fi connectivity, and perhaps the best LED picture on the market; the top-of-the-line 9000 series crowned Samsung with the Innovation Award at the 2010 International CES in Las Vegas and is already available in Korea.

Samsung's innovation and investment in 3D LED TVs has no doubt brought the company success. The question is, will the strategy to invest in green products and green energy work for Samsung the same way it has worked with LED TVs?

Samsung laid out a plan this week to invest W23 trillion, or over $20 billion, in solar cells, rechargeable batteries, LED technologies, biopharmaceuticals and medical devices by 2020.

According to a Samsung official, "These five new areas will be [Samsung's] future growth engines replacing mobile phones and other current flagship businesses."

Samsung is a company that looks to be at the cutting edge of the technological market. Although Samsung understands appliances and mobile phones, the technological growth and competition that has already saturated this market gives it an unappealing outlook.

Energy efficient, green products on the other hand not only have a money-saving incentive for consumers, but also an environmental incentive to reduce waste and carbon emissions. Not to mention, Samsung is completely diversifying its product focus in relatively new, uncharted territory.

With the 5 new areas of focus, Samsung is looking to dabble in generating efficient solar energy, developing carbon eliminating hybrid car batteries, expanding its LED offering - helping to eliminate electrical waste, exploring pharmaceutical opportunities in biological science, and introducing electronic healthcare equipment in a time of major boomer retirement.

Not even the biggest, most powerful companies in the world have a product offering that is as expansive as what Samsung is proposing by 2020.

As long as the new focus does not spread Samsung too thin with too many areas of focus, this could be a very big move for Samsung.