Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd pledged to double its dividend yield, invest in new technology and boost marketing to topple Apple Inc in the mobile sector as it sought to ease investors’ concerns over its sagging share price.

The world’s leading maker of smartphones, memory chips and televisions outlined its strategy on Wednesday at a rare meeting with analysts designed to reassure investors that it is listening to complaints about low returns and poor use of capital.

But shareholders appeared unconvinced as they drove the stock more than 2 per cent lower, versus a 0.1 per cent rise in the wider market. Samsung trades at seven times projected earnings, while Apple trades at a premium of 12.

“Our management view is that our product valuation multiple does not truly reflect our earnings growth and leadership position in the IT industry,” chief financial officer Lee Sang-hoon told analysts at the meeting in Seoul.

He said the South Korean giant would modify its dividend strategy based on a target yield, and flagged a more flexible approach to shareholder returns by vowing to review them every three years to ensure they reflected changes in business conditions.

Faced with slowing growth in the market for its top-selling Galaxy range of high-end smartphones, Samsung said it would target the tablet segment where Apple’s iPads dominate.

The mobile business brings in two thirds of Samsung’s total profit and Shin said the $228 billion company would continue to invest heavily in marketing to create “buzz” and boost sales of its latest gadgets.

“We have technologies ready to bring new innovation into the market soon. At the same time, we’ll leverage our Galaxy brand, distribution channel and global networks,” he said.

Samsung, whose smartphone market share rose to a record 35.2 per cent in the July-September quarter versus Apple’s 13.4 per cent, remains a second player in the tablet market.

Assuming conservatively that Samsung will keep its marketing budget stable at last year’s 6.5 per cent of sales, outlays are expected to increase 16 per cent to a staggering $14.2 billion this year, on par with its R&D spending. CFO Lee estimated R&D spending would be around $14 billion.

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