I believe Samsung is pushing inferior products into the Indian market. A friend of mine bought this TV in USA and when he moved from USA to India he brought it along (he uses it with a power converter). I bought the same model (LA40B550K1R) in India. His model is still working after 4years but the TV unit I bought in has died within two years. When I inquired with Samsung they wanted 12, 500 to repair the LCD screen (they told me this after I paid their technician 1200 to come and check out the problem). I complained to the consumer forum who never bothered to respond.
I asked Samsung for their failure rate in India (# of units failed/ # of units shipped) within 1year, within 2 yrs and within 3yrs. Once I asked for this information, they stopped replying to e-mails. I have another TV (Panasonic brand) sitting in the next room which has been functioning without any problem for 3 years.
For a brand like Samsung, it is pathetic performance - I think they get away with inferior products in India because the legislation is not strong enough and there is no enforcement on the part of government agencies whereas they would never dream of cheating a US consumer because they will be faced with serious lawsuits. Have stayed away from buying Samsung products after this experience and other friends complaining of similar problems dealing with Samsung (products failing after 1yr warranty).