Samsung Electronics holds an 85 percent stake in Samsung Display….reports Asian Lite News
Samsung Electronics plans to borrow more than $15 billion from its display-making subsidiary to secure operational costs, the company has said.
The South Korean tech giant said in a regulatory filing that it will borrow 20 trillion won ($15.78 billion) from Samsung Display at an interest rate of 4.6 per cent to “secure working capital.”
The loan matures August 16, 2025, and amounts to 10.35 per cent of Samsung Electronics’ equity capital as of at the end of 2021, reports Yonhap news agency.
Samsung Electronics holds an 85 percent stake in Samsung Display.
The move is widely interpreted as the world’s largest memory chip maker’s unwavering commitment to its investment drive, even as smaller rivals, like SK hynix and Micron Technology, moved to cut back on spending in the industry’s down cycle.
Samsung’s fourth-quarter profit shrank 69 per cent from a year earlier to an eight-year low of 4.3 trillion won as the global economic slowdown hurt the sales of electronic devices and semiconductors that power them.
“The business environment deteriorated significantly in the fourth quarter due to weak demand amid a global economic slowdown,” the company said last month.
Samsung’s chip business, which took up around 56 per cent of the tech company’s total profit a year ago, was hit hard as semiconductor buyers slashed spending amid growing inventory and a supply glut drove down chip prices.
The chip business saw its profit drop a whopping 96.9 per cent from a year earlier.
“Overall memory demand weakened as customers continued to adjust their inventories amid deepening uncertainties in the external environment,” Samsung said.
Samsung’s operating profit for this year is forecast to fall short of 20 trillion won due to the global economic slowdown and chip downturn.
Last year, the tech giant made 43.37 trillion won in operating profit and invested a record 53.1 trillion won in infrastructure, 90 per cent of which was spent on semiconductor facilities.
For all the eternal challenges, Samsung said it will not reduce investment.
Earlier in the day, Samsung announced disappointing earnings results for the three months ending in December….reports Asian Lite News
Samsung Electronics reaffirmed on Tuesday it has no plan to cut investment for this year despite disappointing earning results in the fourth quarter on a slump in demand.
While unfavourable market conditions are expected to persist, “on the flip side, this is a great opportunity for us to prepare for the future,” the company said during an earnings call.
Samsung will “continue to make the infrastructure investments that are necessary to respond to mid-to-long term demand, and to secure the essential clean rooms that we would need to do that. So in conclusion, this year’s (capital expenditures) plan is expected to be similar to previous years,” it said.
The remark came amid wild speculation that Samsung might join the list of other major memory chip firms, including SK hynix and Micron Technology, to reduce investment and production to deal with falling prices and oversupply, reports Yonhap news agency.
Samsung, the world’s largest memory chip and mobile phone maker, also forecast the portion of research and development investment within its total capex will rise this year “in order to enhance our process technology competitiveness and stabilize our process technology early on.”
Earlier in the day, Samsung announced disappointing earnings results for the three months ending in December.
Its fourth-quarter operating profit shrank 69 per cent from a year earlier to an eight-year-low of 4.3 trillion won ($3.49 billion), as the global economic slowdown hurt the sales of electronic devices and semiconductors that power them.
It is the tech giant’s lowest quarterly operating profit since the third quarter of 2014.
Sales fell 8 percent to 70.46 trillion won for the three months ended Dec. 31, the company said.
“The business environment deteriorated significantly in the fourth quarter due to weak demand amid a global economic slowdown,” the company said in a statement.
Samsung Galaxy A53 5G around Rs 35K arrives in India next week.
Pullan said that their smartphone business grew in excess of 20 per cent last year, helping them consolidate their market share….reports Asian Lite News
Samsung India on Thursday said it will have a 5G-first strategy in India to consolidate its smartphone leadership in the country, eyeing to capture 75 per cent sales from its 5G device portfolio this year.
The South Korean company launched two new 5G smartphones — Galaxy A14 5G and Galaxy A23 5G — that will go on sale on Friday.
“We will not only launch more 5G smartphones but also ensure wider distribution of our 5G smartphones in the country with the objective of securing 75 per cent sales from 5G devices this year,” Raju Pullan, Senior Vice President, Mobile Business, Samsung India, told IANS.
Pullan said that their smartphone business grew in excess of 20 per cent last year, helping them consolidate their market share.
“This year, we expect to grow in strong double-digit, while industry sales are likely to grow in single digit. We’re confident about our growth on account of our 5G-first strategy,” he added.
Samsung led the India market in 5G smartphone shipments last year.
According to Counterpoint Research, cumulative 5G smartphone shipments are set to exceed 4G smartphone shipments by the end of 2023.
Better availability of networks in major areas will also facilitate 5G smartphone growth in 2023, which is estimated to be 62 per cent (on-year).
The key for mass 5G adoption in India will majorly depend on the introduction of 5G smartphones in the affordable smartphone segment (less than Rs 10,000).
Samsung said that Galaxy A14 5G and Galaxy A23 5G, priced between Rs 15,000 and Rs 25,000, will be the most widely distributed smartphones in the country.
Pullan said Samsung’s A series portfolio will have 1.6x higher 5G devices than last year.
The company said that its affordability programs through Samsung Finance+ ensure that consumers can buy 5G smartphones at the same EMI as a 4G phone, helping drive the 5G smartphone adoption in the country.
Galaxy A14 5G comes with 6.6-inch FHD+ screen and Galaxy A23 5G ensures an immersive content viewing experience.
Galaxy A23 5G’s 120Hz refresh rate enables smooth scrolling and fluid screen transitions. Both phones come with 5000mAh battery and 50MP camera sensor.
Han Jong-hee, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics Co. and head of its DX (Device eXperience) division, talks at the online event Unbox & Discover 2022 on March 30, 2022. (Yonhap/IANS)
Recently, Samsung has been doubling down on its campaign on connectivity and sustainability….reports Asian Lite News
Samsung Electronics will present its vision for “sustainable innovation” at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) next month, its top executive said on Thursday, continuing its focus on developing products that are both highly connected and sustainable.
As a major technology company, “Samsung Electronics has a responsibility to establish an eco-conscious value chain through our innovative technologies and products,” Han Jong-hee, CEO and head of the Device eXperience (DX) division, said in a post updated on the company’s website.
The world’s largest mobile phone maker will show “a new and expanded SmartThings experience” during the annual technology show, set to run from Jan. 5-8 in Las Vegas, Han said, presenting “easier and safer ways to connect devices and appliances” that are more energy efficient and environmentally friendly.
SmartThings is Samsung’s software to connect and control home appliances, with more than 230 million users worldwide, reports Yonhap news agency.
While details of Samsung’s upcoming exhibition at CES 2023 remain unknown, the tech giant is expected to renew its efforts to offer users more seamless experiences by connecting home appliances.
Recently, Samsung, one of the world’s biggest manufacturers of electronic devices and semiconductors, has been doubling down on its campaign on connectivity and sustainability.
During the IFA 2022, a major global technology show in Berlin in September, the South Korean company unveiled an upgraded version of SmartThings that enabled users to connect and control home devices from 13 different brands, including its own.
Samsung is a founding member of the Home Connectivity Alliance (HCA), alongside domestic rival LG Electronics Inc., GE Appliances and the Electrolux Group. The Home Connectivity Alliance was established in 2021 with the mission to provide consumers with more options within a safe, secure and interoperable connected home ecosystem.
Such interconnectivity, it said, helps users lead an environmentally more sustainable life.
Creating more eco-friendly home appliances and devices is one of its long-term goals, the company has said, adding that all of its home appliances will be Wi-Fi enabled by the end of next year and ultimately will be fitted with built-in energy-saving features.
Samsung said it will also explore funding support to some of these startups to help them further scale their solutions…reports Asian Lite News
Samsung on Thursday invited local startups to collaborate on technologies around the ‘Digital India’ stack, including unified payments interface (UPI), Digilocker, Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), Open Credit Enablement Network (OCEN) and Unified Health Interface (UHI), among others.
The company said that its R&D centres and business units in the country will work closely with these startups to co-build solutions for a specific product or service, that has the potential to be integrated with the company’s product ecosystem.
“We wish to collaborate with startups who have cutting-edge technologies in this space, which, when integrated with the Samsung ecosystem, can transform the lives of people, our consumers,” said Dipesh Shah, Managing Director, Samsung R&D Institute Bangalore.
Startup funding slows but strong core policies will help tide over uncertainties, say experts(IN)
Samsung said it will also explore funding support to some of these startups to help them further scale their solutions.
The company last week held a ‘Startup Collab’ event at the Samsung Opera House in Bengaluru where around 25 startups came together and interacted with Samsung leadership from its R&D centres in Bengaluru and Noida, and its corporate headquarters in Gurugram.
“Co-prosperity is one of our core values and we hope to play our part in enhancing the innovation ecosystem in the country, thereby powering ‘Digital India,'” said Dr Balvinder Singh, Head, Open Innovation Group, Samsung R&D Institute Bangalore.
Samsung’s engineers will also provide these startups with technical mentorship as well as guidance in protecting their intellectual property.
A successful startup currently powers Samsung’s local India app-store where consumers can discover and access their favourite mobile applications in 12 Indian languages.
Another startup has powered ‘Lock Screen Stories’ on Samsung Galaxy smartphones. This feature has close to 30 million daily active users, said the company.
Samsung said its cooperation with Naver will create great synergies in developing semiconductors with high efficiency and speed for AI-specific calculations…reports Asian Lite News
Samsung Electronics on Tuesday announced that it has partnered with internet portal giant Naver Corporation to develop next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) chips, as part of efforts to improve efficiency of processing large AI data.
Samsung said its cooperation with Naver will create great synergies in developing semiconductors with high efficiency and speed for AI-specific calculations, Yonhap news agency reported.
“There are growing needs to develop new types of semiconductors that are focused on processing hyperscale AI, as the current computing systems have their limits in doing so,” Samsung said in a statement.
“We will continue expanding the lineup of market-leading memory chip products by offering solutions to meet the needs of AI service companies and users,” it added.
Naver, which has advanced technology in AI algorithms that automate the process of machine learning, released the AI platform CLOVA in 2017, which offers various AI-based services for search, speech recognition and natural language processing.
In May last year, it unveiled the supersized AI platform HyperCLOVA.
Meanwhile, Tech giant Samsung is reportedly planning to launch a new in-house global research unit to combat semiconductor downfall.
The new organisation will launch under the Device Solutions Business Division and will be assigned to research new investment avenues, as well as, analyse the global semiconductor market, reports SamMobile.
samsung
Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the tech giant and other semiconductor companies have seen a continuous decline in demand, supply chain interruptions, and excess inventories.
Samsung appears to be hoping that the formation of a global semiconductor research unit will improve things.
Instead of depending on outside sources, the tech giant plans to run its own in-house research to examine the global semiconductor market more closely.
Earlier, the head of Samsung Semiconductor had also claimed that things might not get much better next year, the report said.
Last week a report mentioned that the company was planning to reduce its smartphone shipments by 13 per cent next year.
The tech giant was not able to sell as many smartphone units as it had expected because of many reasons, including the supply-chain issue caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, Samsung on Wednesday said it plans to hire nearly 1,000 engineers from IITs and top engineering institutes to work on cutting-edge technologies at its R&D institutes across India, at a time when Big Tech companies lay off thousands of employees across the globe.
The new workforce will join Samsung R&D Institute-Bangalore (SRI-B), Samsung R&D Institute-Noida, Samsung R&D Institute-Delhi and Samsung Semiconductor India Research in Bengaluru next year.
The new hires will work on new-age technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, image processing, internet of things (IoT), connectivity, cloud, big data, business intelligence, predictive analysis, system-on-a-chip (SoC) and storage solutions, among others.
“Samsung’s R&D centres aim to hire new talent from India’s top engineering institutes who will work on breakthrough innovations, technologies, products and designs, including India-centric innovations, that enrich people’s lives. This will further our vision of Powering Digital India,” said Sameer Wadhawan, Head, Human Resources, Samsung India.
Samsung will recruit engineers from multiple streams such as computer science and allied branches. information technology, electronics, instrumentation, embedded systems and communication networks.
Samsung Electronics appoints its 1st female president.
1st female president appointed
Samsung Electronics on Monday promoted a female executive to the president of global marketing for its mobile business, in the first move to tap a female talent for the top post.
Lee Young-hee was promoted to the president of the Global Marketing Center for Samsung’s Device eXperience (DX) division that oversees its mobile business.
She is the first female president at Samsung, the country’s biggest conglomerate, to come from outside the founding family, reports Yonhap news agency.
Lee Boo-jin, the first daughter of late Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee, is currently serving as the president and chief executive of Hotel Shilla, a Samsung affiliate.
Lee Young-hee joined the tech giant in 2007 and was promoted to vice president in 2012. Previously working at L’Oreal, she is credited with successfully promoting the image and brand of Samsung’s Galaxy mobile phones.
Samsung expected the promotion to serve as a chance for other talented female employees to challenge themselves to climb career ladders.
She is among seven new presidents, part of a small-scale corporate reshuffle conducted for the first time since the group’s de facto leader Lee Jae-yong was promoted to executive chairman of the company in October.
Samsung did not appoint a new head for its home appliance unit, a position that has been vacant since Lee Jae-seung resigned in October for undisclosed “personal reasons.”
Han Jong-hee, vice chair and co-CEO at Samsung, will continue to assume the additional duty following Lee’s departure for the time being, Samsung said.
The company will also hire from streams such as mathematics and computing and software engineering…reports Asian Lite News
Samsung on Wednesday said it plans to hire nearly 1,000 engineers from IITs and top engineering institutes to work on cutting-edge technologies at its R&D institutes across India, at a time when Big Tech companies lay off thousands of employees across the globe.
The new workforce will join Samsung R&D Institute-Bangalore (SRI-B), Samsung R&D Institute-Noida, Samsung R&D Institute-Delhi and Samsung Semiconductor India Research in Bengaluru next year.
The new hires will work on new-age technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, image processing, internet of things (IoT), connectivity, cloud, big data, business intelligence, predictive analysis, system-on-a-chip (SoC) and storage solutions, among others.
“Samsung’s R&D centres aim to hire new talent from India’s top engineering institutes who will work on breakthrough innovations, technologies, products and designs, including India-centric innovations, that enrich people’s lives. This will further our vision of Powering Digital India,” said Sameer Wadhawan, Head, Human Resources, Samsung India.
Samsung will recruit engineers from multiple streams such as computer science and allied branches. information technology, electronics, instrumentation, embedded systems and communication networks.
In addition, the company will also hire from streams such as mathematics and computing and software engineering.
This hiring season, Samsung R&D centres will hire around 200 engineers from top IITs. They have also offered over 400 pre-placement offers to students at the IITs and other top institutions.
Samsung research centres in India have filed over 7,500 patents in various areas to date.
Several of these patents have been commercialised in Samsung flagship Galaxy smartphones, smartwatches, network equipment and digital applications, among others.
Meanwhile, tech giant Samsung is reportedly planning to launch a new in-house global research unit next month, to combat semiconductor downfall.
The new organisation will launch under the Device Solutions Business Division and will be assigned to research new investment avenues, as well as, analyse the global semiconductor market, reports SamMobile.
Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the tech giant and other semiconductor companies have seen a continuous decline in demand, supply chain interruptions, and excess inventories.
Samsung appears to be hoping that the formation of a global semiconductor research unit will improve things.
Instead of depending on outside sources, the tech giant plans to run its own in-house research to examine the global semiconductor market more closely.
Earlier, the head of Samsung Semiconductor had also claimed that things might not get much better next year, the report said.
Last week a report mentioned that the company was planning to reduce its smartphone shipments by 13 per cent next year.
The tech giant was not able to sell as many smartphone units as it had expected because of many reasons, including the supply-chain issue caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the case of “samsung,” it turns out that it is not the only brand-based password used by a large number of online users…reports Asian Lite News
Samsung, or rather “samsung” with a lowercase S, is one of the most commonly used passwords in at least 30 countries, a recent study by password management solution company Nordpass has showed.
According to SamMobile, using the name of your smartphone/TV/home appliance brand, for example, Samsung, as a password is not the worst offender, but it has grown in popularity in recent years.
While the “samsung” password ranked 198th in popularity in 2019, it rose to 189th in 2020 and 78th in 2021, breaking the top-100 mark last year.
The most popular password is “password,” which was reportedly chosen by nearly 5 million users, while other commonly used passwords include “123456,” “123456789,” and “guest”, according to the report.
In the case of “samsung,” it turns out that it is not the only brand-based password used by a large number of online users.
According to a recent report, a simple and predictable password can be decrypted in less than one second, whereas combining lowercase and uppercase letters with numbers can also produce variable results.
A seven-digit password containing all of those elements can be decrypted in about seven seconds, while an eight-digit password takes about seven minutes, said the report.
The research firm discovered that the majority of commonly used passwords can be decrypted in less than one second because they are short and consist only of numbers or letters with no uppercase characters, the report added.
Its operating profit for the July-September period fell 31.4 per cent on-year to 10.85 trillion won….reports Asian Lite News
Samsung Electronics on Thursday posted a sharp drop in profits for the third quarter, as its main semiconductor business faced major headwinds from weakening memory chip prices and demand.
The world’s largest memory chip and mobile phone maker said in a regulatory filing its third-quarter net profit declined 23.6 per cent from a year earlier to 9.38 trillion won ($6.6 billion), reports Yonhap news agency.
Its operating profit for the July-September period fell 31.4 per cent on-year to 10.85 trillion won.
Revenue increased 3.8 per cent to 76.78 trillion won, a record for a third quarter.
The semiconductor division, the heart of Samsung’s businesses that accounted for nearly 70 per cent of its total profit in the previous quarter, slumped nearly 50 per cent on-year to 5.12 trillion won, as weakened consumer spending power led to a cut in demand for chips from electronics makers, as well as cloud computing and server companies.
“Customers’ inventory adjustments exceeded market expectations and demand for consumer products continued to weaken,” Samsung said.
But its foundry, or contract chip manufacturing, business posted record quarterly sales and operating profit on “improving yields in advanced nodes,” the company said in a statement, without providing exact numbers.
Samsung said its mobile business posted an operating profit of 3.24 trillion won, up from 2.62 trillion won on-quarter on sales of flagship products, including foldables, as well as new wearables, but the figure was slightly down from last year’s 3.36 trillion won.
Samsung’s display panel business logged solid performance on growing demand following the release of new flagship smartphones, but its large panel business posted losses on slowing TV and PC monitor sales.
Despite weaker demand, the company stood by its previous position that it would not cut back on chip production.
The 10 per cent cashback offer will be over and above the company’s offers, on both EMI and non-EMI transactions…reports Asian Lite news
Samsung India on Monday announced its first-ever credit card in India in partnership with Axis Bank and Visa, that will give customers 10 per cent cashback across all Samsung products and services round the year.
The 10 per cent cashback offer will be over and above the company’s offers, on both EMI and non-EMI transactions.
“We realise that 70 per cent of consumers are upgrading their devices within 12 months of purchase in the country. This co-branded credit card will help them save their hard-earned money while enjoying new devices with this industry-first offering,” Raju Pullan, Senior Vice President, Mobile Business, Samsung India, told IANS.
The annual fee for the card’s Signature variant is Rs 500 with taxes and for the Infinite variant is Rs 5,000 with taxes.
On the Signature variant, cardholders can avail up to Rs 10,000 cashback annually, with a monthly cashback limit of Rs 2,500.
On the Infinite variant, cardholders can avail up to Rs 20,000 cash back annually, with a monthly cashback limit of Rs 5,000.
Samsung India and Axis Bank have partnered with key merchants — Bigbasket, Myntra, Tata 1mg, Urban Company and Zomato — to bring more rewards to cardholders on their daily spends.
The card also offers complimentary airport lounge access, fuel surcharge waiver, dining offers and access to a bouquet of offers from Axis Bank and Visa.
“The card is RBI-complaint and meets all the latest requirements of the central bank, including on tokenisation. The consumer electronics and technology space is open for disruption and we are the first, along with Samsung, to distrust this space,” Sanjeev Moghe, President and Head, Cards and Payments at Axis Bank, told IANS.
There is no minimum transaction value, which means cardholders can get 10 per cent cashback on the smallest of Samsung purchases.
“The Samsung Axis Bank Credit Card, powered by Visa, is our next big India-specific innovation that will change the way our customers buy Samsung products,” said Ken Kang, President and CEO, Samsung South-West Asia.
Amitabh Chaudhry, MD and CEO, Axis Bank, added that their focus is to offer product propositions that cater to our customers’ ever evolving needs and give them a seamless experience.
