Samsung Group Chairman’s New Challenges

Samsung to set aside 23.3 tln won by 2020 to nurture five new businesses

The Samsung Group plans to invest 23.3 trillion won in order to jumpstart the five new environmentally-friendly and health care businesses by 2020.
The group predicts that investing 23.3 trillion won in the five new mainstay businesses ― solar battery, automobile battery, LED (light-emitting diode), bio pharmaceuticals and medical equipment ― will result in 50 trillion won in combined sales and create 45,000 jobs.
Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee presided over a meeting of the presidents of the group’s subsidiaries on May 10 at his private Seoul residence, Seungjiwon, the first such meeting since his return as group chairman after a two-year hiatus. The participants of the gathering were Vice Chairman Kim Soon-taik in charge of new businesses; Samsung Electronics President Choi Ji-sung; Chang Won-ki, president of Samsung Electronics LCD Business; Choi Chi-hoon, president of Samsung SDI; Kim Jae-wook, president of Samsung LED; Kim Ki-nam, president of Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology; Lee Jong-chull, president of Samsung Hospital; Lee Sang-hoon, president of Samsung Electronics Business Support; and Lee Jae-yong, executive vice president of Samsung Electronics.
The participants also discussed details of the group’s investment plan.
Specifically speaking, the group will start with the crystalline solar battery sector and later work on the thin film solar battery area. Samsung expects to pour 6 trillion won in cumulative investments, post 10 trillion won in sales and create 10,000 jobs.
In the automobile battery sector, the Samsung Group will set aside 5.4 trillion won in cumulative investments by 2020, rake in 10.2 trillion won in sales and hire 7,600 employees.
In the case of LED, the group will initially invest in the display backlight sector and expand its investment to lighting engines and electric/electronic sub assemblies. Samsung LED aims to pour 8.6 trillion won in cumulative investments, post 1.8 trillion won in sales and hire 710 employees by 2020.
In the bio pharmaceuticals sector, the group will work on the development of biosimiliars with patents set to expire in a few years in cooperation with Samsung Hospital. The group aims at investing 2.1 trillion won in cumulative investments by 2020, post 1.8 trillion won and hire 17,000 people.
In the case of medical equipment, the group will enter the external diagnosis sector, including the blood tester market. It aims to pour 1.2 trillion won in cumulative investments, post 10 trillion won in sales and hire 9,500 employees.
Chairman Lee told the participants that each government is making investments in the green industries in order to cope with such problems as the preservation of the environment and energy scarcity.
He said his group will have to make aggressive investments to seize opportunities while other global companies take wait-and-see attitudes, thus contributing to the development of the national economy, said Lee, adding that more young and gifted manpower should be hired so as to solve youth unemployment.

Samsung Electronics Posts Biggest Quarterly Operating Profit

Samsung Electronics on April 30 posted sales of 34.64 trillion won on a consolidated basis for the first quarter ended March 31, a 21 percent rise year-on-year. The first quarter sales represented an 11.2 percent decline from the previous quarter.
The Korean electronics giant raked in a record 4.41 trillion won in operating profit, a 643 percent year-on-year surge. The figure surpassed the previous high of 4.22 trillion won in the third quarter of 2009. Samsung Electronics also posted 3.99 trillion won in net profit.
Samsung Electronics said semiconductor, LCD and other parts sectors, which suffered losses in the first quarter of 2009, dramatically improved profitability by enhancing unit price competitiveness and expanding value-added products. It analyzed that the company was fortifying its leadership in handsets, TVs and other mainstay set products by making inroads into the emerging markets and creating premium markets. Samsung Electronics saw the semiconductor sector post 8.2 trillion won in sales and 1.96 trillion won in operating profit for the first quarter of this year.
A Samsung Electronics official said, “In particular, Samsung saw the semiconductor sector recover to the 1 trillion won mark in operating profit like the third quarter of 2009 and a surge to almost 2 trillion won in first quarter operating profit due to market improvements of such mainstay products as DRAMs and NAND flash memory products.”
In the LCD sector, Samsung Electronics posted 6.85 trillion won in sales and 490 billion won in operating profits. The figures represented a significant improvement from 4.88 trillion won in sales and 280 billion won in operating profit recorded in the first quarter of 2009, but a decline from the 7.29 trillion won in sales and 530 billion won recorded in the previous quarter. nw

Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee