Despite record sales last year due to the growth of the integrated circuit market, Samsung seeks to find new sources of development. In Seoul (South Korea) , Samsung's leading producer of the country celebrated its eightieth birthday without undue pomp. Difficulties associated with the illness of the founder and chairman of the company, Li Gochen, and the arrest and suspended sentence for corruption of the heir and actual leader of the conglomerate, Lee Jaen, greatly affected the plans for optimizing the business, but 2017 was the best year in the history of Samsung. For the first time, the consolidated assets of the conglomerate exceeded 300 billion US dollars.
Everyone needs chips
Residents of most countries of the world were faced with household appliances, TVs and smartphones that say “Samsung”. Country of origin - South Korea or it may be another Asian country. In 2017, the corporation's record revenue came from semiconductor devices, with total chip sales of $ 65.6 billion.
Last year, the Korean semiconductor manufacturer took first place in the global market with a share of 14.3%, for the first time crowding out the long-standing leader - Intel Corporation, which has a market share of 14.2%.
Ratings only grow
Among South Korea’s largest manufacturers in the country, Samsung is least affected by unofficial sanctions imposed by China and has increased brand value by 39% compared to last year and ranked fourth in the world. The brand value amounted to 92.3 billion dollars. This is the highest rate in Asia. Samsung took an honorable 26th place in the world ranking of the hundred most respected companies, but most importantly, it was ahead of its competitor in the premium smartphone market Apple, which took only fifty-eighth place. Samsung owners also succeeded, becoming the richest people in South Korea.
Problems and plans
Samsung is the largest producer of the country in the segment of telecommunication technologies, semiconductors and digital media technologies, liquid crystal displays and household appliances. Despite the good market position in all these segments, the conglomerate needs to make responsible decisions.
High performance in the semiconductor market may be replaced by a drop in revenue due to the onset of a cycle of decline that occurs every 4-5 years. Profit growth slowed down in the segment of smartphones, televisions, and household appliances. In the global smartphone market, the share of Samung fell from 24.7% in 2014 to 20% in the past. Samsung has dominated the television market for 11 years, but sales have fallen below 50 million units.
Actual leader Lee Jaen, who a month ago was released from prison, has partially overcome the management crisis and plans to optimize the management structure in the near future, meet with global partners in Europe, sell non-core chemical assets and focus on biotechnology and automotive components, except for the electronic segment.