Smartphone and semiconductor giant Samsung is looking at using blockchain technology to manage its multi-billion dollar global supply network, according to Bloomberg. The world’s biggest maker of smartphones and semiconductors […]
Samsung’s semiconductor business is booming, with the company recently overtaking Intel as the world’s biggest chipmaker. But the South Korean firm is not resting on its laurels, and is currently looking to expand into the buzziest contemporary market for processors: cryptocurrency mining.
Days after a largely positive launch of the Galaxy Note 8, the head of Samsung has been sentenced to five years in jail. Lee Jae-Yong, who has been in charge of the company since his father suffered a heart attack in 2014, was found guilty of bribing the South Korean government. The heir to the empire has been embroiled in the scandal, which saw the impeachment of the country’s president, since last year. His father remains in hospital, making Lee the de facto leader of the electronics giant.
Samsung Electronics announced an $8 billion deal on Monday to buy Harman International Industries, in an all-cash deal that makes Samsung a major player in the world of automotive technology.
The electronics giant previously shunned big acquisitions, and the latest deal underscores a strategic shift as the company tries to break into the high-barrier automotive industry where it has little track record.
As part of the deal, which is subject to approval by Harman shareholders, Harman will remain an independent subsidiary of the technology giant. Samsung will pay $112 a share in cash for Harman, which generated roughly $700 million in net profit on $7 billion of revenue last year.
Samsung Electronics said on Friday it expected to take a hit of about 3.5 trillion won ($3.1 billion) to its operating profit over the next two quarters from the fallout of its bungled Galaxy Note 7 recall.
The negative impact will not shock otherwise the Korean company that focuses on the sales of other handsets to cushion the failure of Galaxy Note 7.
Investors burned off $20-billion of Samsung Electronics’ market value on Tuesday as its shares closed down 8%, the biggest single-day decline since 2008.
"This is the first time that I have seen a product recall go this badly wrong," financial analyst Richard Windsor said in a note to clients. “When it comes to the damage that it will do to Samsung’s brand, we are in uncharted territory”.
