Tag: Samsung

This is going to be quite the tax bill for whoever takes over Samsung after the death of Lee Kun-hee:

As Samsung chief Lee Kun-hee passed away, his heirs, including his only son, Jae-yong, and his sisters will shoulder a record high amount of inheritance tax, industry sources said Sunday.

Lee Kun-hee, who led South Korea’s top family-controlled conglomerate Samsung Group, died at a hospital in Seoul on Sunday at age 78, leaving behind stock assets of some 18 trillion won (US$15.9 billion).

The senior Lee is survived by his wife, Hong Ra-hee, and only son, Jae-yong, and two daughters — Boo-jin and Seo-hyun.

Korea Biz Wire

You can read more at the link, but the article says the tax bill will be about 10 trillion won which is about $9 billion dollars.

Congratulations to Samsung on winning this huge contract:

Samsung Electronics signed a 7.9 trillion won ($6.6 billion) deal to supply network equipment to U.S. telecommunications company Verizon, the Korean IT firm disclosed Monday in a public filing.

Under the contract, Samsung Electronics America will provide equipment, including for 5G connections, to Verizon for five years through December 2025. By volume, it’s the biggest single supply deal for network equipment ever secured by a Korean company.    

Samsung had worked with domestic mobile carriers last year to make Korea the first country to commercialize 5G connections. After 5G debuted April 2019, the company has signed network equipment supply deals with major telecommunications operators, including Canada’s Videotron, the U.S.’s Cellular and New Zealand’s Spark.   

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but hopefully Samsung continues to beat out contracts over Huawei, their main Chinese competitor. ROK Heads may remember that Huawei has been accused of spying on behalf of the Chinese communist party.

This update on the Lee Jae-yong legal saga makes me wonder what was done behind the scenes by Samsung to influence this panel’s decision?:

Samsung Group heir apparent Lee Jae-yong was granted a respite Friday in a legal battle over his alleged role in a controversial merger and fraudulent accounting, as an independent panel of experts concluded that prosecutors should not indict him. 

However, Samsung is still cautious as Lee’s legal battle is not over.

After hours of discussion, the panel, made up of civil activists, legal experts and others, concurred that the investigation into Lee unwarranted, giving a breather to Samsung and its de facto leader.

“We respect the decision from the committee,” Lee’s lawyers said in a release. “We thank the committee for giving Lee and Samsung a chance to focus on their business activities and overcome the current crisis.”

Early this month, a few days ahead of a court ruling over his detention, Lee, vice chairman at Samsung Electronics Co., requested the panel review whether prosecutors’ investigation is fair, seeking public support for the high-stake legal battle.

The independent panel was introduced two years ago to enhance neutrality and fairness of prosecutors’ probes into cases that are of great public interest. In a nutshell, the panel was created to rein in prosecutors’ powers.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link. I have no idea if Lee is guilty of what he is accused of, but what I do know is that Korea is a rule by law nation instead of a rule of law nation. If powers that be want him guilty they can likely make it happen unless Lee gives them what they want.

Here is the latest on the Korean government’s attempt to put Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong behind bars:

 A court in Seoul early Tuesday refused to issue an arrest warrant for Samsung Group’s de facto leader, Lee Jae-yong, who are under investigation over succession-related allegations.

The Seoul Central District Court turned down the prosecution’s request to put Lee, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, behind bars, citing that there is not sufficient probable cause for his arrest.

Two other Samsung executives, Choi Gee-sung and Kim Jong-joong, from the group’s now-disbanded control tower, the Future Strategy Office, also avoided arrest.

“There was insufficient explanation on the need to arrest the defendants against the principle of trial without detention,” Judge Won Jung-sook said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link,

If there wasn’t enough problems for Samsung dealing with the coronavirus outbreak, now Iran is making threats against the smartphone maker:

An Iranian official on Tuesday warned Samsung Electronics that it is planning to restrict the use of the tech giant’s mobile phones in the country, accusing the company of bowing to pressure from the United States.

The official’s statement is a response to Samsung’s decision to limit app purchases for Iranian users of its Galaxy Store, for which it cited issues with converting Iranian currency. The policy is set to take effect beginning in late February.

But Iranian news outlets have reported the move as a response to U.S. sanctions against the country and have suggested the restriction will widen to free apps as well next month. Samsung is the dominant smartphone producer in Iran, with more than 50 percent market share.  

Mohammad Jafar Na’nakar, a government official who heads the legal department at Iran’s Ministry of Information and Communications Technology, delivered the warning to Samsung during an interview Tuesday with Press TV, an Iranian state-run news outlet.

“The list of measures against Samsung is ready,” Na’nakar said.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

South Koreans know how to dominate online reactions and this Wall Street Journal reporter is finding that out:

The Wall Street Journal’s “mocking” review of Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy Fold smartphone has caused a controversy here as some internet users have criticized the U.S. newspaper for posting an “insensitive” video on YouTube.

Critics said Monday the paper’s journalist should have offered a thorough and independent review of Samsung’s latest smartphone in the video rather than focused on ridiculing it.

In February, Samsung unveiled its first foldable smartphone and the device is set to hit the U.S. market April 26, but the phone has been criticized by U.S. reviewers as the top layer of the display easily peels off, which can cause serious damage to the screen. 

WSJ reporter Joanna Stern posted the video review of the Galaxy Fold, Friday (local time). In the three-minute video, the reporter put a sausage inside the screen of the smartphone, showed clips of peeling a banana and orange and folded a colored piece of paper.

The video has gone viral logging more than 570,000 hits as of 3 p.m. Monday, but has generated negative responses from some viewers, recording 22,000 thumbs-downs while having 10,000 thumbs-ups. More than 4,400 people left comments on the video, many expressing anger over mocking the device by putting a sausage and other objects inside the smartphone.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link and view the review below.

It is pretty surprising that Samsung’s new foldable phone would have this many problems right before its release:

A number of U.S.-based tech reporters reviewing Samsung Electronics’ potentially game-changing mobile device, the Galaxy Fold, reported faults after just a few days of use.

Reporters from CNBC, Bloomberg and The Verge have each tweeted pictures and videos showing faults with the folding screen of the Galaxy Fold devices they were given this week to review ahead of the phone’s U.S. release on April 26.

Steve Kovach, tech editor for CNBC, tweeted in the early hours of Thursday morning, Korea time, a video of his Galaxy Fold that showed the left hand of the screen flickering and flashing white with a bold black line splitting the screen in two, presumably along the point where the screen folds when it is closed. The video was captioned “After one day of use…”

The Galaxy Fold is designed to open like a book to become a 7.3-inch display tablet. The cover of the phone — the front when it is folded — is a 4.6-inch screen that works like a conventional smartphone. In all three reported cases, it is this internal folding screen that was defective.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

This article makes me wonder what the real story is that the police are going after the Samsung heiress for something that may have happened 3 years ago?:

Police searched a plastic surgery clinic, Saturday, as part of an investigation into an allegation that Hotel Shilla CEO Lee Boo-jin habitually received injections of propofol, an intravenous short-acting anesthetic. Lee is also the oldest daughter of Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee.

Investigators from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency carried out an eight-hour search at the Gangnam-based clinic from 6:30 p.m., Saturday, and confiscated Lee’s medical records and the clinic’s drug control records. 

They conducted a digital forensic analysis to restore deleted data, as well. 

Later in the day, police announced they had booked the head of the clinic on the charge of violating the Medical Law.

The search came three days after the drug abuse allegation was first reported by a local media outlet, citing a former employee of the clinic. 

According to the report by Newstapa, Lee was regularly given propofol at the hospital from January to October 2016 while the witness worked there. The former employee said Lee received the substance in a VIP room at least twice a month.

In the wake of the allegation, police asked the clinic to submit its documents without seeking a warrant, but it refused to comply.

Hotel Shilla has parried the allegation, claiming that she had only visited the clinic for legitimate treatment.

Korea Times

Back in 2016 when the supposed illegal propofol use happened Lee Boo-jin was recognized by Forbes magazine as one of the Top 50 businesswomen in Asia. That year she was also dealing with a $1 billion divorce fight.

It looks like Kim Jong-un may visit a Samsung factory during his trip to Vietnam. I suspect that such a visit will be used to further the perception that he has changed and really wants to advance the DPRK economy and thus why sanctions should be dropped before denuclearization:

 A senior North Korean official is believed to have looked around areas near a smartphone factory in Vietnam owned by South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co., sources said Sunday.
The move is prompting speculation that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un may seek to visit the Samsung factory when he travels to Vietnam for his second summit with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Kim Chang-son, known as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s de facto chief of staff, and other officials arrived in Hanoi Saturday to check logistics for a second summit between Trump and Kim slated for Feb. 27-28.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

I am curious to see how durable and useful this foldable smartphone is going to be:

Samsung Electronics Co. plans to launch its first foldable smartphone in March, along with a fifth-generation (5G) network-powered Galaxy S10, industry sources said Monday.

According to the sources, the South Korean tech giant plans to unveil the flagship Galaxy S10 smartphone in February, followed by the presumed foldable Galaxy F and another edition of the Galaxy S10 that runs on the 5G network in March.

The outlook came after Samsung Electronics President Koh Dong-jin, who heads the mobile business, said last week that the company will release a foldable smartphone within the first half of 2019. Koh said the shipment volume of the foldable smartphone will be at least 1 million.

Industry watchers said Samsung is expected to showcase the upcoming foldable smartphone in the Mobile World Congress in February, ahead of the official launch in the following month.

The much-awaited foldable smartphone, however, is not expected to support the 5G network.

While the price of the foldable smartphone has not been decided, industry watchers said it may cost around 2 million won (US$1,770). The steep price is expected to limit sales.

Samsung said the upcoming foldable smartphone will fold inward, and will sport a 7.4-inch screen when unfolded and have a 4.6-inch display like a regular smartphone when folded. [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.