The market for advanced chips is expected
to explode in coming years, driven by
developments related to fifth generation
(5G) wireless services, artificial intelligence,
networked computing and self-driving cars,
analysts say.
It’s unclear whether Samsung “will end up as
one of the main actors or get sidelined into a
supporting role” as the industry is reshaped by
emerging technologies, said C.W. Chang, an
analyst at Nomura.
“Samsung will have to be very ambitious to
succeed, like in the old days when it vowed to
beat Nokia in mobile phones although it didn’t
even have a market presence then,” he said.
Samsung’s strength is its vast scale and
manufacturing muscle, but its future increasingly
depends on forming global partnerships to break
into new technologies and markets, especially in
services, said Kim of SK Securities.
Since taking over for his father, Lee has
pushed “open innovation” goals to encourage
collaboration with international companies and
research groups and gain new technologies
through mergers and acquisitions. So far he has
little to show from that, Kim said.
The elder Lee had a reputation for making bold,
strategic decisions while wielding absolute
power and control in the boardroom. Samsung’s
future global partners would want the company
to remain fast and aggressive on long-term
investments as they bet on new opportunities,
Kim said.
Extending the Lee family’s control over Samsung
and its affiliates would be costly. The inheritance