Jobs' resignation not good news for local IT firms

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By Yoon Ja-young

Shares of Samsung Electronics soared by 3.39 percent immediately after the opening of the Seoul bourse Thursday, and some explained the boost was due to the news of Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, resigning from his position.

However, such straightforward reactions see only one side of the coin, according to analysts, when considering the contributions Jobs has made to the global IT industry, as well as Samsung and other Korean tech companies.

“Apple was molesting Samsung Electronics, and Jobs was the absolute being in Apple, controlling every detail. His resignation may negatively affect innovative competitiveness of Apple, and this may work positively for Samsung,” said Lee Sun-tae, an analyst at Meritz Investment & Securities.

However, one should also see the other side, according to the analyst. “Steve Jobs has been increasing the size of the whole pie for the IT industry, launching new products. He opened up the market that others haven’t thought of, and competitors also jumped in there to make money. There is no such person to substitute Jobs, either in Apple or in the whole world,” he said.

If Jobs’ departure hurts Apple’s competitiveness, Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics may expect to pull up their stakes in the smartphone market. However, one shouldn’t forget that Apple is the biggest buyer of Samsung chips and LG Display supplies LCD panels for Apple products. In large part, they owe their good performance over the past few years to the innovation of Steve Jobs.

Song Myung-sup, an analyst at Hi Investment & Securities, said it’s still too early to say how the absence of Steve Jobs would affect Samsung Electronics or other IT companies.

“We have no idea for now whether Jobs will be involved in the management at all. Even if Jobs leaves for good, Apple has the system that he set up. For now, we don’t know either whether his successors will continue with Jobs’ management strategy,” Song said.

Local manufacturers said they had no comment on the issue.

The news of Jobs’ resignation, though expected for some time, shocked both fans and non-fans of Apple here.

Kim Nam-hee, a lawyer working for People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, the country’s leading NGO, said her heart was sore when she read the news on her iPhone on her way to work.

“I really like Steve Jobs,” Kim said. Although not very tech-savvy, she found Apple products after marrying an “Apple evangelist.” Her husband has iMac, an iBook and an iPhone.

“It was like discovering a new world that couldn’t be realized on Microsoft Windows,” Kim said.

She said she became a fan of Steve Jobs after watching a YouTube video of his famous Stanford University commencement speech. “He was not just an IT CEO. He was a man of philosophy and humanities, and he made innovative IT products based on philosophy,” the lawyer said. “I am so sorry that he is resigning. I really hope that he recovers,” Kim said.

Even those who aren’t fans of Steve Jobs see the greatness in him.

Song Seung-hwan, an office worker in his mid thirties, compared Jobs to the Beatles.

“I think he formed a new culture in IT shopping. People waiting for an IT product from long before its release … it’s just like they waited for new albums from famous musicians like Beatles,” Song said. He said that he had felt a little uncomfortable about the media’s lauding of Apple, as if we owe all the changes of our time to the company. “However, I can't deny that he is a great person. He is such an innovator that he pulled IT up to the level of art.”