HONG KONG (Yonhap) -- North American investors have shown keen interest in Samsung Electronics Co. as the Korean electronics giant has risen to become a leading player in the world market, British banking company Barclays Plc said Wednesday.
"Interest was greater than we expected in Samsung Electronics from international and global funds," SC Bae, analyst at Barclays, said in a note, after having met with some 40 investors from North America.
An international fund refers to various types of mutual funds, closed-end funds or exchange-traded funds that can be invested in companies located around the world.
"Most of the investors focused on Samsung Electronics and were keen to know how sustainable the current strength of its handset division and other long-term earnings drivers, such as logic chips and organic light-emitting diode," Bae said.
The Barclays analyst attributed various funds' increasing interest in Samsung to the company's competitive advantages against its peers.
"The company is emerging as one of the clear winners of the global tech industry, and its earnings dynamics are becoming less volatile," he said. "It is too big to be ignored."
Samsung Electronics Co. posted the largest revenue among global tech firms last year on the back of strong sales of smartphones. Its total sales reached US$148.6 billion when its yearly revenue was converted into dollars.