The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to President
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to President
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
  • Login
  • Register
  • Login
  • Register
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
  • 1

    INTERVIEWTati Gabrielle, actress of Korean, African-American descent, feels proud of her heritage

  • 3

    China expresses 'strong dissatisfaction' over US shooting down balloon

  • 5

    Decoding success factors of NewJeans: How is it different?

  • 7

    VIDEOFilipina K-pop idol and K-drama actress react to stereotypes about the Philippines

  • 9

    'Hype Boy' by NewJeans reaches 200 mil. Spotify streams

  • 11

    9 fishermen, including 2 Vietnamese, missing in boat incident

  • 13

    VideoHow Koreans' favorite convenience store foods are made in factories

  • 15

    More than 2,000 foreign workers to be hired at Korean shipyards this month

  • 17

    US literary agent reflects on personal journey to discover Korea in new book

  • 19

    INTERVIEWSaudi Arabia seeks greater cooperation with Korea in NEOM

  • 2

    2-year work experience prerequisite lifted for foreign shipyard welders

  • 4

    Families of Itaewon victims on collision course with Seoul City

  • 6

    US shoots down suspected Chinese spy balloon with a single missile

  • 8

    President Yoon at odds with politician who helped him win election

  • 10

    Powerful quake rocks Turkey and Syria, kills more than 1,500

  • 12

    LG publishes Korea's first group-level net zero report

  • 14

    Reclusive fashion icon Martin Margiela makes comeback as artist with eerie wonderland of human bodies

  • 16

    BTS fails to win Grammy for 3rd consecutive year

  • 18

    Search under way for 9 missing after fishing boat capsizes

  • 20

    FSC approves security token transactions in Korea

Close scrollclosebutton

Close for 24 hours

Open
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
Tue, February 7, 2023 | 11:53
Tech
Samsung chief's comments viewed as intent to acquire British chip design company
Posted : 2022-09-22 16:44
Updated : 2022-09-23 15:33
Baek Byung-yeul
Print PreviewPrint Preview
Font Size UpFont Size Up
Font Size DownFont Size Down
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • kakaolink
  • whatsapp
  • reddit
  • mailto
  • link
Lee Jae-yong, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, responds to reporters at the Seoul Gimpo Business Aviation Center, Wednesday. Yonhap
Lee Jae-yong, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, responds to reporters at the Seoul Gimpo Business Aviation Center, Wednesday. Yonhap

Chip expert says monopoly issue won't be a big problem

By Baek Byung-yeul

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong showed his intention to acquire British chip architecture design company Arm from Japan's SoftBank as the Samsung Group leader made public a plan to meet SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son in Seoul next month. Considering Samsung's secretive nature, industry analysts said Thursday that the Samsung leader's remarks come as a surprise and signify a strong will to acquire Arm.

The U.K.-based chip design firm is currently up for sale as U.S. graphic chip giant Nvidia failed to gain approval from the fair trade bodies of countries deeply involved in the chip industry, even though it reached a deal to purchase a 100-percent stake in Arm from SoftBank for $40 billion in October 2020.

On Wednesday, the Samsung chief was asked when he arrived at the Seoul Gimpo Business Aviation Center whether there was a meeting to discuss the acquisition of Arm during his two-week-long business trip to Europe and Latin America. He answered, "We didn't meet, but SoftBank Chairman Son Jeong-ui (known as Masayoshi Son in Japan) will come to Seoul next month. I think he probably will make a proposal at that time."

It remains unclear whether Samsung will form a consortium with other companies to jointly acquire Arm to avoid monopoly concerns, because the U.K. chip design company is a leader in mobile chip architecture design.

However, Jim Handy, a renowned chip analyst and general director at Silicon Valley-based semiconductor market research company Objective Analysis, said the monopoly or antitrust issue will not be a big problem for Samsung, because the Korean tech company is not regarded as a processor manufacturer and will not be severely affected by the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI), a measure of market concentration that is used to determine market competitiveness.

"One part of the reason that Nvidia could not buy Arm is that it would have put too much power in the hands of one company. The antitrust laws in the U.S. to prevent monopolies very clearly state the conditions that the U.S. government finds unacceptable. One is market concentration, which is measured by the HHI. I believe that the HHI for Nvidia + Arm would have been too high. Samsung would not have this problem, since Samsung is not a processor manufacturer," he said.

"Of course, as you say, many of Arm's licensees and competitors, as well as Nvidia's competitors, would have been upset by an Nvidia acquisition, and they probably attended the hearings and presented their objections to the acquisition. I don't think that there would be as much noise during a Samsung-Arm hearing, since Samsung is not a processor company. I believe that it would be easier for Samsung to buy Arm than Nvidia," the analyst added.

Lee Jae-yong, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, responds to reporters at the Seoul Gimpo Business Aviation Center, Wednesday. Yonhap
Lee Jae-yong, left, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, and Masayoshi Son, right, chairman and CEO of SoftBank, arrive at the Korea Furniture Museum in Seoul to attend a meeting, July 4, 2019. Yonhap

If Samsung succeeds in acquiring Arm, the world's No.1 memory chip maker will be able to create a significant synergy effect with its non-memory business. Samsung has invested a lot of money in the non-memory sector recently, saying it will also focus on industries that produce chips by taking orders from chip design companies or produce non-memory chips such as display chips and automotive chips.

Established in 1990, Arm generates profits by licensing its intellectual property related to mobile chip architecture design to other companies such as Apple, Qualcomm and Samsung.

Arm's parent company SoftBank is known to be interested in selling the British company, because the Japanese tech giant is strapped for cash as its Vision Fund suffered its biggest-ever loss. In August, the company posted a record quarterly loss of around 3.2 trillion yen ($21.9 billion).

Regarding Samsung's possible acquisition of Arm, a Samsung Electronics spokesman said, "We have nothing to say about this issue."


Emailbaekby@koreatimes.co.kr Article ListMore articles by this reporter
 
Top 10 Stories
1[VIDEO] Filipina K-pop idol and K-drama actress react to stereotypes about the Philippines VIDEOFilipina K-pop idol and K-drama actress react to stereotypes about the Philippines
2[Video] How Koreans' favorite convenience store foods are made in factories VideoHow Koreans' favorite convenience store foods are made in factories
3US literary agent reflects on personal journey to discover Korea in new book US literary agent reflects on personal journey to discover Korea in new book
4[INTERVIEW] Saudi Arabia seeks greater cooperation with Korea in NEOM INTERVIEWSaudi Arabia seeks greater cooperation with Korea in NEOM
5Debate heats up over chemical castration of more sex offenders Debate heats up over chemical castration of more sex offenders
6Why Galaxy Book3 draws more attention than S23 smartphones Why Galaxy Book3 draws more attention than S23 smartphones
7[ANALYSIS] New order prevails in global battery industry ANALYSISNew order prevails in global battery industry
8Opposition party's attempt to enact Korean version of IRA triggers concerns Opposition party's attempt to enact Korean version of IRA triggers concerns
9Dongwon aims to to acquire McDonald's Korea Dongwon aims to to acquire McDonald's Korea
10Book recounts poverty-stricken Korean coal miners' contribution to their country Book recounts poverty-stricken Korean coal miners' contribution to their country
Top 5 Entertainment News
1[INTERVIEW] Tati Gabrielle, actress of Korean, African-American descent, feels proud of her heritage INTERVIEWTati Gabrielle, actress of Korean, African-American descent, feels proud of her heritage
2Decoding success factors of NewJeans: How is it different? Decoding success factors of NewJeans: How is it different?
3Reclusive fashion icon Martin Margiela makes comeback as artist with eerie wonderland of human bodiesReclusive fashion icon Martin Margiela makes comeback as artist with eerie wonderland of human bodies
4The Boyz member Hyunjae apologizes for wearing hat with Rising Sun flag design The Boyz member Hyunjae apologizes for wearing hat with Rising Sun flag design
5SM in internal feud over founder's exit from producing SM in internal feud over founder's exit from producing
DARKROOM
  • Nepal plane crash

    Nepal plane crash

  • Brazil capital uprising

    Brazil capital uprising

  • Happy New Year 2023

    Happy New Year 2023

  • World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

    World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

  • World Cup 2022 France vs Morocco

    World Cup 2022 France vs Morocco

CEO & Publisher : Oh Young-jin
Digital News Email : webmaster@koreatimes.co.kr
Tel : 02-724-2114
Online newspaper registration No : 서울,아52844
Date of registration : 2020.02.05
Masthead : The Korea Times
Copyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.
  • About Us
  • Introduction
  • History
  • Contact Us
  • Products & Services
  • Subscribe
  • E-paper
  • RSS Service
  • Content Sales
  • Site Map
  • Policy
  • Code of Ethics
  • Ombudsman
  • Privacy Statement
  • Terms of Service
  • Copyright Policy
  • Family Site
  • Hankook Ilbo
  • Dongwha Group