By Kim Yoo-chul
LAS VEGAS ― Samsung Electronics chief operating officer (COO) Lee Jay-yong is raising his international profile in Las Vegas.
The only son of Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee said Wednesday that he will spend more time in strategic but closed-door meetings with the firm’s critical clients during his visit to this year’s International Consumer Electronics Show (CES).
``I came here to meet Samsung’s clients,’’ the COO told reporters. Lee was accompanied by the company’s chief executive Choi Gee-sung, consumer electronics division chief Yoon Boo-keun, and Shim Soo-ok, an executive vice president of its global marketing division.
``I have a full schedule until 10 p.m. today,’’ Lee said, without elaborating further.
CES is the world’s most influential annual technology trade fair and the actual turnout is big, according to show officials.
Samsung supplies chips and flat screens to almost all technology leaders around the world, including Apple despite ongoing legal battles over patents in 30 separate cases and 10 different countries.
Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Nokia, Motorola, Qualcomm and even U.S.-based retailer BestBuy are strategically-important clients, according to Samsung officials.
As part of his itinerary, Lee met with numerous clients, including Apple’s new chief executive Tim Cook. Regardless of the legal entanglement, Apple has agreed to extend its contract to buy Samsung parts, at least for the next few years.
The Korean firm is set to supply its advanced A6 mobile application processors (APs) possibly used in Apple’s latest iPhone 5 from its chip-making plant in Austin, Texas.
``Lee is apparently experiencing a soft landing. Amid improving signs in consumer spending, he will secure more deals in several strategic meetings. The key words and phrases for the COO are software, components and new businesses,’’ said a senior Samsung executive when contacted by The Korea Times at his firm’s booth at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Before meeting with reporters, Lee looked around the Samsung booth with its latest television on show. It is displaying its new Web-connected ES8000 which uses the world’s slimmest bezel, according to company spokesman Song Cheol-gyu.
The chairman’s son also visited Panasonic’s stand and checked out the thickness of its televisions with Choi briefing him on product detail.
``I have to rush because I have a string of meetings scheduled with clients. I will visit the Samsung booth again tomorrow,’’ Lee told reporters.
The company chairman is expected to visit the Samsung booth on Wednesday with his two daughters ― Hotel Shilla President Lee Boo-jin and Cheil Industries Senior Executive Vice President Lee Seo-hyun ― and attention is being focused on whether he will talk about new growth strategies.
Representatives from the Samsung Communications Team, which deals mainly with owner-related issues, are here to prepare for the chairman’s visit. Lee is attending the CES for a second time following his last visit in 2010.
Samsung Electronics is the world’s top manufacturer of flat screens, smartphones and memory chips. It is aiming to invest at least 30 trillion won in facilities this year excluding its spending on research and development in an apparent strategy to continue its ongoing leadership in consumer electronics and components.