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

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

  • 15

    VideoHow Koreans' favorite convenience store foods are made in factories

  • 17

    BTS fails to win Grammy for 3rd consecutive year

  • 19

    Conflict reignites over relocation of POSCO Holdings to Pohang

  • 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

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

  • 16

    Search under way for 9 missing after fishing boat capsizes

  • 18

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

  • 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 | 10:50
'Samsung could acquire automobile chip firm'
Posted : 2021-02-03 18:46
Updated : 2021-02-04 09:19
Baek Byung-yeul
Print PreviewPrint Preview
Font Size UpFont Size Up
Font Size DownFont Size Down
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • kakaolink
  • whatsapp
  • reddit
  • mailto
  • link
Samsung Electronics' in-vehicle systems / Captured from Samsung Electronics
Samsung Electronics' in-vehicle systems / Captured from Samsung Electronics

By Baek Byung-yeul

Samsung Electronics' possible move to acquire firms involved in the automotive semiconductor business seems to be rational given that cars will require a lot more chips and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to become more autonomous over the next decades, according to Jim Handy, a U.S.-based analyst working for Objective Analysis.

There has been speculation that the Korean tech giant may try to acquire companies in the automotive semiconductor business, such as NXP, Texas Instruments, Renesas or Infineon.

The chip industry analyst said acquiring one of them could be a comprehensible move as the importance of the automotive chip business has been increasingly highlighted because global carmakers are struggling with an unprecedented shortage of chips for cars, which has caused them to suspend production.

The chip shortage issue stems from semiconductor companies prioritizing chips for IT devices and home appliances, which have been in strong demand since the COVID-19 outbreak.

The analyst said Samsung may decide to acquire firms involved in the automotive chip business from the long-term perspective.

"Right now the automotive semiconductor market is doing very well mostly because of a short-term shortage of foundry capacity. Samsung doesn't usually invest with a short-term view, so let's consider the long term," Handy told The Korea Times during a recent email interview.

"Over the next decade, automobiles will become autonomous (self-driving) and will require a lot of artificial intelligence (AI). Today most self-driving cars use graphics processing unit (GPU) chips from Nvidia for their AI. Although these chips were designed to process graphics, they perform AI calculations much faster and cheaper than standard Intel CPUs. They are also expensive," he said.

From that standpoint, companies specializing in AI technology will also be on the shopping list for Samsung.

"There are very many small firms that are trying to develop AI chips that are less costly than Nvidia's GPUs, as well as some research efforts in large firms like Intel and IBM. Samsung and SK hynix have also presented papers at technical conferences about AI chips that their research teams are investigating. None of these is an obvious target for an acquisition. Very few of the tiny AI-focused companies are publicly traded, so Samsung may acquire them without anyone learning about it until after the deal has been closed," he said.

Handy noted it is difficult to say Samsung's attempt to acquire another company would be the wisest plan as the firm has traditionally focused on improving its internal competitiveness rather than taking the M&A route to leverage its business capability.

"It's really unusual for Samsung to acquire other companies. This appears to be something that conflicts with the company's corporate culture. Samsung usually grows its business internally, without acquiring other firms," the analyst said.

Given Samsung's corporate culture, which tries to focus on improving its internal competence, he added "it would be much more likely that Samsung would produce semiconductors that compete against these companies' products and take the market away from them."

"From my perspective it would be surprising for Samsung to acquire a company like NXP or Infineon, or any other current leader in automotive semiconductors," Handy said.

"This is neither a good nor a bad thing. Samsung does extremely well without acquiring other companies, and other companies like Broadcom or Avago do extremely well by acquiring as many firms as they can," he further noted.

Samsung Electronics' in-vehicle systems / Captured from Samsung Electronics
Samsung Electronics' in-vehicle systems / Captured from Samsung Electronics

Samsung's M&A bids recently surfaced as its chief financial officer revealed that the company will seek opportunities in an effort to find new growth engines.

"For the last few years, we have been evaluating possible M&A opportunities very carefully and have made significant progress in terms of preparation," Samsung Electronics CFO Choi Yoon-ho told investors during a conference call, Jan. 28.

Choi's remark was the first time for Samsung to officially clarify its M&A plan since the tech giant completed the acquisition of U.S. automotive electronics firm Harman in 2017. Samsung has enough financial capacity to execute merger deals as the tech giant's cash-equivalent assets as of the third quarter of 2020 stood at 116.2 trillion won ($104.3 billion).


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