Samsung’s difficulties are no secret to the tech industry. The company has been struggling for some time, mainly in its memory and Samsung Foundry divisions. A combination of poor decisions and the current context of the tech industry have led to this situation. In a recent development, Samsung has apologized—again—to its shareholders for the company’s disappointing financial performance.
Samsung’s financial results for Q3 2024 were below expectations. Of course, this didn’t please its shareholders, who expected accountability and assurances that things would get better. Samsung already apologized to its shareholders in October 2024 due to this. However, the situation did not improve much by Q4 2024.
Samsung has apologized again to its shareholders and promises more measures
Now, investors have been questioning whether Samsung is lagging behind its competitors in segments such as AI chips and home appliances. They also complain about the lack of mergers and acquisitions that would help boost the business. The stagnation of the company’s stock price was also a topic of discussion. There have even been severe price drops, such as when it hit a four-year low a couple of months ago.
All these complaints were put on the table during Samsung’s 56th annual shareholders meeting. Samsung CEO Han Jong-hee was in charge of dealing with investors. He admitted that the company did not respond appropriately to changes in the AI chip market last year. Han Jong-hee also said the firm was unable to increase the competitiveness of products like phones, TVs, and appliances. Therefore, the CEO of Samsung apologized to shareholders for the company’s failures.
Investment in more tech segments; seeking acquisitions or mergers
That said, the executive promised they have a plan to reverse the situation. One of the measures will be to invest more heavily in key tech segments such as robotics and medical technology. Let’s remember that Samsung just became the largest shareholder of Rainbow Robotics. The company even hopes to finally launch Ballie, its home robot, this year.
The CEO of the firm also addressed the complaint about the lack of mergers or acquisitions of other companies. Samsung will “actively pursue more meaningful M&A opportunities,” said Han Jong-hee. However, he offered no further details. It is unknown whether the South Korean giant has any companies in its sights.
There are multiple factors behind Samsung’s disappointing financial results. A general drop in the price of DRAM memory has hit the company’s bottom line. They also received fewer orders for HBM chips than expected. HBM chips are a key component of AI hardware. SK Hynix, a direct rival in the segment, has taken full advantage of this situation. Demand for enterprise SSDs has also been declining. Add to this all the money the company is losing trying to fix things at Samsung Foundry.
Jun Young, vice chairman and head of Samsung Electronics’ Device Solutions division, said, “In the HBM4 and customized HBM markets, we’ll ensure that our missteps with HBM3 last year will not be repeated.” However, he did not reveal any further specific details about the company’s strategy for HBM chips.
Samsung will try to resolve stock price fluctuations
Lastly, company executives also spoke about the stock price. Samsung shareholders have seen their stock prices fluctuate constantly, while those of companies like SK Hynix have risen 20%. Han Jong-hee also apologized for the unfortunate situation. He promised that Samsung will implement all necessary measures to resolve the problem.
