Samsung to thrash out strategy amid Trump, Middle East crisis

Samsung Electronics Co., South Korea’s most valuable company, is convening its most senior executives this week to plot its path back to the top of the memory chip market and work out strategies to meet growing geopolitical and trade challenges.

The Korean tech giant on Tuesday opened its three-day annual global strategy meetings – a gathering that brings together division heads and chiefs of its subsidiaries worldwide to thrash out priorities for the rest of the year, people familiar with the matter said.

The sessions come at a delicate moment for Samsung, which was overtaken by crosstown rival SK Hynix Inc. in the DRAM market for the first time in its history in the first quarter, while its high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and foundry businesses have been struggling to keep up.

Jun Young-hyun, vice chairman and head of the Device Solutions (DS) division, which oversees Samsung’s semiconductor operations, and Roh Tae-moon, president and acting head of the Device eXperience (DX) division, which oversees mobile phones and home appliances, will preside over the two main business units, respectively.

Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong, known more widely in the West by his English name Jay Y. Lee, won’t attend but will be briefed afterwards, sources said.

TRUMP’S SHIFTING TARIFF POLICY, MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT

The sessions come as growing tensions stemming from US President Donald Trump’s shifting tariff policy and the escalating conflict in the Middle East add to the pressure on the Korean tech giant.

The Trump administration plans to levy at least 25% duties on imports of smartphones and related components from the end of this month.

On June 23, the US government also plans to impose 50% import tariffs on steel products used in consumer appliances, including refrigerators and washing machines, forcing non-US companies to reassess their production and supply chains.

On Tuesday, the Mobile Experience team under the DX division is expected to discuss issues related to its rollout next month of new foldable smartphones – the Galaxy Z Flip7 and the Z Fold7 – and regional marketing strategies.

On Wednesday, the Visual Display and Digital Appliances businesses under the DX division will hold meetings. Semiconductor executives under the DS division will convene separately on the same day.

Thursday’s meeting will bring together all division heads to review their first-half performance and fine-tune their strategies for the rest of the year, sources said.

CHIP DIVISION UNDER PARTICULAR PRESSURE

The chip division is under particular pressure to work out ways to stage a comeback as the memory market leader.

Having slipped from its longstanding No.1 spot, Samsung aims to win back its DRAM lead by obtaining Nvidia Corp.’s quality certification of its 12-layer fifth-generation HBM3E chips and through the successful mass production of HBM4 chips by the end of this year.

According to market tracker Omdia, Samsung’s global DRAM market share fell to 34.4% in the first quarter from 38.6% in the previous quarter. In contrast, SK Hynix's DRAM share rose to 36.9% from 36%, overtaking Samsung as the top DRAM maker.

Samsung Group’s other affiliates, including Samsung Display Co., Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co. and Samsung SDI Co., will also hold their own strategy meetings this week, reflecting growing urgency across the conglomerate to respond to a fast-changing market landscape.

Write to In-Soo Nam at isnam@hankyung.com
Jennifer Nicholson-Breen edited this article.