Samsung Group’s Future Projects Halted

Samsung Electronics vice chairman Lee Jae-yong is headed for the Seoul High Court to attend a trial on Jan. 18.

Samsung Group’s new projects have come to a halt with Samsung Electronics vice chairman Lee Jae-yong sentenced to imprisonment. Investment and M&A decisions are unlikely to be made in the absence of the head.

Business activity reports are currently impossible, too. This is because he is in solitary confinement in accordance with COVID-19 quarantine rules and no one can meet him for at least four weeks. In short, Samsung Group’s decision-making processes have stopped.

Back in August 2018, the vice chairman said that the group would concentrate on and invest 180 trillion won in artificial intelligence, 5G communications, biotechnology and automotive electronics as its new business models. In April 2019, Samsung Electronics announced that it would invest 133 trillion won to become the world’s largest system-on-chip foundry by 2030.

“The global IT sector and key issues in it are changing very fast and owner networking is necessary to predict and cope with those,” said an industry source, adding, “This is why his absence is worrisome.”