Samsung SDI takes over battery business

Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s top memory chip maker, will unload its solar battery business to its affiliate Samsung SDI Co. for 160.8 billion won ($147.6 million), the companies said Friday, in an apparent bid to revitalize the team’s disappointing performance,

The boards of the two companies each approved the plan, which calls for Samsung Electronics to hand over its solar battery workforce and equipment to Samsung SDI as of July 1, they said in separate regulatory filings. About 300 employees will be affected.

The decision was made to streamline and to maintain focus on the tech titan’s electronics business, which spans from memory chips, LCD panels, mobile phones, TVs, home appliances and personal computers, the companies said.

Samsung SDI, which makes hybrid electric car batteries, expects to boost its energy business through the acquisition, it said.

Solar batteries were one of the five areas that Samsung Group, the parent of the tech juggernaut, had planned to nurture as new revenue sources for the long run. The four other areas were hybrid car batteries, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), biomedicine and medical equipment.

The group’s flagship unit, Samsung Electronics, which is the world’s top supplier of LCD panels and flat-screen TVs, has been tasked with producing solar battery cells and modules since 2009.

Samsung set its solar battery revenue target at 10 trillion won ($9.18 billion) in 2020 and investment goal at 6 trillion won. 

(Yonhap News)