Samsung vows to seize opportunity of AI

While forecasting high uncertainties in the macroeconomic environment this year, Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Han Jong-hee vowed to make efforts to expand technological innovation in burgeoning artificial intelligence and new businesses for sustainable growth.

“Along with the high economic uncertainties, we expect new opportunities to increase through next-generation technological innovations such as the full-fledged launch of the AI ​​era,” Han said during this year's annual shareholders meeting at Suwon Convention Center in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday.

Han told shareholders the tech giant would further strengthen the organization and promotion system to discover various new products and business models at an early stage highlighting AI, customer experience and ESG (environment, society and governance) as the company’s three key future keywords.

He also said the company plans to pay 9.8 trillion won ($7.32 billion) worth of dividends for 2023. Under a readjusted shareholder return program, Samsung allocated 9.8 trillion won as dividends annually between 2021 and 2023.

While some 600 Samsung shareholders gathered at the 55th annual meeting, the company livestreamed the meeting online and conducted electronic voting for shareholders who could not physically attend.

All six agenda items, including the appointment of new outside directors and compensation plans for in-house directors, were approved as planned. During the process, however, some shareholders expressed complaints about the company's lukewarm share price amid a recent chip stock rally.

Han apologized for the stock price not meeting shareholders' expectations but offered a positive outlook, citing a possible recovery in chip demands later this year. He also promised to put in an all-out effort to elevate sales and profits.

At this year’s annual meeting, Samsung held an open talk session with shareholders for the first time. Including Han, 13 key executives at Samsung engaged in communication and shared growth strategies.

Samsung Electronics co-CEO Kyung Kye-hyun, who oversees the tech giant's chips business, expressed his determination to regain the company’s world’s top position in the chip industry within a couple of years at the earliest.

Affected by sluggish demand for chips, Samsung’s net profit plummeted 72.2 percent on-year to 15.48 trillion won last year. Sales fell 14.3 percent on-year to 258.93 trillion won. Market watchers predicted that its chip business alone likely posted 15 trillion won worth of operating loss last year.

“The year 2024 marks the 50th anniversary of Samsung starting its chip business. We’ll make another leap that signals a full-scale recovery and mark this year as the year that opens the next half century for the Device Solution division,” Kyung said. “For this, we’ll strengthen efficient investment and structural improvement activities based on the technological superiority we gained through research and development.”

When a shareholder asked about the specific timing for the chip business to swing back to the black, the co-CEO hinted that the company already turned profitable in January. At the same time, he projected chip profits to improve throughout the year.

Another shareholder pointed out that Samsung was lagging in the burgeoning HBM or high bandwidth memory market where its crosstown rival SK hynix has secured an earlier edge.

Kyung admitted that Samsung was not well-prepared for the HBM, but pledged to show tangible results "soon" for other advanced chips such as CXL (Compute Express Link) and PIM (Processing In Memory).

Baek Bok-ki, a 56-year-old shareholder, said she felt a "greater sense of belonging as a shareholder" through this year's annual meeting. "Although I am a minority shareholder, the shareholder open talk session made me feel Samsung was more lovely."

Another anonymous shareholder who looked around the venue after the meeting also said, "This year, I was able to get a better glimpse of Samsung's will for coexistence with small and medium-sized businesses."