Samsung Expands Early-Stage Tech Funds to ‘Leapfrog’ Rivals
Gwen Ackerman GwenSahar September 25, 2016
Samsung Electronics Co. opened a branch of its early-stage technology investment program in Tel Aviv to better tap into the innovative engineering for which Israel is known.
Investment in individual companies will typically be about $1 million with no limit on the number of beneficiaries or the funding amount, Eyal Miller, Samsung Next Tel Aviv’s general manager and chief executive officer, said at a news conference.
“Everyone is trying to leapfrog the competition,” Kai Bond, general manager and CEO of Samsung Global Innovation Center in New York, said in an interview. “But for us to continue to innovate three, five, seven years out, we want to play with individuals who are very, very early on, at a concept phase with a vision, as opposed to something that is fully established.”
Apple Inc., a top Samsung competitor, acquired India’s Tuplejump Software Pvt. Ltd. earlier this year to expand its expertise in artificial intelligence. The purchase was Apple’s third acquisition this year in an area that has become a key investment field for tech giants as they compete to develop virtual assistants.
Started three years ago, Samsung Global Innovation Center has invested in more than 40 technologies and acquired 11, including one that powers the Samsung Galaxy mobile phone payment software, Miller said. The Tel Aviv division joins teams in California, New York and South Korea at a time when Samsung is recalling its iPhone-rivaling Galaxy Note 7 mobile phones, after some batteries overheated or burst into flame.
The Samsung Next Tel Aviv initiative is the latest sign of the South Korean company’s increasing interest in Israeli innovation. Samsung Electronics has been investing in and acquiring Israeli companies for the past decade.
“Tel Aviv has more talented engineers per square foot than anywhere in the world,” said Bond. The division will invest in areas that include artificial intelligence, cyber security, augmented and virtual reality.
The new program dovetails with Israel’s attempts to widen trade with Asian countries to offset declining exports to the U.S. and Europe. In May, Israel and South Korea announced the opening of free-trade talks to expand commerce between the two countries that stood at $1.7 billion in 2015.
彭博看Note 7自燃：三星溢價優勢恐陪葬
2016年09月27日
【劉利貞╱綜合外電報導】財經媒體彭博評論，GALAXY Note 7自燃帶給三星電子的最大風險不是市佔率下滑，而是可能為贏回消費者芳心而犧牲當前訂價策略。目前三星手機價格比市場均價高26%，獲利能力勝過大多數同業，若選擇降價以維護市佔，將削弱利潤、失去訂價優勢。
彭博指出，250萬支Note 7相當於三星2015年全球手機出貨量0.8%，可謂微不足道，但20億美元（約627億元台幣）回收成本對獲利的衝擊不能小覷。20億美元約佔三星電信通訊設備部門2015年營業利益22%，而該部門貢獻三星近半營收。
撐過去 利益就升
選擇降價以重新培養客戶忠誠度，或許能維持市佔，但彭博建議不如擴大投資研發，投注品管與行銷。這將使短期與長期成本上升，但若能撐過Note 7回收風暴及市佔暫時下降而不犧牲現行訂價，將限縮Note 7負面影響，甚至使營業利益升高。
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