Seoul: Despite a sharp rebound in Samsung Electronics’ fourth-quarter earnings last year, chair Lee Jae-yong is urging executives to step up efforts to rebuild the group’s technological competitiveness, warning against complacency driven by short-term financial improvement.
According to industry sources last Sunday, Samsung Group shared Lee’s message at a recent executive seminar, where he stated, “We must not become self-satisfied because the numbers have improved. This is the last chance to restore our competitiveness.”
Lee’s remarks were delivered through a leadership programme titled “Restoring Samsung Values”, which began last week and involves roughly 2,000 executives from the vice-president level and down, across Samsung’s affiliates.
Participants said the programme included video footage emphasising the management philosophy of the late Samsung patriarch Lee Kun-hee – a move widely interpreted as Lee reinforcing his father’s legacy of confronting structural crises head-on.
The video, first screened earlier this month at a dinner gathering of affiliate chief executive officers, has been viewed internally as Lee’s de facto New Year’s message.
It linked his father’s past warnings to Samsung’s strategic priorities for this year, including a stronger focus on artificial intelligence (AI).
In particular, Lee revisited his father’s long-standing warning about South Korea’s “sandwich crisis” – the notion that the country risks being squeezed between Japan’s technological edge and China’s rapid catch-up driven by cost competitiveness.
Lee added that while the competitive landscape has evolved, the underlying risks have only intensified.
Industry insiders interpret Lee’s renewed use of the phrase as reflecting a more complex reality facing Samsung, as it navigates the mounting strategic and financial pressure due to the intensifying rivalry between the United States and China.
Lee’s remarks suggested that while Samsung’s earnings rebound signals an exit from a prolonged semiconductor downturn, structural risks remain unresolved.
The company struggled with weak chip performance from 2023 through the first half of last year, but signalled a turnaround after posting record preliminary fourth-quarter results on Jan 8.
In an earnings surprise, Samsung Electronics reported an estimated revenue of 93 trillion won or about US$64.3bil and operating profit of 20 trillion won – the first time its quarterly sales topped 90 trillion won.
The surge was mainly driven by strong demand for high-bandwidth memory following a boom in hyperscale data centre investments.
To drive efforts to reinforce Samsung’s core strengths, Lee highlighted AI-focused management, securing top talent and corporate culture innovation as major priorities.
Executives attending the seminar received crystal plaques engraved with the phrase “Beyond crisis, toward renewed growth”.
Compared with last year’s engraving, which encouraged Samsung’s crisis-resilient DNA, the message was seen as underscoring a shift from recognising crisis to delivering visible results.
Hosted by the Samsung Human Resources Development Centre, the seminar aims to strengthen executives’ sense of responsibility and leadership. — The Korea Herald/ANN
