Foreign Media Focus on Samsung's Future: "Lee Jae-yong Must Further Evolve Samsung"

WSJ: Hardware Leader Must Strengthen Software Competitiveness
Investment Moves Under Lee Jae-yong's Leadership Draw Attention
IOC: "Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee Greatly Contributed to Olympic Success"

[Asia Economy Reporters Naju-seok and Jeong Hyeon-jin] Following the passing of Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee, foreign media have begun to focus on the future of the Samsung Group. They introduced that Lee Jae-yong, Samsung Vice Chairman and successor to Chairman Lee, faces the task of further evolving the group.

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong is entering the funeral hall at Samsung Medical Center in Irwon-dong, Gangnam-gu, where the late Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee's wake is being held on the 25th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

On the 25th (local time), The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that Vice Chairman Lee's biggest challenge is to take Samsung, a hardware powerhouse, to the next level. While Samsung has succeeded in becoming a company that produces almost every electronic product on Earth?from smartphones and displays to gigabyte-level storage devices?keeping pace with changes in the tech industry environment, it also diagnosed the company as being vulnerable in some respects.

WSJ stated, "The center of gravity in the advanced technology industry is gradually shifting from products to software that controls products, and from artificial intelligence (AI) to applications related to customer data," adding, "(Samsung) has not kept up with this." It pointed out that in the six years since Chairman Lee suffered a heart attack in 2014, Samsung, unlike competitors such as Apple, has failed to create services or software that can attract customer loyalty.

WSJ also paid attention to changes in Samsung's management patterns. Due to Chairman Lee's health issues and legal risks related to Samsung, aggressive mergers and acquisitions (M&A) have been restrained, but it is necessary to note the possibility that this pattern may change. WSJ introduced that Samsung holds about $80 billion (approximately 90.37 trillion KRW) in cash but has so far shown a tendency to reinvest in existing business areas.

International condolences continued regarding Chairman Lee's passing. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) expressed condolences on the same day, calling him "a person who greatly contributed to the success of the Olympics." IOC President Thomas Bach evaluated, "Chairman Lee not only sponsored the Olympics through the top partner contract between Samsung and the IOC but also promoted the Olympics worldwide and significantly contributed to the success of the Olympic movement and Olympic Games by developing the bond between sports and culture." Chairman Lee was also elected as an IOC member in 1996 and was appointed an honorary member after voluntarily resigning from the IOC membership in 2017 during his illness.

Foreign media such as The New York Times (NYT) introduced Chairman Lee as having nurtured Samsung into a global giant.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.