'Samsung alumnus' Son Young-kwon, Harman Board Chairman: "Samsung Doing Its Best Amid Supply Chain Crisis"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] Son Young-kwon, chairman of the board at Harman and former Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) of Samsung Electronics, recently stated that Samsung is doing everything it can amid the global supply chain disruptions but is still facing difficulties due to ongoing logistics challenges.

In an interview with Bloomberg TV on the 1st (local time), Son said regarding the supply chain issues occurring ahead of the year-end, from the perspective of Samsung Electronics as the world's largest semiconductor supplier and a parts supplier, "They are doing everything they can with their utmost effort."

Emphasizing that Samsung operates both the set business and the parts business simultaneously and thus can be viewed from two perspectives, Son mentioned that although Samsung has made a $20 billion investment decision related to semiconductors, it inevitably takes time to build factories, assemble teams, and start operations. He added, "Everyone is doing their best and trying to speed things up, but logistics difficulties have also arisen, causing challenges such as unloading shipments."

Son also said, "From the perspective of finished products, taking Harman as an example, Harman supplies systems used in automobiles, securing contracts daily, processing them quickly, and replacing products. Customers generally try to deliver smaller but higher-value premium products through changes in SKU (stock keeping unit) mix. This may be possible temporarily, but ultimately it will become difficult," he predicted.

Son diagnosed that the supply chain situation worsened due to COVID-19, explaining that previously, timely delivery and minimizing inventory to improve efficiency were standard practices in the industry, but during the pandemic, each country faced different circumstances, making communication difficult. As a result, manufacturing of electronic products, which cannot afford to miss even a single part, was disrupted, while IT demand surged significantly. He analyzed that the semiconductor industry, which usually requires 2-3 years for investments to take effect, experienced a period of reduced investment scale, which impacted the supply chain.

Son joined Samsung Electronics in 2012 after serving as the head of Intel Korea and led Samsung's acquisition (M&A) of automotive parts company Harman in 2017. He later became chairman of Harman's board and concurrently served as Samsung Electronics' CSO. At the end of last year, he stepped down from the CSO position but retained his role as chairman of the board and remained with the company as an advisor.

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