Samsung plans to expand investment in AI, 5G

Samsung Electronics Co on Wednesday said it will propel technology innovations to tackle the unfavourable business environment and foster new growth drivers such as artificial intelligence (AI) and 5G.

Samsung vowed to step up its innovations to overcome business challenges amid falling prices of memory chips and flattening global demand for new smartphones.

"The company plans to push for profound innovations across the divisions as the unfavourable business environment is expected to continue this year," Kim Ki-nam, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, said at a meeting at the company headquarters attended by about 1,000 investors.

To get ahead in the fast-changing tech industry, Samsung said it will expand investment in burgeoning tech segments to propel growth.

"We will focus on new, promising businesses, such as AI and 5G, to bring meaningful changes and will actively respond to new business opportunities," Kim said.

Announcing business plans during the shareholders meeting, the first since a 50:1 stock split in May which was aimed at making it easier for retail investors to purchase stakes in the firm, Kim said: "We will continue to release innovative products in our home appliance and IT and mobile communication divisions to expand our market-leading position."

The world's largest handset and memory chip maker said it posted $215.8 billion in sales and $52 billion in operating profits last year on a consolidated basis, posting record high profits driven by the boom in memory chips, Yonhap news agency reported.

Its bid to propel its 5G business comes as Huawei, the world's largest telecom equipment maker, faces growing pressure from the US over security protection issues.

The Korean tech firm currently has a mere 3 per cent share in the 5G equipment sector, lagging far behind Huawei's 28 per cent and Ericsson's 27 per cent, according to market researcher IHS Markit.

The company has set a goal of capturing a 20 per cent share in the 5G equipment market by 2022.