(image: Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Jul. 19 (Korea Bizwire) — Samsung Electronics’ mergers and acquisitions over the past 10 years indicate the tech mogul is betting its business on cloud and business-to-business services, corporate watchers said Tuesday.
Samsung pushed through 22 M&As since 2007, including Canada’s digital ad startup AdGear in May and U.S. cloud computing firm Joyent in June. Eight of the deals were related to cloud and B2B services.
The M&A pace picked up from 2010. Before then, there were only two deals. In May 2012, Samsung acquired U.S. contents firm mSpot to enhance its mobile entertainment business. In July 2013, it purchased BOXEE, a video streaming provider based in the U.S.
The acquisition of PrinterOn, a Canadian company specializing in mobile cloud solutions, was another addition in September 2014.
For B2B, the M&As became active in the past three years. The purchase of U.S. air conditioner distributor Quietside, Brazilian printing solutions company Simpress, and U.S. digital signage manufacturer YESCO Electronics all bolster Samsung’s B2B business, watchers said.
The South Korean tech giant has also been looking at Internet of Things (IoT), they said, as indicated by its acquisition of SmartThings, a U.S.-based platform developer.
“Looking at the recent record of M&As, it appears that the company is steering its future business toward clouding and Internet of Things (IoT),” a Samsung official said.
Smartphones are the main profit driver for Samsung Electronics who on July 7 estimated a 17 percent increase in second-quarter operating income compared to last year, mostly from strong sales of the handsets across all price ranges. Competition has grown stiff, however, with Chinese rivals quickly catching up in technology and market share, pushing Samsung to find new revenue sources.’
(Yonhap)
