Thursday, January 19, 2012

BREAKINGVIEWS-Samsung's $41 bln binge may shake Apple's tree

Wed Jan 18, 2012 9:54am GMT

(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own)

By Wayne Arnold

HONG KONG, Jan 18 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Samsung?s (005930.KS) $41 billion investment splurge should ring alarm bells at its competitors. At least half of the Korean conglomerate?s planned outlays will probably go to expanding its global lead in smartphones and the chips and screens that drive them. It?s a bold bet in a slowdown, if its bet pays off Samsung could lengthen its lead over the likes of Apple (AAPL.O).

Samsung Electronics hasn?t announced just how much it plans to invest from the parent group's big number. But if history is any guide, its share should be at least $21 billion for expanding production and R&D. Relative to forecast annual revenue, that?s about 26 percent more than what Apple plans to invest this year. Competitors should worry, because chances are Samsung won?t put that into microwaves and dishwashers, but rather into its more profitable smartphones and flash memory.

Korea's tech companies have made great strides against Japanese and U.S. rivals. A falling currency -- the won has weakened 60 percent against the yen over 20 years -- helped the likes of Samsung break into the global consumer electronics market. Now, the company is the world?s largest maker of televisions, memory chips and smartphones. It leads the market for flash memory drives and state-of-the-art digital screens, so it not only competes with Apple but supplies it with parts.

Spending 13 percent of revenue on capex and R&D may seem risky in a slowing global economy, but Samsung can afford it. It has an estimated $10 billion in net cash on the balance sheet according to Daiwa, and forecast EBITDA of $29 billion for 2012. The company?s plans to take advantage of low U.S. interest rates to borrow $1 billion in five-year bonds shows it is considering building a more aggressive balance sheet.

The big risk is that in such a fickle, fashion-driven market as smartphones, even big investment budgets can go into the wrong ideas. Ask Motorola, Nokia or Research In Motion. But given that the smartphone market is still forecast to grow by 34 percent this year, Samsung deserves the benefit of the doubt.

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

SIGN UP FOR BREAKINGVIEWS EMAIL ALERTS:

www.breakingviews.com/TOPNewsSubscription

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>

CONTEXT NEWS

-- South Korea?s largest conglomerate, the Samsung Group, said Jan. 16 it would increase investment by 12 percent in 2012 to a record 47.8 trillion won (roughly $41.6 billion). It didn't provide a breakdown of its investment plans by business division, but said it is looking to expand investment into new growth areas despite heightened uncertainties stemming from the global economic downturn.

-- Samsung said it would spend 31 trillion won on facilities investment, an 11 percent increase from last year, while outlays for research and development would rise 13 percent to 13.6 trillion won. The group, which spent 42.8 trillion won last year, said the remainder will go toward other investment tools, such as stake purchases.

-- Samsung Electronics Jan. 15 its U.S. operation was considering selling around $1 billion in bonds, its first major overseas debt sale in more than a decade, to fund operations at a chip plant in Austin, Texas. Samsung, which supplies semiconductors to Apple's iPhone and iPad tablet, has sent requests for proposals to banks for the potential sale of five-year bonds, a Samsung spokesman said.

-- Reuters: Samsung Group plans record $41 bln investment in 2012 [ID:nL3E8CH02B]

-- Reuters: Samsung plans $1 bln debt sale to fund U.S. chip plant [ID:nL3E8CG0DM]

RELATED COLUMNS

Dialling for dollars [ID:nL5E7M3274]

Seoul sacrifice [ID:nL4E7M231B]

Wages of war [ID:nS1E78M0UN]

(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own)

-- For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can click on [ARNOLD/]

(Editing by John Foley and David Evans)

((wayne.arnold@thomsonreuters.com)) Keywords: BREAKINGVIEWS SAMSUNG/

(C) Reuters 2011 All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing, or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.

Source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/UKmedia/~3/ixlJiXV8CJw/idUKL3E8CI4G020120118

jewelry stores sleep no more cyber monday deals war eagle war eagle pawn stars restrepo

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.