Samsung Chairman's Billion Dollar Meetings in the US

Samsung Chairman Lee Jae-yong is preparing to accompany President Yoon Suk-yeol on a state visit to the United States scheduled from April 26 to mid-May, South Korean media reported.

At the beginning of his visit to the US, Mr. Lee is expected to carry out activities as a member of the Korean economic delegation, including providing support for intergovernmental negotiations related to the US Chip and Science Act and informing US government officials about Samsung's business situation.

After the official schedule of the economic delegation ends, the Samsung leader will meet with a number of influential figures in the technology industry, while strengthening Samsung's partner network and developing new business projects for the future.

Upper Door vs Google

According to Korean media, Chairman Lee has a busy schedule in the US as he plans to meet with leaders of many major companies there, including Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Apple CEO Tim Cook.

Although Samsung competes with Apple and even Google, the group remains a close partner of both US tech giants and plans to maintain close ties with both.

After Google launched the Pixel phone in 2016, many people thought that Samsung and Google were rivals, but in fact, the two companies had maintained a cooperative relationship before that. Samsung Electronics manufactured application processors (APs) for Google phones and artificial intelligence semiconductors for Google.

CEO Sundar Pichai's tech company is said to have panicked after news broke that Samsung was considering using Bing as an alternative search engine to Google. Photo: Fortune

Google Search is also the default search engine on Samsung phones and tablets.

However, the New York Times recently reported that Samsung is considering using Microsoft Bing as the default search engine on Galaxy phones and tablets, replacing Google Search after 12 years of cooperation. This would be a big loss for Google if it really happens.

Samsung is by far the most influential Android device maker, so it seems to have the upper hand over Google. In other words, it seems like Google’s Android needs Samsung more than the other way around. That would give the Korean tech giant an advantage in new negotiations involving Google Search and other services.

The switch, if it happens, would cost Google more than $3 billion in annual revenue. The company would lose another $20 billion if Apple did the same after its deal with Google ends this year, according to the New York Times.

Google Search is valued at $162 billion in 2022. Losing $23 billion in annual revenue would be a huge blow to the company after more than 25 years of search dominance. But after all those years of near-monopoly, Google will now have to accept the fact that it has competition.

“Once in a lifetime” opportunity

The Samsung chairman is also expected to meet with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella during his trip to the US, although the purpose of the meeting has not been disclosed.

Industry analysts say that if there is an opportunity for Microsoft to strike a partnership with Samsung like Google and attract more users, it will pay whatever it takes to make it happen.

“Samsung is dominating the Android ecosystem, with a huge global market share. Bing becoming the default search engine on Samsung devices not only brings economic benefits to Microsoft but also helps the company gradually conquer users,” said Rishi Jaluria, an analyst at RBC.

Samsung Chairman Lee Jae-yong and Microsoft founder Bill Gates during a meeting in 2022. Photo: Android Headlines

In addition, even small gains from Google are valuable to Microsoft. “For every percentage point of market share we gain in search advertising, we have the opportunity to generate $2 billion in revenue for our advertising business,” Microsoft’s vice president of finance Philippe Ockenden once shared.

A few months ago, Bing’s market share was still a fraction of Google’s dominance in the search space. However, Microsoft invested $10 billion in OpenAI to integrate its AI technology into Bing, allowing users to use Bing to chat with the ChatGPT chatbot. This makes Bing a more appealing alternative to Google for many users.

Now, Microsoft has a rare opportunity to outpace Google and bring Bing to a new audience. This is especially important because Microsoft does not have a viable mobile operating system of its own. Investing heavily in strengthening its partnership with Samsung will pay off for Microsoft in the future, experts say .

Nguyen Tuyet (According to Business Insider, Sam Mobile, Business Korea)

Source: https://www.nguoiduatin.vn/nhung-cuoc-gap-mat-tri-gia-ty-usd-cua-chu-tich-samsung-tai-my-a604477.html