Samsung bares record investment, hiring in 2011

SEOUL (AP) – Samsung Group said yesterday it plans to carry out record investment and hiring this year as it seeks to strengthen international dominance of its mainstream businesses and also develop new ones.

South Korea’s top business conglomerate said in a statement that it will invest 43.1 trillion won ($38.4 billion) in 2011 for an increase of 18 percent over last year. Samsung also said that it will hire 25,000 people for a gain of 11 percent over 2010.

Both figures are all-time highs, according to the statement.

Samsung Electronics Co., the group’s flagship corporation, is a global technology leader and manufactures consumer products including televisions and mobile phones as well as components such as flat screens and computer memory chips.

The company is the world’s biggest maker of flat screen TVs, liquid crystal displays and memory chips and ranks No. 2 in mobile phones behind Nokia Corp. of Finland.

The conglomerate also consists of dozens of other businesses covering a broad array of sectors including shipbuilding, construction, leisure and finance.

A total of 29.9 trillion won of the investment will go for facilities, the statement said, with 12.1 trillion earmarked for research and development and 1.1 trillion for capital investment.

Facilities investment will be led by semiconductors with 10.3 trillion won, while LCDs and super thin organic light-emitting diode, or OLEDs, will get 5.4 trillion won each, the statement said.

Samsung did not provide a breakdown by individual company or identify new businesses. The investment plan, however, comes as the conglomerate’s key figure this week issued a new call for change.

Lee Kun-hee, the chairman of Samsung Electronics and the son of the conglomerate’s founder, said in a New Year’s message that change must be embraced.

“Within the next 10 years, all the businesses and products that we now hold as Samsung flagships will fade,” Lee said in a statement Monday. “New businesses and products must take root before that happens.”

The need for change at Samsung has been a long-running theme for Lee, who turns 69 this month. His only son, Lee Jae-yong, was promoted last month to the rank of president at Samsung Electronics amid expectations he will eventually succeed his father.

Shares in Samsung Electronics fell 1.4 percent to 945,000 won in afternoon trading in Seoul.