Samsung Electronics is banking on Europe to maintain growth momentum in its network equipment business. This is stated by a senior executive, as 5G rollout widens and industry leader Huawei Technologies of China focuses on its domestic market.
Samsung is the global number one South Korean company to produce chips and smartphones. In 5G network equipment it ranks fifth behind Huawei, Ericsson, Nokia and ZTE. This is according to market research firm Dell’Oro Group. With a U.S. telecom company Verizon, Samsung has landed a $6.6 billion deal. And then with Japan’s NTT Docomo. Woojune Kim, executive vice president of Samsung’s networks business said that currently, Samsung is conducting 5G trials with European telecom companies such as Deutsche Telekom in the Czech Republic, Play Communications in Poland and another major European firm.
In India, Australia and Southeast Asia also Samsung is planning to expand its markets. The network equipment business is small currently for Samsung, which had revenue of 236.8 trillion won ($212.50 billion) for 2020. Samsung said that the systems rise by 35% a year on average. This is after the 5G network rollouts began in 2019 in various countries. Because this has seen many numbers of new clients for its 5G equipment. In addition to 5G rollouts, U.S. pressure on its allies to exclude Huawei from 5G systems has provided opportunities for its competitors to expand market share.
Samsung is touting its virtualized RAN (radio access network) technology. This software allows telecom companies to freely use off-the-shelf network equipment in various combinations. And this can connect users to networks, saving costs and providing flexibility. Verizon has adopted this technology for 5G RAN. Samsung stated that in South Korea all operator’s 5G core networks are virtualized. This is because of the country’s very heavy use of online services like e-commerce and food delivery. And then the population size also serves as a benchmark. Kim without giving any time frame, however said that Samsung’s goal is to become top-three in the 5G network equipment business. It takes persistence, he stated.
