Samsung Electronics’ Semiconductor Division (A)
Below are the available bulk discount rates for each individual item when you purchase a certain amount
Register as a Premium Educator at hbsp.harvard.edu, plan a course, and save your students up to 50% with your academic discount.
Publication Date:
May 20, 2002
Industry:
Technology
Source:
Stanford Graduate School of Business
In 2000, Samsung Electronics was the world’s largest manufacturer of semiconductor memory chips. Its main line of business was the manufacture of DRAM chips, but worldwide demand had plummeted. Moreover, Intel, the world’s largest producer of microprocessors, had formed an alliance with Rambus, a memory design company, to develop a new super-high-speed DRAM design that would represent a new industry standard. Senior management at Samsung faced fundamental strategic issues: Should it continue to invest in the high-risk DRAM business alone, and could Samsung be a market leader by itself? Should it be steadfast in its opposition to the alternative standard, which represented new opportunities? If it adopted the Rambus design, how many resources should be devoted to the manufacture of Rambus chips? Diversification out of the volatile memory business was a key strategic issue and represented one possible means for reducing Samsung’s vulnerability to industrywide downturns, but Samsung’s past efforts to expand its nonmemory business had met with only limited success. This case provides the background to the issues Samsung faced as it debated how to meet these challenges while remaining a leading player in the semiconductor industry.
If you’d like to share this PDF, you can purchase copyright permissions by increasing the quantity.
Copyright © 2021 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. Harvard Business Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School.
Samsung Electronics’ Semiconductor Division (A)
Research & References of Samsung Electronics’ Semiconductor Division (A)|A&C Accounting And Tax Services
Source