Samsung in Crisis: Chairman Lee Jae-yong’s Fury Unleashed Over 50,000 Unused Electronics

While the sense of crisis surrounding Samsung is increasing on all fronts, Chairman Lee Jae-yong is not giving any specific message. The longer Chairman Lee’s silence lasts, the more the anonymous bulletin boards used by Samsung employees are abuzz with voices of dissatisfaction over technology development, communication methods, falling stock prices, and patronage within the organization. It is pointed out that the real names of executives are mentioned and that it is full of internal accusations and shows another crisis.

According to the business world on the 29th, Samsung Electronics will celebrate its 55th anniversary on the 1st of next month. However, it is expected that Chairman Lee will not issue a separate message even at this time. Previously, Chairman Lee celebrated his second anniversary in office on the 27th, but did not hold a commemorative event.

On the 25th, commemorating the 4th anniversary of the late Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee’s death, a series of memorial concerts and memorial services were held, including the ‘Lee Kun-hee Pediatric Cancer Rare Disease Overcoming Project’ event, but it was difficult to hear Chairman Lee’s voice.

The same thing happened when I sat down with the current executives.

Prior to the memorial concert on the 24th, Chairman Lee is known to have had a meal with vice presidents of affiliates, including Samsung Electronics Business Support TF Head Hyun-ho Jeong, Head of Device Experience (DX) Division Jong-hee Han, and Device Solutions (DS/Semiconductor) Division Head Jeon Young-hyun. However, even at this time, management issues were only shared and the message from Chairman Lee was not made public.

After the memorial service on the 25th, a luncheon was held with about 50 current presidents, but contrary to expectations from inside and outside the business world, no management message was delivered.

The business community interprets Chairman Lee’s silence as he believes that ‘actions and performance are more important than words’ despite the growing rumors of a Samsung Electronics crisis.

Chairman Lee, who took care of major issues such as IT, semiconductors, and automobiles during his business trip to Europe last August, emphasized that when asked about the results of his business trip, “It has to be seen as performance, performance.”

However, Samsung Electronics’ third quarter performance did not meet market expectations. As the company develops high-bandwidth memory (HBM) technology, the possibility has been raised that its rival, SK Hynix, could surpass the operating profit of Samsung Electronics’ semiconductor business division (DS) on an annual basis.

Those inside and outside the business world believe that Samsung Electronics’ performance is not good and that it would be somewhat burdensome for Chairman Lee to speak out before the judicial risk is completely resolved.

At the appeal trial for Chairman Lee’s alleged ‘unfair merger and accounting fraud’ held the previous day, the prosecution and Chairman Lee’s side engaged in a fierce battle over the purpose of the merger between Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries.

The problem is that dissatisfaction among employees is exploding amid Chairman Lee’s long silence.

They are criticizing Chairman Lee and other executives, citing numerous problems such as the spread of self-interest throughout the organization, problems with communication methods and technology development among executives and employees, and the recent decline in stock prices.

Even YouTubers joined in. In addition to YouTubers offering stock investment information, a recent video of a former Samsung Electronics YouTuber conducting a survey of 31 current and former employees of Samsung Electronics has become a hot topic, and voices of dissatisfaction that have been quiet for a while are coming out all at once.

An official from a large company said, “It’s so bad that you can hear that former executives and employees, including those from Samsung Electronics’ human resources department, are the top candidates for YouTube recruiting.” He added, “Recently, the stories about Samsung Electronics that appear on employees’ anonymous bulletin boards and YouTube make us wonder if this is the Samsung we know.” He said.

Another business official said, “It seems true that the reputation of ‘Samsung of management’ is being threatened as various internal stories are leaked out, even mentioning the real names of management.” He added, “How can young employees even have the opportunity to speak freely?” “It may not be possible, but it seems necessary to take steps to strengthen internal solidarity,” he advised.