Samsung merges electronics and telecom biz in India

New Delhi : Samsung Telecommunications India (STI), a telecom subsidiary in India, will now be a business division of Samsung India Electronics, the consumer electronics and IT subsidiary in the country. Both Samsung Telecom India and Samsung India Electronics are wholly-owned subsidiaries of Korean parent, Samsung Electronics Co. Post merger, Samsung India Electronics will have three business divisions-consumer electronics, IT and telecom.

The company had applied for merger of the telecom and consumer electronics subsidiaries last year and got the approval from the High Court in August 2008. Sunil Dutt, Country Head-Mobile Business, Samsung India Electronics said,
"This move is basically to gain operational efficiencies and leverage synergies across both the business lines. With this the company will provide one platform for services in any department, be it HR, finances, logistics
etc."

On the affects of the merger on the brand positioning of Samsung, Dutt said, "Samsung is a very strong brand, we are heading towards growth in all aspects including brand positioning. Merger, as such,
won't make any difference as there was always a focus in our activities and we'll keep on focusing on
them."

He also informed that the strategy to market the brand would also remain the same. There would be no change but only better utilization of resources. Samsung has increased its branches of consumer electronics division from 20 to 50.
"Every business has its own uniqueness and nature, we would use the resources at our disposal to reach even better
efficiencies," he replied when asked if Samsung would be using all 50 branches for promoting its telecom products also.

"Samsung is growing its strength, so there is no question of downsizing," added Dutt, clearing any doubts about any plans of downsizing in near future. 2008 has seen Samsung strengthening its position in a big way, which includes the creation and the recruitment of positions like Head of Market Intelligence, Strategic Channel Management for Consumer Electronics and Telecom Businesses, National Sales Manager position for CE and Telecom Businesses and Head of Product Management for Mobile Business and several others.