Like just about everyone else, Samsung had a rough 2016 – though the South Korean company’s year was perhaps even tougher than most. There was that drawn out Galaxy Note incident, which entailed two recalls and a on-going apology parade, coupled with the subsequent recall of 2.8 million washing machines over reports of malfunctions and injuries, including a broken jaw.
The electronics giant also had its headquarters raided multiple times, thanks to a corruption probe involving South Korean president, Park Geun-hye.
In recent months, the company has also faced mounting pressure from shareholders, led by US-based firm Elliott Management to split the company in two. The hedge fund’s plan involves splitting Samsung into an operating company, along with a holding company tasked with ownership.
Tomorrow, Samsung will announce plans to raise shareholder value – a plan that, according to unnamed sources at The Seoul Economic Daily (by way of Reuters) – may involve plans to consider splitting the company as per the recommendation.
We reached out to Samsung US this morning and got a blanket “Samsung doesn’t comment on rumors or speculation” in response. We’ll surely know more when the company holds the aforementioned conference call at 9:30AM local time tomorrow.
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