Samsung Expects Chip Demand Growth Despite Coronavirus Turmoil

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said on Wednesday it expected higher demand and limited supply for computer chips even though the coronavirus pandemic and the U.S.-China trade war were damaging major markets in Europe and the United States.

Samsung Electronics Chief Executive Kim Ki-nam made the comments at the South Korean tech giant’s annual shareholders’ meeting, which attracted only 289 people amid the coronavirus outbreak, sharply down from about 1,000 last year.

South Korea is battling Asia’s largest outbreak outside China and the virus is spreading fast through other markets like the United States and Europe, the new epicentre of the pandemic which has thrown global supply chains into chaos.

Shareholders were scanned with thermal cameras and checked with thermometers as they arrived as part of measures to ensure the meeting could go ahead safely.

Samsung Electronics also adopted electronic voting for the meeting to help curb the spread of coronavirus.

―CNA