Samsung contributes a lot to US economy

Lucy Koh

If the jury believed it was patriotic in its $1 billion verdict in favor of Apple over Samsung Electronics, it might be wrong.

“Apple may be the pride of the United States and Americans. But when you think about real economic effects, you can’t say Apple is better than Samsung,’’ said Park Hyun from local brokerage Tong Yang Investment, Tuesday.

Late Apple founder Steve Jobs admitted this, when he rejected a request by U.S. President Barack Obama in January last year to manufacture iPhones in the U.S.

Apple isn’t manufacturing its popular i-devices. The Cupertino-based Apple procures all needed components from major Korean suppliers including Samsung and LG with Taiwan’s Foxconn assembling the iPhones in China.

Samsung, on the other hand has been an active contributor to the U.S. economy.

Since 1998, it has been running a chip-making plant in Austin, Texas, which makes advanced mobile application processors and flash-type memory chips that Apple uses in its i-devices.

So far, Samsung has invested more than $12 billion in the plant. Now, some 2,300 U.S. workers are employed there, the company said in a statement to The Korea Times.

It plans to spend more to hire more Americans and build new facilities to help boost regional economies in the United States.

In August, the Korean firm signed a deal with California Governor Jerry Brown and the Santa Clara county board of supervisors to expand its research and development facility in San Jose, Calif.

“Samsung’s expansion in California is great news and it further strengthens the state’s role as a world leader in innovation,’’ said Brown in a statement. “Here’s a case where government and business work together and everyone benefits.’’

In contrast, Apple invested $500 million to build a data center in North Carolina that has just 100 full-time employees, while it was hiring more than 200,000 people outside the United States.

“Apple hired a total of 43,000 in the United States. There are worries that the United States is moving towards stiffer protectionism. But Samsung has directly spent, there and it will spend more. This is the thing that should be respected by Judge Lucy Koh,’’ said one Samsung official, asking not to be named.

This highly complex dispute was decided by a jury rather than a judge and jurors tend to issue more generous awards for patent violations, according to experts.

Apple’s cash-holdings reached over $100 billion, which is truly a milestone for its investors and top brass as more cash holdings mean more dividends. “Where’s Apple’s cash in the United States?’’ asked one industry executive.

Apple spokesman in Korea Steve Park wasn’t available for comment. <The Korea Times/Kim Yoo-chul>

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