Junior Lee plays key role in Las Vegas

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jay-yong visits Las Vegas Convention Center to meet executives of partner companies during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) Friday (KST). (Photo : Samsung Electronics)

LAS VEGAS ― Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jay-yong, the only son of company head Lee Kun-hee, is stepping up efforts to earn his stripes as the next leader of the technology giant.

His latest stage was the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, where he was seen actively engaging with industry counterparts.

Sources told The Korea Times that Lee had a main role in an agreement between Samsung and Japanese firms Sony, Toshiba and Panasonic to establish a joint venture in the United States dedicated to licensing out chip technology patents. The four firms will have an equal 25 percent share in the company.

The company, to be called Next Generation Secure Memory, will also develop and market security technologies for flash memory chips produced by the four companies that are increasingly used in smartphones, laptops and touch-screen tablets.

The NAND flash memory used in these devices are handling an increasing amount of information and media, and storing data safely on them has become more critical.

“Lee’s role was important in getting the deal done and he certainly called the shots with a level of autonomy.’’ said the source.

Lee was also seen with executives from American semiconductor firms Intel and Qualcomm, which are firmly established in markets where Samsung is trying to carve out a position.

He joined Samsung CEO Kwon Oh-hyun for a private meeting with Intel President Paul Otellini over a joint project to develop a new mobile operating platform for smart devices, dubbed Tizen. It remains to be seen whether this will ever mount a serious challenge to Google’s Android empire and Apple’s iOS presence, but Samsung is insisting on making every effort.

The partnership has the potential to be a powerful one if the two firms can create something out of the enormous amount of intellectual property owned between them.

Samsung plans to release a smartphone running on Tizen sometime this year, although company officials did not give any details.

“Lee visited various booths of our competitors and tried out their products,” said Keich Lee, spokeswoman of Samsung’s Corporate Strategy Office. “He also visited Samsung’s booth and met with key business clients and partners.” His father arrived in Hawaii today to draw up this year’s business plan she added.

The vice chairman left for Las Vegas after attending his father’s 72nd birthday Wednesday (KST) and will stay until Saturday. <The Korea Times/Kim Yoo-chul, Cho Mu-hyun>