Samsung can’t produce in Nigeria as none of the 400 parts needed is here—Yoon
Even though Nigeria remains a strong retail market for leading digital device manufacturer, Sung Yoon, chief executive officer of Samsung Electronics, Africa, has said “Producing a mobile phone requires 400 components and that none is available in Nigeria”.
The implication of this is that Samsung Electronics has dropped the idea of establishing a manufacturing plant in Nigeria and is only working how to promote sales of imported products.
He said that the company had manufacturing plants in Vietnam, China, South Africa and Korea, hence, having one in Nigeria is a thing of the future.
Though he failed to rollout statistics, Yoon claimed that Nigerian market is smaller to South Africa’s.
It was not clear if his claims are linked to the massive inversion of the Nigerian device market by other emerging leaders including Tecno, iTel, Gionne and other mobile phone manufacturers based in China.
In his further submission, Yoon argued that “As a dynamic and innovative organisation, SEWA is constantly exploring ground-breaking ways of providing its customers with best-in-class products, sales, support and marketing functions”.
“We wish to reiterate our commitment to this market and our focus on delivering the highest quality products, service and support, for which our customers have come to admire us. We can assure all our stakeholders that, as an organisation, we have gained useful insights from events of our recent past, both positive and negative, and are confident that the lessons learned will help propel us into our next phase of growth,” he commented.
According to him, “Since Samsung began operations in Nigeria in 2005, it has created a niche for itself by offering high quality products”.
“This has impacted positively on the Nigerian economy in various ways, such as fostering knowledge/technology transfer and creating employment directly and indirectly for millions of Nigerians.
“In Nigeria, Samsung has invested significantly in its partnership with the Lagos State Technical and Vocational Education Board, through which it is helping to equip the country’s youth with the technical skills they need to transform their lives and contribute to the development of the country.
“The Samsung Engineering Academy enrolls over 1000 students yearly across various countries in Africa with the aim of closing the gap between skills and demand in the job market.
“Graduates have a 40% job placement track record, while others go on to pursue further higher education, training or start their own businesses.
“Samsung’s aim is to build successful partnerships in Nigeria to equip the country’s youth with the technical skills they need to transform their lives and contribute to the development of the country,” Samsung Africa boss, Yoon averred.
