Samsung, LG Aghast at Olympics Postponement Prospect
24 March, 2020
Samsung and LG are aghast following the Japanese government mooted the prospect of canceling or postponing this summer's Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Both Korean giants must revise their marketing and business plans this season if the Olympics fall through.
According to the International Olympic Committee, Samsung is among the 14 "worldwide Olympic partners" for the Tokyo Games, the highest level of sponsorships, along with Alibaba, Coca Cola, Intel and Toyota.
Samsung had hoped to utilize the Tokyo Olympics to boost its presence in japan market where it has a dismal share, on the trunk of the latest cutting-edge 5G phones, since Japan was likely to launch 5G services in the united states to coincide with the Olympics.
Apple accounted for 47.4 percent of Japan's smartphone market last year to rank at the very top, accompanied by Sharp with 13 percent and Samsung with 9.1 percent.
Samsung was getting ready to release the Galaxy S20 and other 5G phones there, before Apple rolls out a 5G iPhone in the next half of the year, therefore the postponement of the Olympics could ruin Samsung's advantage.
LG also aimed to defend myself against the Japanese market, even though it is not the official sponsor, with OLED TVs as Olympic fever stokes demand for large-screen TV sets.
Market researcher IHS had forecast OLED panel demand to surge 50.5 percent this season as a result of sports extravaganza.
TV manufacturers were expecting demand for high-resolution 8K TVs to surge, with Japanese state broadcaster NHK likely to air all Olympic events with the technology. But increasing prospects of a postponement have dashed such hopes.
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