Samsung to hold 2022 annual shareholder meeting to strengthen mobile business performance

On March 16, Samsung Electronics is to hold its annual meeting of shareholders amid complaints about performance issues with its latest Galaxy phones and complaints about stock prices failing to reflect the strong earnings of the world’s top smartphone and chip makers.

The main plan at the upcoming meeting is to appoint four new board members, including Kyung Ke-Hyun, co-CEO, and Roh Tae-moon, head of chip business and head of the mobile business. The industry observers say the proposal is likely to get majority approval.

Samsung 2022’s shareholder meeting

The other major shareholders with more than 5% stake were BlackRock with 5.03% and Samsung C&T with 5.01%. Minority shareholders together accounted for 65.71%. At a time when Samsung is facing internal and external losses, shareholders are likely to call on the leadership to come forward with a response.

Some minority shareholders have also joined in voting against Rohingya for the latest scandal surrounding gaming optimizing service software installed on Samsung’s latest flagship Galaxy S22 phone, threatening to file a class lawsuit.

The software called GOS activates automatically when users are playing games and adjusts the performance of the smartphone to keep the battery longer and prevent overheating problems.

According to Geekbench, a global forum, the controversy escalated when it was discovered that the software had been converted to other resource-intensive apps, limiting the phone’s overall performance to just 53.9% of its promised performance. It measures and compares smartphone performance.

Samsung recently released a software update to fix the problem, but the nation’s antitrust watchdog has launched an investigation to see if any of Samsung’s advertising campaigns violate the advertising law.

At the annual meeting, which is a private and online event, shareholders are expected to seek answers to critical questions such as the Samsung business in Russia and the GOS scandal. Samsung, which recently suspended shipments to Russia, has been silent on its exit plans amid calls for the country to take action against the attack on Ukraine.

Samsung’s revenue from Russia is about 4 trillion won ($3.2 billion), which is less than 2 percent of its total revenue worldwide. But the region is one of the company’s strategically important markets, with Samsung’s Galaxy phones accounting for 34 percent of smartphone sales.