A lot of people were waiting on Samsung to take a position on the conflict between Ukraine and Russia. Many of the world's leading tech companies have decided to suspend sales of their products and services to Russia.
A day after the Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine wrote to Samsung with a request to stop sales, the company has taken a position. It has stopped selling phones, chipsets and other products to the Russian Federation.
Samsung has double the market share of Apple in Russia
Samsung joins the likes of Apple, Microsoft and HP in suspending sales of products to the country. For now, Samsung will not ship any more of its smartphones, chips and other consumer electronics products to Russia.
The company does say that it's actively monitoring the complex situation. Samsung also says that it's donating $6 million and an additional $1 million in consumer electronics products to help with humanitarian efforts.
This was a significant business decision for the company. Samsung holds over 30% of Russia's smartphone market, more than double that of Apple. Sales in the Russian market account for nearly 4% of Samsung's global revenue from devices. The company also operates a TV production plant in Kaluga, Russia.
Samsung has made this decision voluntarily as South Korea has been granted exemption from US sanctions on Russia. The company could have continued to supply its products to Russia without being impacted by the sanctions.
How it would have got those products to Russia would have been a bigger challenge. The sanctions have effectively choked supply lines into the country. Major air cargo operators, including Korea Air Lines, have suspended cargo services to Moscow. Mulitple sea cargo operators have also said they would not be bringing cargo to the country.
Like other companies, Samsung could resume sales in Russia once the conflict ends and there's more clarity on the sanctions and other economic measures.
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