'Four Years in Office': Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong Inspects Robotics, a Future Growth Engine

[Financial News] On the 27th, marking the fourth anniversary of Lee Jae-yong’s inauguration as chairman, he visited a robotics business site to secure future growth engines. Rather than hold a separate commemorative event or issue a message, he personally visited the organization overseeing the robotics business and reviewed the status of technology development and commercialization—a move seen as showing his determination to foster new businesses.
According to business sources, Lee visited the Robotics Experience (RX) Business Promotion Office that afternoon at Samsung Electronics’ Seoul R&D Campus in Umyeon-dong, Seocho District, Seoul.
Ahead of CES 2027, the world’s largest consumer electronics and information technology (IT) trade show, which will be held in Las Vegas, U.S., next January, Lee reportedly reviewed preparations to unveil the company’s robotics technology. In particular, he assessed the competitiveness and development status of next-generation robotics technologies, including humanoid robots.
The day marked four years since Lee took office as chairman on October 27, 2022. His visit to a research and development site in robotics, a key future business, instead of holding an inauguration anniversary event is seen as a move demonstrating his commitment to securing technological competitiveness and fostering new businesses.
Last July, Samsung Electronics established the RX Business Promotion Office directly under the CEO and consolidated robotics-related capabilities that had been dispersed across the company. The plan is to strengthen the robotics business’s competitiveness by establishing an integrated system to oversee everything from setting medium- and long-term business strategies to developing core technologies and commercializing them.
Industry observers expect Samsung Electronics to use CES 2027 as an opportunity to flesh out its next-generation robotics technologies and business strategy and accelerate commercialization. Samsung’s strategy is to gradually expand its business from industrial robots used in manufacturing facilities to household and service robots. The company has also set a goal of converting all its production plants in Korea and abroad into AI-based “autonomous factories” by 2030.
[email protected] Lim Su-bin Reporter