Samsung Electronics, on Tuesday, announced it has agreed to sell its fiber optics business to US glass panel supplier Corning. The financial terms of the deal were not made public.
According to Reuters, the sale includes Samsung’s optical fiber material manufacturing plants in China and South Korea. The deal is expected to get closed by the first quarter of 2015 following necessary regulatory approvals.
“We have decided to sell our fibre optics business, in order to focus on our core business areas,” a Samsung Electronics spokeswoman said.
However, she declined to comment on details of the sale, including the price as well as on how much revenue the division generates.
Corning, which supplies glass for smartphones made by Samsung and Apple Inc, said the deal will boost up its fibre optics business in the Asian market.
The announcement comes as the South Korean company moves ahead to streamline its business operations to focus more on core business areas rather than on non-core areas amid falling profits from its smartphone division.
According to Strategy Analytics, Samsung’s global smartphone market share fell to 24.7 per cent in the third quarter from 35 per cent a year earlier. The company’s operating profit margins from the mobile business dropped down to 7 per cent in the July-September period, from above 15 percent recorded in the last ten consecutive quarters.
The smartphone maker also said in October that it will cease its light emitting diode lighting business, also considered a non-core business, outside of its home country.
