Samsung Electronics has suspended shipments of all merchandise to Russia “as a result of present geopolitical developments,” the corporate stated on Saturday.
“We proceed to actively monitor this complicated state of affairs to find out our subsequent steps,” the corporate stated.
Samsung declined to touch upon whether or not it plans to stop providers in Russia. The merchandise which were suspended embrace smartphones, semiconductors and shopper electronics, an individual aware of the matter instructed Bloomberg.
Delivery channels and flights into Russia have been halted after world transport corporations corresponding to MSC and Maersk, which participated in sanctions, have determined to droop all operations at Russian ports. South Korea’s transport firm Hyundai Service provider Marine additionally ceased its cargo service to St. Peterburg final week, disabling Korean corporations corresponding to Samsung, LG and Hyundai from sending merchandise to Russia.
Final Friday, Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s vice prime minister and minister of digital transformation, urged Samsung to briefly halt supplying providers and merchandise in Russia by sending a letter to Samsung’s vice chairman Han Jong-hee.
“We wish you to be a part of historical past and assist us such a rare state of affairs,” Fedorov stated within the letter that he tweeted on Friday. “We imagine that such actions will encourage the youth and lively inhabitants of Russia to proactively cease the disgraceful navy aggression. We want your assist – in 2022, fashionable know-how is maybe one of the best reply to the tanks, a number of rocket launchers and missiles concentrating on residential neighborhoods, kindergartens, and hospitals. Stick with Ukraine and save tens of millions of harmless lives!”
Samsung stated in an announcement: “Our ideas are with everybody who has been impacted and our precedence is to make sure the security of all our staff and their households. We plan to actively assist humanitarian efforts across the area, together with help for refugees.”
It’s donating $6 million, together with $1 million in shopper electronics merchandise, in addition to voluntary donations from its staff.
Samsung leads the smartphone market in Russia, holding roughly 26.6% of the market share, adopted by Apple (23%) and Xiaomi (19.9%) in 2021, per knowledge by statecounter.
This information comes days after plenty of tech corporations’ choices to cease working providers in Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
Apple introduced final week it has halted product gross sales in Russia. Microsoft additionally stated it has suspended all new gross sales services and products in Russia.
