Tag Archives: Samsung Electronics

Technology

Samsung’s New $1,800 Foldable Galaxy Phone Tests High-End Budgets

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NEW YORK—The entire smartphone industry is slumping except for the priciest devices.

Samsung

Electronics Co. is testing the limits of that high-end demand.

On Wednesday, Samsung unveiled its latest models of two of the world’s most-expensive phones. The Galaxy Z Fold 4, which becomes the size of a small tablet when opened, will cost about $1,800. The more compact Galaxy Z Flip 4 will go for around $1,000. The phones have prices similar to last year’s versions and become available in the U.S. later this month.

Total smartphone shipments slid 8% in the first half of this year versus the same period in 2021, largely because consumers have cut back spending on nonessential goods amid inflation and a shakier economic outlook, according to Counterpoint Research, a research firm. The declines were steepest for the lowest-priced devices, it said.

Foxconn Technology Group, the world’s biggest iPhone assembler, on Wednesday said demand for smartphones and other consumer electronics is slowing, prompting it to be cautious about the current quarter.

Shipments of “ultra-premium” phones—devices sold for $900 or more—grew by more than 20% during the same period, Counterpoint said. This category comprises mostly

Apple Inc.’s

iPhones and Samsung’s flagship devices.

WSJ’s Dalvin Brown checks out the newest foldable smartphones from Samsung to see if the kinks in early models have been ironed out and whether folding is a feature worth spending for, or just a gimmick. Illustration: Adele Morgan

The resilience of the phone industry’s upper class mirrors that of the luxury-goods business, as wealthier consumers show a willingness to keep spending on clothing, handbags and jewelry despite economic rockiness. Brands including

LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE,

Ralph Lauren Corp.

and Gucci owner

Kering SA

have reported robust growth this year.

Apple, in its most recent quarter, reported a surprise rise in iPhone sales, defying analysts’ expectations for a decline. There has been no obvious macroeconomic impact on iPhone sales in recent months, Apple Chief Executive

Tim Cook

said on an earnings call last month.

Samsung, the world’s largest smartphone maker, recently said it expects the overall smartphone market to see shipments stay flat or experience minimal growth this year. But the South Korean company expressed optimism that its foldable-display devices, which are among its most expensive products, would sell well.

Demand for iPhones and Samsung’s flagship devices, boosted in recent years by the arrival of superfast 5G connectivity and pandemic-time splurging on gadgets, should remain high, said Tom Kang, a Seoul-based analyst for Counterpoint. “It’s clear that the affluent consumers are not affected by current economic headwinds,” Mr. Kang said.

Samsung has much riding on the Galaxy Z Fold 4, left, and the Galaxy Z Flip 4 becoming a success.



Photo:

SAMSUNG

The smaller of the two new devices, the Galaxy Z Flip 4, is an update of the model that accounted for most of Samsung’s foldable-phone sales last year. When fully open on its vertical axis, it has a display that measures 6.7 inches. When closed, it is half the size of most mainstream smartphones, and owners can view text messages and other alerts on a smaller, exterior screen. Compared with last year’s version, Samsung said the Galaxy Z Flip 4 takes better photos and has a slimmer hinge and larger battery.

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The heftier Galaxy Z Fold 4 sports a tablet-sized display that is 7.6 inches diagonally when fully opened. It opens and closes like a book, and when shut, it has a 6.2-inch outer screen that performs most smartphone functions. The new version has a slightly thinner hinge and improved camera capabilities, Samsung said.

The Galaxy Z Fold 4 is the first device to use Android 12L, a version of the operating system created by

Alphabet Inc.’s

Google specifically for tablets and foldable phones, Samsung said.

Alongside the two foldable phones, Samsung on Wednesday also introduced two new versions of its Galaxy Watch 5, as well as a new edition of its Galaxy Buds wireless earphones, the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro.

Samsung has much riding on the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and the Galaxy Z Flip 4 becoming a success. Given their high price and fatter margins, foldable devices could represent about 60% of Samsung’s mobile-division operating profits, despite accounting for roughly one-sixth of the company’s smartphone shipments, said Sanjeev Rana, a Seoul-based analyst at brokerage CLSA.

Samsung said the Galaxy Z Fold 4 is the first device to use Android 12L, a version of the operating system created by Google specifically for tablets and foldable phones.



Photo:

SAMSUNG

Across the industry, the priciest tier of smartphones represent about 10% of annual shipments but about 70% of the industry’s profits, Counterpoint said.

Samsung was a pioneer in an industry that had gone stale when it released the first mainstream foldable smartphone more than three years ago. But the original Galaxy Fold stumbled out of the gate. Design flaws delayed its release. The pandemic closed stores, cutting off opportunities for would-be early adopters to test out the devices, Samsung executives have said. And many consumers balked at an initial price tag close to $2,000.

Last year, Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3 saw stronger sales, helped by price cuts. The company also juiced demand through aggressive promotions and trade-in discounts that made purchases more affordable.

Worldwide foldable smartphone shipments are expected to total nearly 16 million units this year, up roughly 73% from the prior year, Counterpoint said. Samsung is projected to account for roughly 80% of the foldable market this year, according to Counterpoint.

The other foldable players—selling at prices below the ultra-premium threshold—include major Chinese brands, including Huawei Technologies Co., Xiaomi Corp., as well as BBK Electronics Co.-owned Vivo and Oppo.

Lenovo Group Ltd.

’s

Motorola,

which first launched a foldable phone in 2019, is slated to introduce a new model this month.

Write to Jiyoung Sohn at jiyoung.sohn@wsj.com

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Business

SoftBank Pitches IPO for Arm After Deal With Nvidia Falls Through

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TOKYO—After a deal that could have been worth $80 billion to his company fell apart,

SoftBank Group Corp.

9984 5.85%

Chief Executive

Masayoshi Son

is playing salesman for Plan B—an initial public offering of chip designer Arm.

Mr. Son sounded as if he were on a roadshow for investors at a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday. He said Arm is entering a “golden period” of high demand for the chips it helps create in smartphones, electric vehicles and computer-server farms operated by the likes of

Amazon.com Inc.

The pitch came hours after the Japanese investment and technology conglomerate said it was abandoning plans to sell Arm to Nvidia Corp.—in what would have been the largest semiconductor deal on record—because antitrust concerns stood in the way.

Mr. Son said he was surprised to see the backlash not only from U.S. regulators who sued to block the deal in December but also big tech companies that rely on Arm’s chip designs.

“We saw strong opposition because Arm is one of the most important and essential companies that most companies in the IT industry or in Silicon Valley rely on, either directly or indirectly,” he said.

SoftBank paid $32 billion when it acquired the U.K.-based chip business in 2016. Mr. Son said the sale to Nvidia, under which SoftBank would have received both cash and Nvidia shares, could have been worth $80 billion because of a rise in Nvidia’s share price.

SoftBank now plans to pursue a public listing of Arm by March 2023. Arm shares will most likely be listed on the tech-heavy

Nasdaq Stock Market

in the U.S. because many of Arm’s clients are based in Silicon Valley, Mr. Son said.

He said SoftBank didn’t intend to keep Arm for itself because he wanted outside investors in the SoftBank-led Vision Fund, which owns a quarter of Arm, to be able to cash in through an IPO and because he wanted to give stock options as incentives to Arm employees.

Uncertainties linger around an Arm IPO, including whether the volatile semiconductor business will stay hot through this year.

Chinese tech stocks popular among U.S. investors have tumbled amid the country’s regulatory crackdown on technology firms. WSJ explains some of the new risks investors face when buying shares of companies like Didi or Tencent. Photo Composite: Michelle Inez Simon

Tech shares have fallen recently because of tightening by the Federal Reserve. Fumio Matsumoto, chief strategist at

Okasan Securities,

said that made the timing for a big IPO less than ideal, and he also observed that a strategic buyer in the chip industry might pay more for Arm because of the potential synergy effects.

Still, Mr. Matsumoto said the downturn in Silicon Valley also offered opportunities for Mr. Son, and it made sense to raise cash for his war chest from an Arm IPO. “Because technology share prices have gone through a sharp correction over the past year, we are seeing a good cycle to consider preparing” for new investments, Mr. Matsumoto said.

After a rough patch a few years ago, Arm is on track for $2.5 billion in revenue this fiscal year, which ends in March, up from $1.98 billion the previous year, SoftBank said. Arm’s operating profit, according to one type of calculation used by SoftBank, more than doubled over the past two years to a projected $900 million this fiscal year.

An array of consumer electronics companies as well as semiconductor companies, including

Apple Inc.,

Samsung Electronics Co.

and

Qualcomm Inc.,

use Arm’s designs in at least some of their chips. The designs are known for their low power consumption, making them nearly ubiquitous in mobile devices.

The collapse of the Arm deal is just one of the challenges Mr. Son is tackling in his globe-spanning investment portfolio. He said “we are in pain” over China’s crackdown on its big tech companies, which hit SoftBank investments including its most valuable one, e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

The past two years have seen some of the wildest swings in the four decades since Mr. Son started SoftBank. The pandemic, initially seen as a blow, soon emerged as a boon for many technology businesses including those in which SoftBank has invested. SoftBank shares surged, only to fall by half from their recent peak when the China troubles hit and the Arm deal ran aground.

SoftBank’s net asset value, Mr. Son’s preferred measure of the company’s finances, fell by ¥1.6 trillion, equivalent to about $14 billion, in the October-December quarter to ¥19.3 trillion. That is a fall of 30% from the peak in September 2020 and the lowest level since 2017.

Mr. Son blamed the sharp fall in Alibaba shares. The Chinese company, which once made up the majority of SoftBank’s net assets, now accounts for less than a quarter of the total.

SoftBank said it unloaded a small number of Alibaba shares to settle contracts with its lenders, but Mr. Son said SoftBank’s stake in the Chinese company remained close to a quarter.

Mr. Son, who turns 65 this year, has lost a number of top lieutenants in recent years, including Chief Operating Officer

Marcelo Claure,

who stepped down in January after a pay dispute. Mr. Son said that while he was grooming successors, he didn’t intend to step down soon.

“If I stop, I’d become an old grandpa very quickly,” he said. He boasted that when he went bowling recently, he topped 200 points in two different rounds—a fine score for an amateur. “I thought, ‘Hey, I’m still pretty young,’ ” he said.

—Sam Schechner in Paris contributed to this article.

Write to Megumi Fujikawa at megumi.fujikawa@wsj.com and Peter Landers at peter.landers@wsj.com

Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

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Technology

Samsung’s Next Galaxy S Phone Will Have Note-Like Features

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The Galaxy S21 Ultra supported the S Pen, but there was no Note-like slot.
Photo: Sam Rutherford / Gizmodo

We’re still waiting for the full details of Samsung’s next Unpacked event, which will take place next month. But there’s good news for anyone who’s been missing the company’s Galaxy Note: Samsung just teased its return, though it will be a different device than what you might expect.

“At Unpacked in February 2022, we’ll introduce you to the most noteworthy S series device we’ve ever created,” Samsung President Dr. TM Roh, head of the company’s MX Business, wrote in a Thursday blog post. “The next generation of Galaxy S is here, bringing together the greatest experiences of our Samsung Galaxy into one ultimate device.”

Samsung launched the Galaxy Note in 2011 to great fanfare. The 5.3-inch display was one of the biggest screens you could get at the time. And even as flagship phones grew in screen size, the Note morphed into the most premium device of Samsung’s smartphone lineup, with the company reserving its most premium specs and features for the Note. (Let us not forget the exploding batteries, too.)

Now, Samsung is passing the baton to the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, which Roh mentioned at the end of his Unpacked teaser: “Get ready for the ultimate Ultra experience.”

It’s been rumored that Samsung would replace the Ultra version of its Galaxy S lineup with a Note-like device—complete with a slot for the S Pen. You can buy the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra now and get that kind of S Pen functionality, but there’s no docking spot for the stylus without investing in a clunky case.

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But the S Pen isn’t the only part of the Note that people liked. It often had the best cameras of any Samsung phone, plus a beefy processor and plenty of space for documents and photos. The Note was positioned as a phone for power users. It makes sense that the Galaxy S22 Ultra (which is what we expect it to be called) would take its place, where Samsung can consolidate its supply chain while also enticing you to pay a little bit extra for better hardware.

Samsung offered a few hints at some of the features to expect from the Ultra. There’s a mention of owning “the night” to take “the best and brightest photos,” which seems to suggest a larger image sensor for capturing light. There’s a promise you’ll “dominate the day with power,” which sounds like there’s a big battery stuffed inside. This will also be the “smartest” Galaxy experience, which makes me believe it has something to do with Matter—maybe something akin to Samsung’s recently announced Home Hub.

All of this syncs up with what’s leaked about the Galaxy S22 Ultra. Leaks indicate that the Ultra will sport an interesting camera array consisting of a 108MP wide-angle primary camera, a 12MP ultra-wide lens, a 10MP telephoto lens with 10x zoom, and a second 10MP telephoto lens with 3X zoom. Other unconfirmed specs include a 6.8-inch AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, up to 16GB of RAM, and at least 512GB of storage. And it’s likely to be powered by the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip.

Samsung is opening reservations on Jan. 21 for whatever the new Note-like Ultra will be before announcing any additional details. If you’re feeling brave, you can also reserve Samsung’s next tablet. Both will be available to reserve on Samsung’s website starting tomorrow.

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Technology

Samsung’s New TV Remote Uses Router Radio Waves to Stay Charged

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Image: Samsung

I didn’t think one of the coolest things at CES 2022 would be a remote. And yet, here we are. Thanks, Samsung. Seriously though, Samsung’s new remote is pretty damn neat.

Let’s backtrack for a second to CES 2021. There, Samsung released an Eco Remote that stored solar energy which was used to recharge an internal battery. This year’s model, along with using solar energy, can convert routers’ radio waves into energy, ensuring it stays fully charged.

Radio waves from routers usually go unused because they’d only be good for very low-power devices. It turns out, a remote is an ideal candidate—you don’t need much energy to use it, and it stays dormant for long stretches, allowing it to recharge.

Harvesting radio waves isn’t a new idea, but the technique rarely makes its way into actual products you and I can use. Now, the remote can’t operate on RF energy alone; the upgraded Eco Remote also uses solar energy from either outdoor or indoor light and has a USB-C port as a backup.

As Samsung noted with the previous model, using solar power alone could prevent 99 million batteries from being discarded over seven years, or the average lifetime for a TV.

Aside from its eco-friendliness and ability to charge in a variety of ways, the Eco Remote is a remote like any other. On the front are all your standard buttons, including shortcuts to popular streaming services like Disney+, Netflix, and Prime Video. And while we’re talking about saving the environment, the Eco Remote is made of recycled materials, and this year, it comes in a fresh white color.

Best of all, the Eco Remote isn’t just a marketing scheme designed to increase goodwill; Samsung says that the new remote will be included with all of its 2022 TVs.

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Technology

LG’s Next-Gen OLED Tech Promises Major Improvements

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Photo: LG

LG is having a busy CES 2022 and the show hasn’t even started. The company already revealed two bizarre OLED concepts and a pair of odd TVs, but today it made its most significant announcement yet by debuting OLED EX, the next generation of its OLED display technology.

OLED EX (the EX stands for Evolution and eXperience, unfortunately) promises to boost maximum brightness, enhance picture quality, and allow for smaller display bezels. The underlying technology—millions of individual self-lit pixels—hasn’t changed, but the use of an isotope called deuterium combined with algorithmic image processing can increase brightness by up to 30% over conventional OLED displays, LG claims.

As boring as that may sound, the science behind it is actually pretty fascinating. LG found a way to extract deuterium, a rather scarce isotope (there is one deuterium atom in 6,000 hydrogen atoms) that’s twice as heavy as hydrogen from water, then applied it to its TV’s OLED elements. LG says stabilized deuterium compounds let the display emit brighter light while improving efficiency over time.

Moving to the second change, LG is using a “personalized” machine learning algorithm that predicts the usage of each light-emitting diode (on up to 8K TVs) based on your viewing habits, then “precisely controls the display’s energy input to more accurately express the details and colors of the video content being played.”

Photo: LG

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Image quality isn’t the only enhancement coming to OLED EX TVs; LG says the new screen tech lets it reduce display bezel thickness from six millimeters to four on 65-inch TVs. That may not seem like much of an improvement, but when you’re on this scale, even the smallest reduction makes a difference.

Perhaps the best thing about LG’s announcement is that OLED EX isn’t a concept nor will it be only found in prototypes—the new display tech will be used in every OLED TV manufactured at Samsung’s Paju, South Korea and Guangzhou, China locations starting in the second quarter of next year. LG didn’t say when it would release the first OLED EX products but from the sounds of it, it could be as soon as mid-2022. We’ve reached out for specifics.

“Despite the global TV market experiencing a 12% decline this year, we still observed a 70% growth in OLED sales,” said Dr. Oh Chang-ho, the executive vice president and head of the TV Business Unit at LG Display. “With our new OLED EX technology, we aim to provide even more innovative, high-end customer experiences through the evolution of our OLED technology, algorithms, and designs.”

I haven’t seen this latest version of OLED in person yet, and since we won’t be attending CES (LG still seems onboard, FWIW), it might be a while before I do, but the promise of a TV that addresses one of OLED’s few shortcomings—brightness —already has me running to the store to buy popcorn.

But first, I might want to see what Samsung has to show at CES. The company already revealed the tactics it’ll use to bridge the gap between its QLED panels and LG’s superior OLED displays with something called QD-OLED. By combining elements of Quantum Dot with OLED, Samsung reckons it can give us the best of both worlds: perfect blacks and incredible contrast as well as high brightness levels (sound familiar?). Sony, a longtime customer of LG’s OLED panels, will reportedly release its own QD-OLED TVs.

This is all good news for consumers; the TV war is once again heating up, and the outcome, regardless of who wins, should be a wider selection of products with better picture quality than what is on the market today.

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Business

Samsung Suffers Another Phone Fire Aboard Seattle Flight

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Photo: Olivier Douliery (Getty Images)

Another day, another story of a Samsung phone turning into a ticking time bomb. On Monday, an Alaska Airlines flight was forced to evacuate all 129 passengers after landing at Seattle–Tacoma International Airport after one of those passenger’s phones caught ablaze.

According to one spokesperson for the airline, crew members aboard Flight 751 from New Orleans noticed something was amiss when a passenger’s phone “overheated and began sparking,” while waiting for a gate at the airport on Monday night. He went on to add that the crew was able to use extinguishers and a fire containment bag to stop the phone from belching out too much smoke, but the “hazy” conditions onboard meant they needed to get out using the plane’s inflatable evacuation slides pretty soon after.

The airport tweeted about the incident saying that passengers only suffered “minor scrapes and bruises” during the incident.

A spokesperson for the Port of Seattle told The Seattle Times that the phone in question—a Samsung Galaxy A21—had been burned “beyond recognition” by the time crew members recovered the device’s remains. The only reason they were able to figure out the model was via an interview conducted with the phone’s owner after everyone had gotten to safety.

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This is hardly the first time Samsung’s had to deal with phones spontaneously sparking at inopportune moments. After rolling out its Note 7 smartphone back in 2016, countless buyers reported their devices catching fire while connected to a charging port. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission formally recalled 1 million of these smartphones just months after their stateside debut, and Samsung quickly pulled the device from the market soon after.

That didn’t stop Samsung from being dogged by reports of exploding phones, though. In 2018, one Long Island woman slapped the company with a class-action suit on allegations that her S9 device exploded in her hand. Since then, stories have come out about newer Samsung devices catching fire in Detroit and California. Apparently, we can add Seattle to that list now, too.

Samsung didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment and we’ll update this post when we hear back.



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Technology

Samsung’s Next Galaxy Unpacked Event Is Aug. 11

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Image: Samsung

After months of leaks and rumors, Samsung has officially announced that its next Unpacked event will take place virtually on Wednesday, Aug. 11 at 10 a.m. ET/7 a.m. PT.

Invites for the next Unpacked event were sent out to the media today, and while Samsung did not specifically mention any of the devices it plans to announce, between recent leaks and a tagline for the event that reads “Get ready to unfold,” it’s clear at least one of Samsung’s big talking points will be about its next-gen foldables.

Based on recent leaks, we’re expecting that Samsung’s next two flagship foldables will be the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and the Galaxy Z Flip 3. The Z Fold 3 will reportedly sport a large foldable display measuring 7.6 inches across and feature built-in stylus support, which means it will cater to high-end power users looking for something that’s a hybrid between a tablet and traditional big screen phone. Meanwhile, with its smaller dimensions (and presumably lower price), the Z Flip 3 looks to be aimed more at mainstream consumers looking for something a bit more compact in an old-school flip phone design, but with some cutting-edge specs.

The inclusion of stylus support on the Z Fold3 would mark a significant improvement over previous Galaxy Folds, as it suggests that Samsung has created a new type of flexible display that’s able to withstand repeated impact from a stylus. That’s because even though previous Galaxy Z Fold and Z Flip devices featured a layer of what Samsung calls “ultrathin glass,” that glass didn’t offer anywhere near the same kind of durability you’d get from a traditional smartphone, with users able to dent those flexible screens with just their fingernails.

However, by combing increased durability with rumors of lower price tags for both the Z Fold3 and Z Flip 3, Samsung may be finally signaling that its foldable devices are finally ready to primetime.

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As for the Galaxy Watch 4, Samsung’s next smartwatch represents a potential major departure from previous Galaxy Watches as it will run Samsung’s new One UI Watch, which is based on Google’s Wear OS instead of Samsung’s Tizen OS. While retaining a circular display and handy side buttons, the Galaxy Watch 4 is expected to be available in three sizes and will include updated health tracking such as advanced metrics for sleep, VO2 Max, Spo2, continuous heart rate monitoring, and more.

Finally, the fourth gadget we’re expecting to see at Samsung Unpacked are the Galaxy Buds 2, which are rumored to be a replacement for the original Galaxy Buds and Galaxy Buds+ that will come with some sort of built-in ANC and a price tag of around $100.

However, the one device we’re not expecting to see is a new Galaxy Note, which has been long rumored to be skipping a generation, due in part to the lack of available components caused by the ongoing global chip crunch.

Notably, while Samsung has yet to reveal any info about its upcoming devices, today Samsung did announce a reservation system for its upcoming flagships that offers some extra perks, a discount on Samsung Care+, and increased trade-in credit for anyone willing to pre-order new gadgets ahead of their official debut.

Either way, it seems like we’re going to have to wait until August 11 to get a real look at everything Samsung has planned for its next big gadget showcase, so until then, stay tuned for more updates on Gizmodo.com.

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Technology

Samsung Launched the Web Version of TV Plus on the Down Low

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Photo: Alex Wong (Getty Images)

For those of us who don’t have a Samsung TV or mobile device, like yours truly, the offerings of the company’s TV Plus streaming service have been a mystery—until now. It turns out that Samsung launched a web version of its free, ad-supported TV Plus a few months back, but just didn’t tell a lot of people about it.

According to a new report in Protocol, the web service for TV Plus appears to have soft-launched in May. Besides making TV Plus available to nearly everyone, Samsung also updated its mobile app with the ability to project its streaming service to Google Chromecast devices in July. Considering the insular nature of TV Plus until now, these moves represent the company’s big, although timid, steps into the free streaming wars.

A Samsung spokesperson told the outlet that TV Plus had indeed launched in Q2 but did not specify a date.

Samsung TV Plus offers free live TV and linear programming, which is what traditional scheduled TV is referred to as. The company explains on its website that the service does not require a subscription, introduce new fees, or ask for a credit card. It isn’t exactly new either. Samsung launched the service, which resembles what you would expect from cable TV, in 2016. This gives users access to broadcast networks and TV Plus offerings, Protocol noted.

Users in the U.S. can access about 170 channels from a variety of genres, from news and game shows to gaming and reality TV, among others. There’s even a channel with South Korean dramas, called AsianCrush, which are my current bread and butter.

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TV Plus has been a hit among Samsung users, executives said last year, accounting for billions of minutes watched every month. It is one of the five most-used apps on Samsung smart TVs and has been installed on nearly 50 million TVs worldwide.

Whether TV Plus will be a success with users outside the Samsung ecosystem is an open question. It enters a crowded space, with free competitors like Peacock, the Roku Channel, Pluto TV, and Tubi. While TV Plus’ channels are eye-catching, looking at the listing and considering all the other services available reminds me of how I felt when I was younger and went into a Forever 21 store—overwhelmed, exhausted, and happy to stick with what I have.

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Business

Toyota, Honda Shut U.S. Factories as Perfect Storm Disrupts Supply Chains

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Toyota Motor Corp. , Honda Motor Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co. said supply-chain problems were complicating their businesses, as freak weather, port blockages and the continued impact of Covid-19 combine to disrupt global supply chains.

Toyota and Honda said Wednesday that they would halt production at plants in North America because of a squeeze in crucial supplies, including plastic components, petrochemicals and semiconductors. Honda also blamed port backlogs and severe winter weather that has frozen plants and pipes across the central U.S. for the disruption.

Separately, Samsung, the world’s largest maker of smartphones, said a severe global shortage in chips would hurt its business into the next quarter. The South Korean company also said it might withhold launching a new model of one of its most popular handsets, though it said the move was aimed at keeping it from competing with an existing handset.

The disruptions underscore how a number of forces are coming together to squeeze the world’s supply chains: from the pandemic-driven rise in consumer demand for tech goods to a backlog of imports at clogged California ports and U.S. factory outages caused by severe weather. The timing is particularly concerning for manufacturers because the U.S. and some other economies are beginning to reopen thanks to vaccination campaigns.

“Automotive companies initially had to bear the brunt of these shortages, but now it has spread to pretty much all parts of the consumer-electronics sector,” said Sanjeev Rana, senior analyst at investment bank CLSA in Seoul.

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