Samsung snatches up 10% of Pantech Corp. to further “bilateral cooperation”

Samsung has paid nearly $48 million USD for a 10% stake in one of its competitors, Pantech Corp. The third-largest handset maker in South Korea behind Samsung and LG, Pantech is mainly known in North America for its low-cost carrier-branded feature- and smartphones.

Because Samsung is as self-reliant as possible for its own components, the investment is meant to further “bilateral cooperation” between it and Pantech, which itself is a fairly large manufacturer of internal smartphone components. Indeed, its single largest shareholder is Qualcomm at just under 12%.

So as Apple relinquishes some of its reliance on Samsung’s chips, the Korean company is furthering its own interests in ensuring future self-reliance.

Source: Yonhap News
Via: Android Central