Samsung Electronics Co has suspended product shipments to Russia due to current geopolitical developments, joining a growing list of companies from Apple Inc to Microsoft Corp that are halting sales and services in the country following its invasion of Ukraine last week.
The South Korean tech giant is monitoring the complex situation, the company said in an e-mailed statement.
Exports to Russia of all Samsung products, from chips to smartphones and consumer electronics, have been suspended, a person familiar with the matter said.
Photo: AFP
“Our thoughts are with everyone who has been impacted and our priority is to ensure the safety of all our employees and their families,” Samsung said in the statement.
The company is donating US$6 million, including US$1 million in consumer electronics products, to humanitarian efforts in the region.
Microsoft on Friday condemned Russia’s “unjustified, unprovoked and unlawful invasion” of Ukraine, saying that it was suspending all new sales of products and services in Russia.
Apple has halted sales of iPhones, started limiting Apple Pay services and other popular products in Russia, and removed the RT News and Sputnik News applications from App Stores outside the country.
HP Inc, the largest supplier of PCs to Russia, has stopped exports to the country, as has Intel Corp.
Ahead of the Samsung announcement, Mykhailo Fedorov, who serves as Ukraine’s vice prime minister and oversees digital operations, sent a letter to Samsung vice chairman Han Jong-hee to urge the company to temporarily cease supplying services and products to Russia.
“We believe that such actions will motivate the youth and active population of Russia to proactively stop the disgraceful military aggression,” Fedorov said in the letter, which was posted on Friday on Twitter.
“We need your support — in 2022, modern technology is perhaps the best answer to the tanks, multiple rocket launchers and missiles targeting residential neighborhoods, kindergartens and hospitals. Stay with Ukraine and save millions of innocent lives,” the letter said.
Samsung is the leading smartphone seller in Russia, with a market share of about 30 percent.
Smartphone sales in Russia account for about 4 percent of the company’s global revenue from the devices.
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