Penetrating the Chinese Market:

Samsung-IoTecha EV Charging
Stations Kiosk Solutions
Project Concept for Samsung Electronics

Prepared by:
(Name of the Client)
(Student Number)
December 20
 Contents
1. Project Rationale.............................................................................................................................3
1.1. Current Situation.....................................................................................................................3
1.2. Shortcoming.............................................................................................................................3
1.3. Project Idea..............................................................................................................................3
2. Analysis of the Context.................................................................................................................4
2.1. External Context......................................................................................................................4
2.2. Internal Context.......................................................................................................................6
2.3. Analysis.....................................................................................................................................6
3. Project Outline.................................................................................................................................7
3.1. Project Activities and Objectives........................................................................................7
3.2. Timeframe and Timeline........................................................................................................7
3.3. Source of Funding..................................................................................................................8
3.4. Estimated Costs......................................................................................................................8
3.5. Potential Income or Payback...............................................................................................8
3.6. Partners and Stakeholders...................................................................................................9
3.7. Roles of the Organizational Functions..............................................................................9
3.8. Expected Outputs and Outcomes.....................................................................................10
4. Case for Project Implementation..............................................................................................11
4.1. Alignment with Strategy......................................................................................................11
4.2. Response to the Context.....................................................................................................11
5. Feasibility Assessment...............................................................................................................11
Reference list.........................................................................................................................................13
1. Project Rationale
Taking the lead in Tech Innovation and operating under mission statement “Inspiring the
World, Creating the Future”, Samsung Electronics is a technology company that started in 1969
with the objective of offering products and machines that help people. Its business philosophy is
anchored on the creation of superior goods and services that improve the global society by
setting high value on its technologies and people (Samsung, 2020). The Samsung Brand is well
known around the world for carrying lines under mobile, TV and audio, appliances, computing,
displays, accessories, and other smart technologies. This multinational conglomerate employs
287,000 employees across 74 countries globally. It leads various industries such as digital
media technologies, telecommunications, semiconductors, and consumer electronics bringing in
244 billion USD in estimated revenues in 2021 (Laricchia, 2022).

1.1. Current Situation

Samsung believes in the power of human driven innovations which serve as the
mechanism for making a better world for all (Samsung, 2021). In line with this mission,
Samsung Electronics has started conceptualizing a new business under the conglomerate,
entering the EV Charging Stations Industry through its EV charging kiosk solutions.
Samsung Electronics and IoTecha Corporation formed a strategic partnership to launch a
new line of electric vehicle charging stations that combines IoTecha's premier EV charging
technology with Samsung's best-of-breed display and signage solutions. The resultant
platform is anticipated to allow creative business models and income streams for digital
signage and EV charging network providers as well as offer up new driver and customer
experiences for a variety of commercial customers, including retail and hospitality.

With the use of IoTecha's Level 2 charging components and Samsung's OH series touch
screens, Samsung and IoTecha have developed a complete EV charging kiosk solution.
The combination of hardware and software tackles major issues influencing the
implementation of EV charging infrastructure as well as digital signage infrastructure,
including equipment cost and complexity, installation, and operations (Logvinova, 2022).

1.2. Shortcoming
The Samsung and IoTecha Corporation collaboration is still in the introduction stage, but
once it matures, the question lies on where it will be launched. Currently, Samsung is
operating in 74 countries and knowing which among these countries should be the pilot
country for launching the EV Charging Station Kiosk is critical to the success of this
collaboration. According to Zahra, Ireland and Hitt (2000), determining the first country for
launching a multinational operations dictate the preliminary costs and the initial returns
posed by a new business project. As of the moment, there is still no country identified where
the Samsung and IoTecha Corporation EV Charging Stations will be installed for its pilot
run.

1.3. Project Idea

This project proposes the installation the Samsung and IoTecha Charging Stations in
People’s Republic of China. China is the country with the greatest number of EV based on
the record of Carlier (2021). Currently, there are around 1.1 million electric vehicles
 transporting in the country and this number pose an attractive market for piloting the
Samsung-IoTecha EV Charging Stations.

The project has the general objective of penetrating the EV Charging Station Industry in
the People’s Republic of China. Specifically, it aims to attain the following objectives:

a. Operational: Install 1,000 EV charging stations across China in 2023, followed by 50

% increase per year after
b. Marketing: Attain 5 % of the market share in the EV charging stations industry in
China in 2023 leading to 10 % share in 2024, and 20 % share in 2025.
c. Financial: Increase profitability of the business by 2 to 3 % in 2023 through the
income from the EV charging stations in China.

2. Analysis of the Context

In analyzing the context of the EV Charging Stations installation in China, external
environmental scanning is conducted through PEST and Porter’s Five Forces Framework
Analysis while internal environmental scanning is conducted through Core Competencies and
VRIO Analysis.

2.1. External Context

Political Factors Opportunity: The China-South Korea Free Trade Agreement
signed in 2015 is still operating give leeway for Samsung to
start penetrating the Chinese market in the EV Charging
Stations industry (Devonshire-Ellis, 2015)

Threat: China is ranked low in terms of Foreign Direct

Investment (FDI) openness which makes greenfield
investments like the installation of the EV charging stations by
Samsung and IoTecha more limited (Textor, 2022)
Economic Factors Opportunity: Good international trade relations as evident by
131 billion USD export earned by South Korea to China
making it its number 1 exporter in 2020 (OEC, 2021).

Threat: Several types of tax imposed on foreign direct

investment operations. Even though the value difference
between international and local enterprises is little, the tax
rates ranging from 20 to 40% may add pressure to the income
of Samsung (Global Eastern Investment, 2022).
Social Factors Opportunity: Chinese market’s EV demand is still on a surge
which is estimated to be around 40 % of the global demand for
EVs making the need for charging stations more evident
(Interesse, 2022).

Threat: Chinese market are loyal to Chinese products and

services. This is evident on their continued patronage to local
 EV car manufacturers and local charging stations (Dabelstein
et al., 2021). This must be considered by Samsung Electronics
too.
Technological Factors Opportunity: Technological advancements in China are evident
due to the improvement of the 5G wireless technology, artificial
intelligence, power grid, and surveillance technologies which
are all appropriate for the installation of the charging stations
(Chhabra et al., 2020).

Threat: The competition in the EV technology and charging

stations technology is stiff as evident by the presence of the
leading EV car manufacturers such as Tesla in the country
(MacDuffie and Shih, 2019)
Table 1. PEST Analysis
The analysis shows that Samsung Electronics shall consider both opportunities
and threats across the political, economic, social, and technological factors to
penetrate the Chinese market effectively.
Intensity of Rivalry High The EV Charging Stations industry is
competitive because of the presence of large
EV car manufacturers who installed their
charging stations too along with the local
charging stations in the country (MacDuffie
and Shih, 2019).
Threat of New Moderate Chinese government supports the
Entrants contribution of FDI and their operations in the
country. However, the government have
stronger support for the local enterprises and
with the growth of local EV charging station
companies, Samsung Electronics has to
maneuver in the stiff EV charging station
industry in China (Textor, 2022).
Threat of Substitutes Low Normal gasoline stations remained as
substitutes of EV charging stations and as
the EV industry grows in China, the threat of
patronizing the gasoline stations become
lower (Interesse, 2022).
Bargaining Power of Moderate There is still a big proportional gap in the
Buyers number of EV units and charging stations in
China which is approximated at 1: 1000 units
calling for additional players in the charging
station industry (MacDuffie and Shih, 2019).
However, the intensity of rivalry makes the
bargaining power of buyers moderate.
 Bargaining Power of Low Samsung Electronics can retain its
Suppliers technology and competencies outsourcing
materials and aspects of operations that are
not considered to be the core competencies
of Samsung and IoTecha.
Table 2. Porter’s Five Forces Analysis
This analysis shows that Samsung’s penetration to China is acceptable, but it
has to be ready for an intense competition along its way.
2.2. Internal Context

Table 3. Core Competencies Analysis

This analysis shows that Samsung Electronics will have an acceptable time in pursuing its
venture of installing the EV charging stations in China. The strong innovation culture, market
leadership, partnership and collaboration, and financial stability show positive indicators for
the venture.

2.3. Analysis
After conducting the internal and external context analysis, it reveals that Samsung has
a good set of core competencies which it can optimize in pursuing the venture of installing
EV charging stations in China. However, the company has to anticipate that there are
external environmental factors and threats that have to be mitigated. Factors such as the
intense rivalry in the industry and taxation implications require strategies for effective project
management.
3. Project Outline
This project aims to guide Samsung Electronics install the EV Charging Stations in China.
This project is necessary because the company has not yet outlined where it will pilot this
venture and China is deemed to be a feasible market for this diversified product of Samsung
Electronics.

3.1. Project Activities and Objectives

Table 4. Project Activities and Objectives

3.2. Timeframe and Timeline

Table 5. Project Gantt Chart

3.3. Source of Funding
Samsung Electronics recorded a net income of 34 million USD in 2021 from its 244
billion USD revenues (Deloitte, 2022). From the accumulated revenues of Samsung, around
256 million USD is allocated as retained earnings which can be spent for future investments.
Around 25 % of these retained earnings can be used to fund the pilot installation of EV
charging stations of Samsung Electronics in China. This can be equivalent to 64,000,000
USD. Paulo (2018) explained that spending around 20 to 30% of the retained earnings is
acceptable.

3.4. Estimated Costs

Table 6. Budget Plan

3.5. Potential Income or Payback
The potential income of this project will be measured by the returns from the actual
operations of installing the EV charging stations in China. It is estimated that capital
intensive projects like this have a payback period of around 8 to 10 years. However, with the
surging demand of EVs in China and the significant gap of EV units and charging station,
this project adopts the estimated payback period of five to six years. This means that the
average annual income of Samsung from this venture is estimated at more than 10,660,000
USD per year.
3.6. Partners and Stakeholders

Table 7. Partners and Stakeholders

3.7. Roles of the Organizational Functions

Table 8. Role of Organizational Functions

3.8. Expected Outputs and Outcomes

Table 8. Expected Outcomes and Outputs

4. Case for Project Implementation
The choice of the Chinese market for piloting the EV Charging Stations of Samsung and
IoTech Corporation benefits not only the consumers but also the organizations behind the
venture. As illustrated in the corporate business philosophy and mission statement of Samsung
Electronics, it aims to innovate and create a better future. By venturing on this industry, it helps
the society by promoting an environmental-friendly transportation alternative. Moreover, it
bridges the significant gap in the shortage of EV charging stations in China. Even though there
is an intense competition, the company can back up its core competencies as well as the
market demand for EV charging stations.

4.1. Alignment with Strategy

The competitive strategy of Samsung Electronics is innovation and market diversification. By
venturing in the EV charging stations industry, the innovation objective is already attained.
However, the search for a profitable market land to China because they have the largest EV
units’ market around the world. With a great number of EV units require a proportional
number of charging stations. Samsung can bridge the gap and be profitable in the EV
charging station industry in China.

4.2. Response to the Context

The internal context analysis shows that Samsung Electronics have the appropriate
competencies to thrive in the EV charging stations industry in China. This can also be
supported by the significant opportunities in market demand, trade relations, and state of
technology in China. Samsung can thrive in Chinese EV charging stations industry by also
anticipating the threats through local partnership and collaboration.

5. Feasibility Assessment

Table 9. Risk Management Table

 Table 10. Strategic Issue Management
To strengthen the feasibility of this project, the following gaps in terms of research
and information must be addressed:
 Mapping of Actual Sites Available for EV Charging Stations across China – This
can strengthen the claim on the proportion of EV units and the location of the
charging stations that can be tapped by Samsung Electronics.
 Marketing Strategy Analysis – This project is demand-based so analyzing the
appropriate marketing strategies for the project in a comprehensive manner may
also be necessary.
 Financial Cost-Benefit Analysis – To validate the feasibility of the project, actual
cost estimation and income matching are necessary for future research.
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