Chelsea sponsor needs to reboot

ON THE PITCH Samsung has associated its brand with one of the world’s most successful teams with an enviable track record of wins at home and abroad. Off it the Korean electronics group presents a rather less glowing picture. It is fighting a patents dispute with Apple preventing it from selling new tablet devices in Europe and may spread to the US, and it is facing heavy losses in its flatscreen TV business. Investors are hoping the company will bounce back and point to a $17.6bn cash stockpile as key to its future. Samsung has built its company on a strategy of being a “fast follower” and copying its rivals format and device breakthroughs. The Apple lawsuits have called this strategy into question as they have also been successful in demonstrating design infringements which will be much harder to work around. Samsung's mobile screens are increasingly setting the standard for the industry (indeed it is also a major supplier to Apple) but analysts say it needs to invest in software if it is to dig itself out of its current hole. Traders are expecting a software acquisition to be the Korean’s highest priority.