Samsung might buy the voice recognition firm behind Apple's Siri

SAMSUNG REPORTEDLY is in talks with Nuance, the company that provides the voice processing technology behind Apple's Siri, about a possible acquisition.

So says the Wall Street Journal, which reports that Nuance is in talks with Samsung [paywalled], along with some private equity firms, about a possible deal. If the rumours are true, it's unclear how much Samsung will have to pay for the voice recognition technology firm, but last year it was rumoured that Apple might pick up Nuance for around $7bn.

It's unclear when the talks between Samsung and Nuance occurred, or whether they are still ongoing. The WSJ notes, "The Burlington, Mass., company has recently spoken about a possible sale of the company with Samsung Electronics Co. and private-equity firms, some of the people said. It isn't clear where sale talks, some of which happened earlier this year, currently stand or if they will lead to a deal."

Still, investors are clearly excited about a possible Samsung buyout, as following the reports release on Monday shares in Nuance rose 11 percent to $19.04, boosting its previous $5.5bn valuation. 

While some might see this as Samsung stepping on rival Apple's toes, the Korean firm licenses Nuance's voice recognition technology for its own devices, including smartphones, TVs and tablets. Nuance said last September that it it would also power Samsung's upcoming wearable devices, such as the Tizen-powered Samsung Gear 2.

Samsung could be eyeing Nuance for its patent portfolio, too. As noted by Business Insider, the firm's extensive patents hoard includes some patents for IBM's speech technology and the popular predictive text technology known as T9.

Neither Samsung nor Nuance have commented on the report.

Samsung promises bendable smartphones by 2014

Last month, Samsung took the lead in bringing out the world's first smartphone with curved screen. Though the device failed to excite the technology community, the company has more display technologies in the offing that promise to revolutionize the industry.

At the Samsung Analyst Day, the company's vice chairman and CEO Oh-Hyun Kwon revealed its roadmap for the coming years and the technologies it aims to incorporate in upcoming gadgets.

The two most notable technologies that the company talked about at the event are bendable and foldable displays. It was revealed that the company will launch smartphones with bendable screens as early as next year, while devices with foldable displays are scheduled for 2016-17.

Samsung profit rises 26% on smartphone boost

Samsung Electronics has reported a 26% jump in profit in the third quarter driven by strong smartphone sales and a recovery in its memory chip business.

It made a net profit of 8.24 trillion won ($7.6bn; £4.7bn) in the July-to-September quarter, up from 6.56tn won during the same period a year earlier.

Operating profit rose to a record 10.2 trillion won during the quarter.

The firm said sales of smartphones, a key driver of its growth, are expected to rise further in coming months.

It said that sales "will gain momentum due to year-end promotions over the holiday season and an improved line-up of mass-market smartphones".

Increased competition

Samsung has posted record operating profit in six of the past seven quarters, mostly due to the growth of its smartphone division.

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“Start Quote

Like Nokia, Samsung may hit a limit in increasing market share”

Kim Sung-sooLS Asset Management

The firm has enjoyed success in both the top-end as well as lower end of the smartphone market, giving it an edge over rivals such as Apple which makes only top-end phones.

Its growth in the sector has seen it become the world's biggest smartphone maker.

However, there have been concerns over whether Samsung can continue to grow at such a strong pace, not least because of increased competition and saturation of some key markets.

"Samsung has done well, having rapidly caught up with Apple in the smartphone market. But I'm concerned whether Samsung would be able to do better," said Kim Sung-soo, a fund manager at LS Asset Management.

"Like Nokia, Samsung may hit a limit in increasing market share. Apple is also fighting back, signalling an uphill battle for Samsung."

Analysts said that the company needed to come up with more innovative products to help sustain its growth rate.

For its part, Samsung has been taking steps in that direction.

Earlier this month, it launched a smartphone with a curved display screen, beating its rival LG by at least a few months to offer a handset featuring flexible-screen tech.

In September, it unveiled a smartwatch with a colour screen that can show alerts, be used for voice calls and run apps. Again, it edged firms such as Microsoft, Apple and Google to unveil such a device.

Chip demand

Samsung's latest earnings were also boosted by its semiconductor business, which saw profit more than double to 2.1tn won, the highest in three years.

Revenues in the division rose 12% over the previous quarter to 9.74tn won.

The firm saw its bottom line buoyed by stronger chip prices after a fire at a plant owned by rival SK Hynix caused tightened supply in the market.

Samsung supplies chips to other smartphone-makers, including its biggest competitor Apple, and expects demand to pick up as the year draws to a close.

However, its consumer electronics division, which includes TV manufacturing, saw a decline in profit due to a drop in demand in China and Europe.

But Samsung said that it expects the unit to bounce back in the current quarter, not least due to holiday season shopping during the end of the year. 

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24665480