Blockchain was undoubtedly the buzzword of 2017 and despite all of the negativity attached to it due to cryptocurrency scams, the underlying technology does have great potential in a wide variety of fields. As companies like Huawei are likely developing smartphones capable of running blockchain apps, Samsung isn’t taking that step just yet, but it may decide to adopt the blockchain technology for something else entirely.
Samsung is the world’s largest vendor of smartphones as well as the top semiconductor manufacturer by revenue. As you can probably imagine, it has a vast and complex global supply network. Bloomberg reports that Samsung might adopt blockchain to manage its supply network. It feels that this technology might allow the company to ship phones and chips faster.
The scribe quotes Song Kwang-woo, the head of blockchain at Samsung, who says that the technology can also help Samsung cut down its shipping costs by as much as 20 percent. When you’re a company at Samsung’s level, that 20 percent can result in savings of several billion dollars.
Simply put, the blockchain ledger method of storing, verifying, and sharing transactions could reduce the time it takes for paperwork and scheduling arrangements with port authorities.
What the report doesn’t say is just how far along Samsung is in trying to implement blockchain in its supply network and by when does it want to have the system in place to reap the expected benefits.
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