Samsung Pay Records Major Loss In First Year
Much of £11.8m loss is put down to purchase of LoopPay, as Samsung Pay prepares for global rollout and battle with Apple Pay
Samsung’s fledgling mobile payment business recorded a loss of $16.8 million (£11.8m) during its first year of existence as the Korean manufacturer looked to establish the platform as a competitor to Apple Pay.
Samsung Pay recorded sales of $4.12 million (£2.89m), with its debt and net worth coming in $23.6 million (£16.5m) and $10.5 million (£7.37m) respectively.
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Much of these losses and the debt is thought to come from Samsung’s purchase of LoopPay, the company that it bought for $229 million (£161m) in February 2015 and relaunched in August of the same year as Samsung Pay.
Samsung Pay has attracted five million registered users and processed $500 million in payments since the launch of the service in South Korea and the US last year.
“Samsung’s pragmatism does not stop on just simply selling one-time hardware, but it is going to actively push for M&A and make investments if it sees businesses that can continuously create profits.” said a Samsung official. “Samsung Pay and VR (Virtual Reality) both correspond to this pragmatism.”
At Mobile World Congress (MWC) last month, Samsung finally confirmed that Samsung Pay would be coming to the UK in 2016, although the company neglected to provide a specific launch date, as part of the global rollout of the service.
The platform will be supported by the Samsung’s newly-announced Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge smartphones, set to go on sale in the UK on March 11, as well as the Galaxy S6, S6 Edge and Gear S2 smartwatch.
Samsung estimates that Apple Pay reaches only ten percent of merchants in the US alone and believes there is a huge opportunity to be taken advantage of.
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