Samsung Electronics’ $8 billion purchase of automotive and audio electronics company Harman has given the technology conglomerate confidence to chase more big deals, its strategy chief said on Friday.

Young Sohn, the South Korean company’s Silicon Valley-based president and chief strategy officer, said he was keen for world’s top maker of memory chips, smartphonesand televisions to expand in automotive markets, digital health and industrial automation.

Samsung, which this year surpassed Intel to become the world’s biggest semiconductors manufacturer, has signaled its appetite for dealmaking over the past year, saying it was seeking businesses to build software and services to further differentiate its products.

However, it has provided few details on sectors it is targeting in its push for mergers and acquisitions.

“We are committed to using M&A as our tool, (and) I think the Harmon acquisition helped us to have more confidence,” Sohn told Reuters on the sidelines of the Slush tech start-up festival in Helsinki.

“I believe we can do lot more going forward.”

Sohn appeared to dismiss the potential for Samsung to take part in further consolidation in semiconductors or the smartphone markets, where it is also a leading player, suggesting the company is focused on organic growth strategies in these areas.

In September Sohn said Samsung aimed to become a major player in autonomous driving, building on its acquisition of auto parts supplier Harman and its pole position in mobile communications markets.

Asked to spell out Samsung’s potential dealmaking priorities for 2018, he said the company would continue to invest in expanding its automotive business.

Another category he singled out as “an area of opportunity” was digital health, specifically preventive health and related technologies.

Finally, in business software, he said Samsung is looking at companies in the areas of industrial internet, automation, networking, data transmission and security.

“We are a very careful and conservative company, so we will do it where it makes sense,” Sohn said, adding that it would also look for smaller bolt-on technology deals.

三星电子首席策略官孙英权表示，斥资80亿美元收购汽车及音响电子制造商哈曼后，这家科技集团有了实施更大规模收购的信心。

在硅谷办公的孙英权同时兼任三星电子总裁。他说作为世界顶尖的内存芯片、智能手机和电视厂商，自己热切盼望三星电子将业务扩展到汽车、数字医疗和工业自动化领域。

今年三星超过英特尔，成为全球最大半导体制造企业。一年来三星一直表示有意收购其他公司，而且一直在寻找用于打造软件和服务业务的企业，以便进一步实现产品差异化。

但三星基本没有提到自己在并购方面瞄准了哪些行业。

在赫尔辛基参加Slush创投大会期间，孙英权告诉路透社：“我们一直都把并购视为自己的工具，[而且]我认为对哈曼的收购给了我们更多信心。”

“我相信今后我们可以做的要多得多。”

孙英权还否认了三星参与半导体或智能手机市场进一步整合的可能性，作为这两个领域的领跑者，他说三星的关注重点是内生性增长策略。

今年9月孙英权曾表示，基于对汽车零部件提供商哈曼的收购以及自身在移动通信市场中的标杆位置，三星的目标是成为自动驾驶领域中的重要一员。

对于2018年三星的潜在收购有哪些优先目标的问题，他回答说三星将继续为扩展汽车业务而投资。

孙英权提到的另一个“存在机会的领域”是数字医疗，具体来说包括预防性治疗和相关技术。

最后，在商业软件方面，孙英权说三星正在观察工业互联网、自动化、网络、数据传输和安全领域的公司。

他表示：“我们是一家非常小心和保守的公司，所以只在符合逻辑时采取行动。”另外，孙英权说三星还会在科技领域寻找规模较小的补强型收购目标。（财富中文网）

审稿：夏林