TEHRAN,Iran, Feb.17
Trend:
While South Korean giants Samsung and LG announced that they're leaving Iran, their subsidiary Iranian companies are selling the products, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Iranian Association for Audio and Video Accessories Alireza Mousavi told Trend.
"The US sanctions have caused problems, but we've moved towards domestic production," he said.
"Considering the country's demand for the Samsung brand, it is expected that the products of this brand will appear on Iran's domestic market under a new name - "Sam Company"," said Mousavi.
He added that Iran did not import basic materials for home appliances for the last 1,5 years. At the same time, Iran has moved towards increasing domestic production.
"In the next ten days, the Sam Company brand will unveil its TV, to be followed by a washing machine and a refrigerator," Mousavi said.
"While the production has dropped, we tried to preserve our forces. The company currently has 4,000 workers, as well as 30,0oo-strong of indirect work force," he said.
"Unfortunately there were cases of smuggling of Korean-made home appliances and sold for higher prices," Mousavi said, adding that this led to removal of Samsung and LG ads from shops at Tehran market.
"Naturally, the smuggled goods have no guarantee from the Sam Company, if a problem occurs," Mousavi said.
He said that Iran is taking measures to battle the smuggling of goods.
"All the products in the market have identification cards, while the smuggled goods don't have such cards, so people can identify them," said Mousavi.
He also said that there's a plan to inspect the selling spots of electronic products in the upcoming new year (started March 21,2020)," he added.
The infrastructure left by Samsung and LG will be used by their Iranian subsidiary companies, namely the Sam Company and Goldiran, to manufacture home appliances and electronics.