Samsung has decided to stop pushing its light emitting diode business outside of South Korea, despite reckoning it would be a growth area a few years ago.

Like Philips, Sammy has realised that LED is not, after all, where it’s at, and it will be shutting the unit down overseas.

Philips recently announced it would be spinning off the majority of its lighting business, which has been around for over a hundred years, into a separate company. The firm is only hanging onto large, complex lighting systems, spinning LEDs off after a price war in the sector left profit margins looking a bit slim.

Samsung said that the decision to scale back on LED lamps was so that it could focus on core businesses.

“We have decided to discontinue our LED lamp business in all markets, except Korea, so that we can focus more resources on our core business areas,” the firm said in an emailed statement.

“We will remain active in the LED industry through our LED component business, and continue to provide high-quality products and services to our customers.”

In 2010, Samsung Group put LEDs in the same box as rechargeable batteries for hybrid cars, solar cells, medical devices and biopharmaceuticals as potential areas for growth for the conglomerate. But so far, Sammy isn’t shining too brightly in any of these businesses. ®