Pantech

Samsung has inked a deal with fellow Korean phone maker Pantech for an equity stake in the company.

In a statement on Wednesday, Samsung confirmed an earlier report from Yonhap News, saying that it has acquired a 10 percent stake in Pantech for $48 million. The company said that the investment is designed solely to enhance the relationship between the firms.

As expected, the move has raised some eyebrows in Korea, where Samsung and Pantech are competing most heavily in the mobile device market. Elsewhere around the world, Pantech's devices are decidedly second- or third-tier and don't amount to much competition for Samsung.

In a statement to The Next Web, however, Samsung shied away from talk of its competition with Pantech, saying instead that the deal really has more to do with the internal mobile components it sells to Pantech for the company's devices.

With the investment, Samsung is now the third-largest shareholder in Pantech behind Qualcomm and Korea Development Bank.