SEOUL, KOREA - Samsung Electronics has decided to adopt Microsoft Word as its official wordprocessor program within the company. On September 30, the company said that it would institute a move to Microsoft Word from Jungum Global (formerly "Hunmin Jungum") with three months' transition period beginning on January 1, 2015. Samsung Electronics has for decades insisted their office workers to use the internally developed wordprocessor program. A company official explained, "This is intended to create a smart work environment for all Samsung people across the world."

 

"Many Samsung workers in overseas offices complained that Jungum Global is hard to learn and unwieldy to use," he added. Other Samsung Group companies will soon follow suit. In contrast, Microsoft Word is used by 90 percent of the world's wordprocessor users, with perfect compatibility with other business applications such as Excel and PowerPoint.

 

Samsung Electronics will stop selling the Jungum Global software with no more upgrade, except for customer service for existing users until the end of 2019. The decision follows immediately after Samsung Group vice chairman Lee Jay-yong met Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on September 23. Some analysts conjectured that it may be in exchange for important concessions in smartphone-related patent negotiations. To this, the Samsung Electronics official responded curtly, "The switch to Microsoft Word has long been reviewed way before Nadella's visit."