[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Electronics will face hurdles in firming up business strategies as its top executive Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong has remained behind bars for nearly four months, industry watchers said on June 15.

Lee has been imprisoned since February amid his alleged connection to a political scandal which led to the ouster of former President Park Geun-hye.

While Samsung has been maintaining its routine businesses, releasing the Galaxy S8 smartphone earlier this year, industry watchers said the absence of Lee, who is involved in all key decisions, may emerge as a major drag in terms of future strategies amid intensifying challenges from industrial late-comers.

Samsung Electronics’ move to seek mergers and acquisitions as well as allocating major investment has been hindered by the imprisonment. There have been no new acquisitions made by Samsung since the company bought Harman International in November last year.

By Alex Lee and newswires (alexlee@heraldcorp.com)