The Editors at Best Choice Reviews decided to research the topic of:
The Rise of Samsung
Years of Growth
March 1938: Founding chairman Byung-Chull Lee started a business in Taegu, Korea, with 30,000 won (about $29.50 in dollars today). He was the son of a wealthy landowner and rice miller. Company was initially a food exporter, selling Korean fish, vegetables, and fruit.
In a little over a decade, Samsung moved into the production of food, and established manufacturing and sales operations
Factoid: The name Samsung means “Three Stars” in Korean.
1950s -1960s: Years of expansion, branching into insurance, textiles, and construction.
1969 – Samsung-Sanyo Electronics established, focusing primarily on TV’s.
1970s – The first Samsung black and white TV goes on sale. But company also invests in chemical, and petrochemical industries.
1. Samsung acquires 50 percent stake in Korea Semiconductor, helping to solidify their position as a leading manufacturer of semiconductors.
2. 1976, 1 millionth black-and-white TV produced.
3. 1978, Began export of color televisions.
4. 4 millionth black-and-white TV produced, the greatest number in the world at the time.
1980s: Samsung diversifies and expanded globally. Focusing on electronics, the company began producing personal computers (1983), tape recorders, air conditioners, and VCRs.
1. 1987 – Founding Chairman Byung-Chull Lee DIES. His son, Kun-Hee Lee, succeeded him as the new Chairman
2. 1988 – Launched their first mobile phone, in the South Korean market.
1990s: A period of product development, creativity and rising popularity of their products
1. 1992 –
• Development of 250MB hard disc drive completed
• Development of world’s first 64M DRAM completed
• 10 millionth industrial robot produced
• World’s first 64M DRAM completed
2. 1994 – Development of world’s first 256M DRAM completed
• 30 millionth microwave oven produced
• Samsung Aerospace developed the world’s first four-power zoom camera
3. 1996 -Development of 1G DRAM completed
• Developed world’s fastest CPU, the Alpha chip
• Began mass production of 64M DRAMs
4. 1998 -Began mass production of the world’s first digital TV
• Development of completely flat-screen TV completed
• Served as Olympic Partner at Nagano Winter Olympics
• World’s first 128M SDRAM introduced
2000-2013 – Developed world’s first 512Mb DRAM
TV Phone and Watch Phone Make Guinness Book of World Records
1. 2004: Sold 20 million cell phones in U.S.
2. 2006: Launched world’s first blue ray disc player.
3. 2008: Lee Kun-hee steps down as chairman after being convicted of tax evasion and breach of trust. He is given a presidential pardon and returns as chairman in 2010
4. 2008: Attains #1 status in U.S. cellphone market
The business at a glance:
Global Market Shares by Product
Mobile Phones – 25.1% – #1
Smartphones – 30.4% – #1
TVs – 24.3% – #1
LCD Monitors – 15.3% – #1
LED Monitors – 21.1% – #1
Semiconductors | Memory – 35.4% – #1
Smart Phone global market sales (2013):
Samsung: 30 percent
Apple: 13 percent
LG: 5 percent
Lonovo: 5 percent
ZTE: 4 percent
Others: 42 percent
Samsung accounted for 23.7% of US smartphone subscriptions in Q2 2013, up from 21.7% in Q1
Samsung sold more than 406 million mobile phones in 2012.
Samsung Electronics’ Net Sales by Business 2012 (KRW =Korean wan)
Consumer Electronics 48.4 Trillion KRW ($44,286,000,000.00)
IT and Mobile 108.5 Trillion KRW ($99,277,500,000.00)
Semiconductors 34.9 Trillion KRW ($31,933,500,000.00)
Display Panels 33.0 Trillion KRW ($30,195,000,000.00)
Performance by Region 2012
Korea 29.2 Trillion KRW ($27,358,500,000.00)
Americas 58.2 Trillion KRW ($53,253,000,000.00)
Europe 49.5 Trillion KRW ($44,377,500,000.00)
Asia 36.1 Trillion KRW ($33,031,500,000.00)
China 28.2 Trillion KRW ($25,803,000,000.00)
FACT: Samsung Electronics has 217 bases around the world, with over 230,000 employees. 90,702 of which are in Korea.
Employees by Region 2012
Korea 90,702
Asia 57,330
China 45,660
America 24,694
Europe 15,318
Middle East 1,529
Africa 635
Samsung Galaxy Gear Specs
PROCESSOR 800 MHz processor
DISPLAY 1.63 inch (41.4mm) Super AMOLED (320 x 320)
CAMERA 1.9 Megapixel BSI Sensor, Auto Focus Camera / Sound & Shot
VIDEO Codec: H.264
Format: MP4
HD(720p) Playback & Recording
AUDIO Codec: AAC
Format: M4A
FEATURED APPS Atooma: “A contextually aware horizontal intelligence platform that makes your Galaxy Gear smarter.”
Banjo: “Gives you the power to see what’s happening right now, anywhere in the world.”
Evernote watch app: “Makes it easy to remember things by quickly capturing images and memories and bringing important reminders right to Galaxy Gear.”
Glympse: “Allows people to easily share their location temporarily and in real-time, letting recipients see their movements on a dynamic map.”
eBay app: “Allows you to complete all your transactions on eBay with ease and in real-time.”
Line: “A global messaging service available in over 230 countries worldwide.”
MyFitnessPal: “Tracks your nutrition and exercise, empowering you to achieve your personal health and fitness goals.”
Path: “The personal network designed to bring you closer to your friends and family.”
Pocket: “The leading way to save Web content to view later on any device, brings text-to-speech article playback to Galaxy Gear.”
RunKeeper: “The personal trainer in your pocket, helping you track your runs, set your goals, and stay motivated.”
TripIt from Concur: “Makes it easy to organize travel plans in one place.”
Vivino Wine Scanner: “Allows you to take a photo of any wine and get to know all about it instantly.”
SAMSUNG
SERVICES
Samsung Apps
ChatON: mobile communication service
ADDITIONAL
FEATURES
Smart Relay, S Voice, Memographer, Voice Memo
Auto Lock, Find My Device, Media Controller, Pedometer, Stopwatch, Timer
Safety assistance: In case of emergency, press a power button 3 times continuously, and then user’s location information is transferred to the saved contacts with message.
2 Microphones (Noise Cancellation), 1 Speaker
CONNECTIVITY Bluetooth v 4.0 + BLE
SENSOR Accelerometer, Gyroscope
MEMORY 4GB internal memory + 512 MB RAM
DIMENSION 36.8 x 56.6 x 11.1 mm, 73.8g
BATTERY Standard battery, Li-ion 315mAh
The Samsung group, the largest company in Korea, now has 26 subsidiaries, 80 different businesses, and about 75,000 employees. Subsidiaries include:
Samsung Life Insurance, Samsung Electronics, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Samsung Corning Precision Glass, Samsung SDS, Samsung Networks, Samsung Techwin, Samsung Mobile Display, Samsung Digital Imaging, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, Samsung Card, Samsung Heavy Industries, Samsung Total Petrochemicals, Samsung C&T Corporation, Samsung Engineering, Cheil Industries, Samsung Everland, Hotel Shilla, Cheil Worldwide, Samsung Medical Center, Samsung Economic Research Institute.
Factoids:
Samsung’s construction division built the Burj Khalifa, which is the tallest building in the world.
Samsung accounts for 17 percent of Korea’s Gross Domestic Product
Samsung spent over $4 billion in advertising last year, plus an additional $5 billion in marketing. Apple only spent $1 billion in 2012.
Samsung’s net sales for 2011 were $247 billion
100 Samsung TV’s are sold every minute.
70% of the world’s smartphones use DRAM made by Samsung.
Samsung invested $4.9 billion between 2009 and 2013 to reduce 85 million tons of greenhouse gas.
Citations
http://www.samsung.com/us/aboutsamsung/sustainability/sustainabilityreports/download/2013/2013_Sustainability_Report.pdf
http://www.samsung.com/uk/aboutsamsung/corporateprofile/history.html
http://www.businessinsider.com/history-of-samsung-2013-2?op=1
http://www.samsungeverland.com/eng/
http://www.factbrowser.com/tags/samsung/
http://www.businessinsider.com/mind-blowing-facts-about-samsung-2013-4?op=1
http://www.phonearena.com/news/Here-are-20-facts-you-did-not-know-about-Samsung_id43250#8-
http://in.reuters.com/article/2011/01/27/idINIndia-54441620110127
Source of smartphone research: MM Research Institute
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