Professional Documents
Culture Documents
11 References
12 External links
Etymology
According to Samsung's founder, the meaning of the Korean hanja word Samsung () is
"tri-star" or "three stars". The word "three" represents something "big, numerous and
powerful".[13]
History
1938 to 1970
The headquarters of Sanghoes in Daegu in the late 1930s
In 1938, Lee Byung-chull (19101987) of a large landowning family in the Uiryeong
county moved to nearby Daegu city and founded Samsung Sanghoe (, ).
Samsung started out as a small trading company with forty employees located in Su-dong (now
Ingyo-dong).[14] It dealt in locally-grown groceries and made noodles. The company prospered and
Lee moved its head office to Seoul in 1947. When the Korean War broke out, he was forced to
leave Seoul. He started a sugar refinery in Busan named Cheil Jedang. In 1954, Lee founded
Cheil Mojik and built the plant in Chimsan-dong, Daegu. It was the largest woollen mill ever in the
country.
Samsung diversified into many different areas. Lee sought to establish Samsung as an industry
leader in a wide range of industries. Samsung moved into lines of business such as insurance,
securities and retail. President Park Chung Hee placed great importance on industrialization. He
focused his economic development strategy on a handful of large domestic conglomerates,
protecting them from competition and assisting them financially.[15]
In 1947, Cho Hong-jai, the Hyosung group's founder, jointly invested in a new company called
Samsung Mulsan Gongsa, or the Samsung Trading Corporation, with the Samsung's founder Lee
Byung-chull. The trading firm grew to become the present-day Samsung C&T Corporation. After a
few years, Cho and Lee separated due to differences in management style. Cho wanted a 30
equity share. Samsung Group was separated into Samsung Group and Hyosung Group, Hankook
Tire, and other businesses.[16][17]
In the late 1960s, Samsung Group entered into the electronics industry. It formed several
electronics-related divisions, such as Samsung Electronics Devices, Samsung Electro-Mechanics,
Samsung Corning and Samsung Semiconductor & Telecommunications, and made the facility in
Suwon. Its first product was a black-and-white television set.
1970 to 1990
The SPC-1000, introduced in 1982, was Samsung's first personal computer (Korean market only)
and used an audio cassette tape to load and save data the floppy drive was optional[18]
In 1980, Samsung acquired the Gumi-based Hanguk Jeonja Tongsin and entered the
telecommunications hardware industry. Its early products were switchboards. The facility was
developed into the telephone and fax manufacturing systems and became the center of
Samsung's mobile phone manufacturing. They have produced over 800 million mobile phones to
date.[19] The company grouped them together under Samsung Electronics in the 1980s.
After Lee, the founder's death in 1987, Samsung Group was separated into four business groups
Samsung Group, Shinsegae Group, CJ Group, and the Hansol Group.[20] Shinsegae (discount
store, department store) was originally part of Samsung Group, separated in the 1990s from the
Samsung Group along with CJ Group (Food/Chemicals/Entertainment/logistics), and the Hansol
Group (Paper/Telecom). Today these separated groups are independent and they are not part of
or connected to the Samsung Group.[21] One Hansol Group representative said, "Only people
ignorant of the laws governing the business world could believe something so absurd", adding,
"When Hansol separated from the Samsung Group in 1991, it severed all payment guarantees
and share-holding ties with Samsung affiliates." One Hansol Group source asserted, "Hansol,
Shinsegae, and CJ have been under independent management since their respective separations
from the Samsung Group". One Shinsegae department store executive director said, "Shinsegae
has no payment guarantees associated with the Samsung Group".[21]
In 1980s, Samsung Electronics began to invest heavily in research and development, investments
that were pivotal in pushing the company to the forefront of the global electronics industry. In
1982, it built a television assembly plant in Portugal; in 1984, a plant in New York; in 1985, a
plant in Tokyo; in 1987, a facility in England; and another facility in Austin, Texas, in 1996. As of
2012, Samsung has invested more than US$13 billion in the Austin facility, which operates under
the name Samsung Austin Semiconductor. This makes the Austin location the largest foreign
investment in Texas and one of the largest single foreign investments in the United States.[22]
[23]
1990 to 2000
Samsung started to rise as an international corporation in the 1990s. Samsung's construction
branch was awarded a contract to build one of the two Petronas Towers in Malaysia, Taipei 101 in
Taiwan and the Burj Khalifa in United Arab Emirates.[24] In 1993, Lee Kun-hee sold off ten of
Samsung Group's subsidiaries, downsized the company, and merged other operations to
concentrate on three industries: electronics, engineering, and chemicals. In 1996, the Samsung
Group reacquired the Sungkyunkwan University foundation.
Samsung became the largest producer of memory chips in the world in 1992, and is the world's
second-largest chipmaker after Intel (see Worldwide Top 20 Semiconductor Market Share Ranking
Year by Year).[25] In 1995, it created its first liquid-crystal display screen. Ten years later,
Samsung grew to be the world's largest manufacturer of liquid-crystal display panels. Sony, which
had not invested in large-size TFT-LCDs, contacted Samsung to cooperate, and, in 2006, S-LCD
was established as a joint venture between Samsung and Sony in order to provide a stable supply
of LCD panels for both manufacturers. S-LCD was owned by Samsung (50% plus one share) and
Sony (50% minus one share) and operates its factories and facilities in Tangjung, South Korea. As
of December 26, 2011, it was announced that Samsung had acquired the stake of Sony in this
joint venture.[26]
Compared to other major Korean companies, Samsung survived the 1997 Asian financial crisis
relatively unharmed. However, Samsung Motor was sold to Renault at a significant loss. As of
2010, Renault Samsung is 80.1 percent owned by Renault and 19.9 percent owned by Samsung.
Additionally, Samsung manufactured a range of aircraft from the 1980s to 1990s. The company
was founded in 1999 as Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), the result of merger between then
three domestic major aerospace divisions of Samsung Aerospace, Daewoo Heavy Industries, and
Hyundai Space and Aircraft Company. However, Samsung still manufactures aircraft engines and
gas turbines. [27]
2000 to 2015
The Samsung pavilion at Expo 2012.
In 2000, Samsung opened a computer programming laboratory in Warsaw, Poland. Its work began
with set-top-box technology before moving into digital TV and smartphones. As of 2011, the
Warsaw base is Samsung's most important R&D center in Europe, forecast to be recruiting 400
new-hires per year by the end of 2013.[28]
The prominent Samsung sign in Times Square, New York City.
In 2010, Samsung announced a ten-year growth strategy centered around five businesses.[29]
One of these businesses was to be focused on biopharmaceuticals, to which the company has
committed 2.1 trillion.[30]
In December 2011, Samsung Electronics sold its hard disk drive (HDD) business to Seagate.[31]
In first quarter of 2012, Samsung Electronics became the world's largest mobile phone maker by
unit sales, overtaking Nokia, which had been the market leader since 1998.[32][33] On 21
August's edition of the Austin American-Statesman, Samsung confirmed plans to spend 3 to 4
billion dollars converting half of its Austin chip manufacturing plant to a more profitable chip.[34]
The conversion should start in early 2013 with production on line by the end of 2013. On 14
March 2013, Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S4.
On August 24, 2012, nine American jurors ruled that Samsung had to pay Apple $1.05 billion in
damages for violating six of its patents on smartphone technology. The award was still less than
the $2.5 billion requested by Apple. The decision also ruled that Apple did not violate five
Samsung patents cited in the case.[35] Samsung decried the decision saying that the move could
harm innovation in the sector.[36] It also followed a South Korean ruling stating that both
companies were guilty of infringing on each other's intellectual property.[37] In first trading after
the ruling, Samsung shares on the Kospi index fell 7.7%, the largest fall since 24 October 2008,
to 1,177,000 Korean won.[38] Apple then sought to ban the sales of eight Samsung phones
(Galaxy S 4G, Galaxy S2 AT&T, Galaxy S2 Skyrocket, Galaxy S2 T-Mobile, Galaxy S2 Epic 4G,
Galaxy S Showcase, Droid Charge and Galaxy Prevail) in the United States[39] which has been
denied by the court.[40]
On September 4, 2012, Samsung announced that it plans to examine all of its Chinese suppliers
for possible violations of labor policies. The company said it will carry out audits of 250 Chinese
companies that are its exclusive suppliers to see if children under the age of 16 are being used in
their factories.[41]
In 2013, a New Zealand news outlet reported a number of Samsung washing machines
spontaneously catching on fire.[42] The corporation is expected to spend $14 billion on
advertising and marketing in 2013, with publicity appearing in TV and cinema ads, on billboards,
and at sports and arts events. In November 2013, the corporation was valued at $227 billion.[43]
In May 2014, Samsung announced it will be shutting down its streaming service on 1 July 2014,
also meaning the end of the Samsung Music Hub app that typically comes installed on its Android
phones.[44]
On September 3, 2014, Samsung announced Gear VR, a virtual reality device in collaboration with
Oculus VR and developed for the Galaxy Note 4.[45]
In October 2014, Samsung announced a $14.7 billion investment to build a chip plant in South
Korea. Construction will begin next year with production beginning in 2017. The company has not
yet decided the type of chips to be produced.[46]
In October 2014, Samsung also announced it would invest 633 billion South Korean won ($560
million USD) in the construction of a new 700,000 square metre production complex in Vietnam.
[47]
Samsung plans to launch a new set of services beginning early 2015. The goal of this new suite
of business offerings, dubbed Samsung 360 Services, is to become a help desk of sorts for
businesses IT departments. The customizable services range from technical support to security
solutions for having a Samsung employee embedded in a client's business as an on-site support
On 5 March 2015, Samsung acquired small U.S.-based manufacturer of light emitting diode
displays, YESCO Electronics, which focuses on making digital billboards and message signs.[71]
Sold parts
Samsung Techwin
Samsung Techwin was listed on the Korea Exchange stock-exchange (number 012450), with its
principal activities being the development and manufacture of surveillance, aeronautics,
optoelectronics, automations and weapons technology. It was announced to be sold to Hanwha
Group in December 2014[72] and the take-over completed in June 2015.[73]
Samsung Thales
Samsung Thales Co., Ltd. (until 2001 known as Samsung Thomson-CSF Co., Ltd.) was a joint
venture between Samsung Techwin and the France-based aerospace and defence company
Thales. It was established in 1978 and is based in Seoul.[74] Samsung's involvement was
passed on to Hanwha Group as part of the Techwin transaction.[73]
Samsung General Chemicals
[icon] This section requires expansion. (September 2015)
Samsung Total
Samsung Total was a 50:50 joint venture between Samsung and the France-based oil group Total
S.A. (more specifically Samsung General Chemicals and Total Petrochemicals). Samsung's role
was passed on to Hanwha Group when the latter acquired Samsung General Chemicals.[73]
Operations
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The Samsung Library at Sungkyunkwan University Natural Sciences Campus in Suwon, South
Korea
Samsung Jongno Tower in Jongno-gu, Seoul
Samsung Tower Palace
Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance HQ
Samsung comprises around 80 companies.[75] It is highly diversified, with activities in areas
including construction, consumer electronics, financial services, shipbuilding, and medical
services.[75]
In FY 2009, Samsung reported consolidated revenues of 220 trillion KRW ($172.5 billion). In FY
2010, Samsung reported consolidated revenues of 280 trillion KRW ($258 billion), and profits of
30 trillion KRW ($27.6 billion) (based upon a KRW-USD exchange rate of 1,084.5 KRW per USD,
the spot rate as of 19 August 2011).[76] However, it should be noted that these amounts do not
include the revenues from all of Samsung's subsidiaries based outside South Korea.[77]
Subsidiaries and affiliates
As of April 2011, the Samsung Group comprised 59 unlisted companies and 19 listed companies,
all of which had their primary listing on the Korea Exchange.[78]
Principal subsidiary and affiliate companies of Samsung include:
Ace Digitech
position at the top of industry with the consistent willingness to take on challenges. S1
Corporation is listed on the Korea Exchange stock-exchange (number 012750).
Samsung Taepyeong-ro HQ in Jung District, Seoul
The headquarters of Samsung Engineering in Seocho District, Seoul
Samsung Engineering India Office- New Delhi, India
Samsung Japan's regional HQ at Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan
The Samsung Hub, formerly 3 Church Street, is a skyscraper located in the Downtown Core of
Singapore.
Joint ventures
aT Grain
State-run Korea Agro-Fisheries Trade Corp. set up the venture, aT Grain Co., in Chicago, with three
other South Korean companies, Korea Agro-Fisheries owns 55 percent of aT Grain, while Samsung
C&T Corp, Hanjin Transportation Co. and STX Corporation each hold 15 percent.[97]
Brooks Automation Asia
Brooks Automation Asia Co., Ltd. is a joint venture between Brooks Automation (70%) and
Samsung (30%) which was established in 1999. The venture locally manufactures and configure
vacuum wafer handling platforms and 300mm Front-Opening Unified Pod (FOUP) load port
modules, and designs, manufactures and configures atmospheric loading systems for flat panel
displays.[98]
POSCO-Samsung Slovakia Steel Processing Center
Company POSS SLPC s.r.o. was founded in 2007 as a subsidiary of Samsung C & T
Corporation, Samsung C & T Deutschland and the company POSCO.[99]
Samsung Air China Life Insurance
Samsung Air China Life Insurance is a 50:50 joint venture between Samsung Life Insurance and
China National Aviation Corporation. It was established in Beijing in July 2005.[100]
Samsung Biologics
Samsung Electronics Co. and Samsung Everland Inc. will each own a 40 percent stake in the
venture, with Samsung C&T Corp. and Durham, North Carolina-based Quintiles each holding 10
percent. It will contract-make medicines made from living cells, and Samsung Group plans to
expand into producing copies of biologics including Rituxan, the leukemia and lymphoma
treatment sold by Roche Holding AG and Biogen Idec Inc.[101]
Samsung Bioepis
Samsung Bioepis is a joint venture between Samsung Biologics (85%) and the U.S.-based Biogen
Idec (15%).[102] In 2014, Biogen Idec agreed to commercialize future anti-TNF biosimilar products
in Europe through Samsung Bioepis.[103]
Samsung BP Chemicals
Samsung BP Chemicals, based in Ulsan, is a 49:51 joint venture between Samsung and the UKbased BP, which was established in 1989 to produce and supply high-value-added chemical
products. Its products are used in rechargeable batteries and liquid crystal displays.[104][105]
[106]
Alpha Processor
In 1998, Samsung created a U.S. joint venture with Compaqcalled Alpha Processor Inc. (API)--to
help it enter the high-end processor market. The venture was also aimed at expanding Samsung's
non-memory chip business by fabricating Alpha processors. At the time, Samsung and Compaq
invested $500 million in Alpha Processor.[114]
GE-Samsung Lighting
GE Samsung Lighting was a joint venture between Samsung and the GE Lighting subsidiary of
General Electric. The venture was established in 1998 and was broken up in 2009.[115]
Global Steel Exchange
Global Steel Exchange was a joint venture formed in 2000 between Samsung, the U.S.-based
Cargill, the Switzerland-based Duferco Group, and the Luxembourg-based Tradearbed (now part of
the ArcelorMittal), to handle their online buying and selling of steel.[116]
S-LCD
S-LCD Corporation was a joint venture between Samsung Electronics (50% plus one share) and
the Japan-based Sony Corporation (50% minus one share) which was established in April 2004.
On 26 December 2011, Samsung Electronics announced that it would acquire all of Sony's shares
in the venture.
Partially owned companies
Atlntico Sul
Samsung Heavy Industries owns 10% of the Brazilian shipbuilder Atlntico Sul, whose Atlntico
Sul Shipyard is the largest shipyard in South America. The Joao Candido, Brazil's largest ship,
was built by Atlntico Sul with technology licensed by Samsung Heavy Industries.[117] The
companies have a technical assistance agreement through which industrial design, vessel
engineering, and other know-how is being transferred to Atlntico Sul.[118]
DGB Financial Group
Samsung Life Insurance currently holds a 7.4% stake in the South Korean banking company
DGB Financial Group, making it the largest shareholder.[119]
Corning Inc.
Samsung acquired 7.4% of Gorilla Glass maker Corning, signing a long-term supply deal.[120]
Doosan Engine
Samsung Heavy Industries currently holds a 14.1% stake in Doosan Engine, making it the
second-largest shareholder.[121]
Korea Aerospace Industries
Samsung Techwin currently holds a 10% stake in Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI). Other major
shareholders include the state-owned Korea Finance Corporation (26.75%), Hyundai Motor
(10%) and Doosan (10%).[122]
MEMC KOREA
MEMC's joint venture with Samsung Electronics Company, Ltd. In 1990, MEMC entered into a
joint venture agreement to construct a silicon plant in Korea.[123]
Pantech
Samsung buys 10% stake in rival phone maker Pantech.[124]
Rambus Incorporated
Samsung currently owns 4.19% of Rambus Incorporated.[125]
The current Samsung logo design is intended to emphasize flexibility and simplicity while
conveying a dynamic and innovative image through the ellipse, the symbol of the universe and
the world stage. The openings on both ends of the ellipse where the letters "S" and "G" are
located are intended to illustrate the company's open-mindedness and the desire to communicate
with the world. The English rendering is a visual expression of its core corporate vision,
excellence in customer service through technology.
The basic color in the logo is blue, which the company has employed for years, symbolizing
stability, reliability, and corporate social responsibility.[139]
Audio logo
Samsung has an audio logo, which consists of the notes E , A, D, E . The audio logo was
produced by Musikvergnuegen and written by Walter Werzowa.[140][141]
Samsung Medical Center
Samsung donates around US$100 million per annum to the Samsung Medical Center, a nonprofit healthcare provider founded by the group in 1994.[142] Samsung Medical Center
incorporates Samsung Seoul Hospital, Kangbook Samsung Hospital, Samsung Changwon
Hospital, Samsung Cancer Center and Samsung Life Sciences Research Center. The Samsung
Cancer Center, located in Seoul, is the largest cancer center in Asia.[143]
Samsung Medical Center and pharmaceutical multinational Pfizer have agreed to collaborate on
research to identify the genomic mechanisms responsible for clinical outcomes in hepatocellular
carcinoma.[144]
Sponsorships
A Samsung display in Salt Lake City during the 2002 Winter Olympics
For more details on Samsung's sports sponsorships, see Samsung Sports.
Samsung have been the sponsors of Premier League football club Chelsea since 2005, the
sponsorship was ended after ten years in June 2015.[145]
Samsung, which started as a domestic sponsor of the Olympics in Seoul 1988, has been a
worldwide Olympic partner since the 1998 Winter Olympics.[146]
Samsung operating many sports clubs, football club Suwon Samsung Bluewings, baseball club
Samsung Lions, basketball club Seoul Samsung Thunders, volleyball club Daejeon Samsung Fire
Bluefangs, etc.
Samsung also sponsors a former StarCraft: Brood War and current Starcraft II and League of
Legends professional gaming team named Samsung Galaxy. Samsung has sponsored the team
since 2000.
Samsung Electronics spent an estimated $14 billion (U.S.) more than Iceland's GDP on
advertising and marketing in 2013. At 5.4% of annual revenue, this is a larger proportion than any
of the world's top-20 companies by sales (Apple spent 0.6% and General Motors spent 3.5%).
Samsung became the world's biggest advertiser in 2012, spending $4.3 billion, compared to
Apple's $1 billion. Samsung's global brand value of $39.6 billion is less than half that of Apple.
[147]
Sydney Opera House[148]
Litigation and legal issues
See also: Samsung Electronics Controversies and Samsung Electronics Viral marketing
Financial scandals
In 2007, former Samsung chief lawyer Kim Yong Chul claimed that he was involved in bribing and
fabricating evidence on behalf of the group's chairman Lee Kun-hee and the company. Kim said
that Samsung lawyers trained executives to serve as scapegoats in a "fabricated scenario" to
protect Lee, even though those executives were not involved. Kim also told the media that he was
"sidelined" by Samsung after he refused to pay a $3.3 million bribe to the U.S. Federal District
Court judge presiding over a case where two of their executives were found guilty on charges
related to memory chip price fixing. Kim revealed that the company had raised a large amount of
secret funds through bank accounts illegally opened under the names of up to 1,000 Samsung
executivesunder his own name, four accounts were opened to manage 5 billion won.[149]
Antitrust concerns
"You can even say the Samsung chairman is more powerful than the President of South Korea.
[South] Korean people have come to think of Samsung as invincible and above the law", said
Woo Suk-hoon, host of a popular economics podcast in a Washington Post article headlined "In
South Korea, the Republic of Samsung", published on 9 December 2012. Critics claimed that
Samsung knocked out smaller businesses, limiting choices for South Korean consumers, and
sometimes colluded with fellow giants to fix prices while bullying those who investigate. Lee Junghee, a South Korean presidential candidate, said in a debate, "Samsung has the government in
its hands. Samsung manages the legal world, the press, the academics and bureaucracy".[150]
Viral marketing
The Fair Trade Commission of Taiwan is investigating Samsung and its local Taiwanese
advertising agency for false advertising. The case was commenced after the Commission
received complaints stating that the agency hired students to attack competitors of Samsung
Electronics in online forums.[151] Samsung Taiwan made an announcement on its Facebook
page in which it stated that it had not interfered with any evaluation report and had stopped online
marketing campaigns that constituted posting or responding to content in online forums.[152]
Labor abuses
Samsung was the subject of several complaints about child labor in its supply chain from 2012 to
2015.
In July 2014, Samsung cut its contract with Shinyang Electronics after it received a complaint
about the company violating child labor laws.[153] Samsung says that its investigation turned up
evidence of Shinyang using underage workers and that it severed relations immediately per its
"zero tolerance" policy for child labor violations.
One of Samsung's Chinese supplier factories, HEG, was criticized for using underage workers by
China Labor Watch (CLW) in July 2014. HEG denied the charges and has sued China Labor
Watch.[154][155]
CLW issued a statement in August 2014 claiming that HEG employed over ten children under the
age of 16 at a factory in Huizhou, Guangdong. The group said the youngest child identified was
14 years old. Samsung said that it conducted an onsite investigation of the production line that
included one-on-one interviews but found no evidence of child labor being used. CLW responded
that HEG had already dismissed the workers described in its statement before Samsung's
investigators arrived.[153]
CLW also claimed that HEG violated overtime rules for adult workers. CLW said a female college
student was only paid her standard wage despite working four hours of overtime per day even
though Chinese law requires ovetime pay at 1.5 to 2.0 times standard wages.[153]
Price fixing
On October 19, 2011, Samsung was fined EUR 145,727,000 for being part of a price cartel of ten
companies for DRAMs which lasted from 1 July 1998 to 15 June 2002. The company received,
like most of the other members of the cartel, a 10-% reduction for acknowledging the facts to
investigators. Samsung had to pay 90% of their share of the settlement, but Micron avoided
payment as a result of having initially revealed the case to investigators.[156]
In Canada, during 1999, Some D-RAM micro chip manufacturers conspired to price fix, among
the accused included Samsung. The price fix was investigated in 2002. A recession started to
occur that year, and the price fix ended, however in 2014, the Canadian government reopened
the case and investigated silently. Sufficient evidence was found and presented to Samsung and
two other manufacturers during a class action lawsuit hearing. The companies agreed upon a
$120 Million agreement, with $40 million as a fine, and $80 Million to be paid back to Canadians
who purchased a computer, printer, MP3 player, gaming console or camera from April 1999 to
June 2002.[157]