History

1969–1987: Early yearsedit

Samsung Electric Industries was established as an industrial part of Samsung Group in January 1969 in Suwon, South Korea. At the time, Samsung Group was known to the South Korean public as a trading company specialized in fertilizers and sweeteners. Despite the lack of technology and resources, fallen short even than the domestic competitors, Samsung Group improved its footing in the manufacturing industry by cooperating with the Japanese companies, a decision that instigated a significant amount of anti-Japanese public outcry and huge backlashes from the competitors fearing the outright subordination of the industry by the Japanese. The strategy was able to take off only after the government and Samsung declared that the company would exclusively focus on exports. Toshio Iue, the founder of Sanyo, played a role as an advisor to Lee Byung-chul, Samsung's founder, who was a novice in the electronics business. December the same year, Samsung Electric established a joint venture named Samsung-Sanyo Electric with Sanyo and Sumitomo Corporation. This is the direct predecessor of today's Samsung Electronics.

The joint venture's early products were electronic and electrical appliances including televisions, calculators, refrigerators, air conditioners and washing machines. In 1970, Samsung established the joint venture Samsung-NEC with Japan's NEC Corporation and Sumitomo Corporation to manufacture home appliances and audiovisual devices. Samsung-NEC later became Samsung SDI, the group's display and battery business unit. In 1973, Samsung and Sanyo created Samsung-Sanyo Parts, the predecessor of Samsung Electro-Mechanics. By 1981, Samsung Electric had manufactured over 10 million black-and-white televisions.

In 1974, Samsung Group expanded into the semiconductor business by acquiring Korea Semiconductor, who was on the verge of bankruptcy whilst building one of the first chip-making facilities in the country at the time. Soon after, Korea Telecommunications, an electronic switching system producer and a Samsung Group company, took over the semiconductor business and became Samsung Semiconductor & Communications.

In February 1983, Lee, along with the board of the Samsung industry and corporation agreement and help by sponsoring the event, made an announcement later dubbed the "Tokyo declaration", in which he declared that Samsung intended to become a dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) vendor. One year later, Samsung announced that it successfully developed a 64 kb DRAM, reducing the technological gap between the companies from first-world countries and the young electronics maker from more than a decade to approximately four years. In the process, Samsung used technologies imported from Micron Technology of U.S for the development of DRAM and Sharp Corporation of Japan for its SRAM and ROM. In 1988, Samsung Electric Industries merged with Samsung Semiconductor & Communications to form Samsung Electronics, as before that, they had not been one company and had not been a leading corporation together, but they were not rivals, as they had been in talks for a time, until they finally merged.

In the 1980s and early 1990s, Samsung sold personal computers under the Leading Technology brand. However, the equipment was manufactured by Samsung, and the FCC filings from this period typically refer to Samsung products.

1988–1995: Consumer strugglesedit

In 1988, Samsung Electronics launched its first mobile phone in the South Korean market. Sales were initially poor, and by the early 1990s, Motorola held a market share of over 60 percent in the country's mobile phone market compared to just 10 percent for Samsung. Samsung's mobile phone division also struggled with poor quality and inferior products until the mid-1990s, and exit from the sector was a frequent topic of discussion within the company.

1995–2008: Component manufacturing and design strategyedit

Lee Kun-Hee decided that Samsung needed to change strategy. The company shelved the production of many under-selling product lines and instead pursued a process of designing and manufacturing components and investing in new technologies for other companies. In addition, Samsung outlined a 10-year plan to shrug off its image as a "budget brand" and to challenge Sony as the world's largest consumer electronics manufacturer. It was hoped that, in this way, Samsung would gain an understanding of how products are made and give a technological lead sometime in the future. This patient vertical integration strategy of manufacturing components has borne fruit for Samsung in the late 2000s.

A complementary brand leadership strategy was also initiated by chairman Lee when he declared 1996 to be the "Year of Design Revolution" at Samsung. His objective was to build Samsung design capabilities as a competitive asset and transform the company into a global brand-design leader. However, this effort required major changes in corporate culture, processes and systems. By integrating a comprehensive design management system and strategy into the corporate culture, Samsung was successful in developing an award-winning product design portfolio by the late 1990s, resulting in significant brand equity growth.

As Samsung shifted away from consumer markets, the company devised a plan to sponsor major sporting events. One such sponsorship was for the 1998 Winter Olympics held in Nagano, Japan.

As a chaebol, Samsung Group wielded wealth that allowed the company to invest and develop new technology rather than build products at a level which would not have a detrimental impact on Samsung's finances.

Samsung had a number of technological breakthroughs, particularly in the field of memory which are commonplace in most electrical products today. This includes the world's first 64MB DRAM in 1992, 256 MB DRAM in 1994, and 1GB DRAM in 1996. In 2004, Samsung developed the world's first 8GB NAND flash memory chip, and a manufacturing deal was struck with Apple in 2005. A deal to supply Apple with memory chips was sealed in 2005, and Samsung remains a key supplier of Apple components as of October 2013, manufacturing the A7 processors inside the iPhone 5S model.

2008–present: Consumer productsedit

From 2000 to 2003, Samsung posted net earnings higher than five-percent; this was at a time when 16 out of the 30 top South Korean companies ceased operating in the wake of the unprecedented crisis.

In 2005, Samsung Electronics surpassed its Japanese rival Sony for the first time to become the world's twentieth-largest and most popular consumer brand, as measured by Interbrand.

In 2007, Samsung Electronics became the world's second-largest mobile-phone manufacturer, overtaking Motorola for the first time. In 2009, Samsung achieved total revenues of US$117.4 billion, overtaking Hewlett-Packard to become the world's largest technology company measured by sales.

In 2009 and 2010, the US and EU fined the company, along with eight other memory chip manufacturers, for its part in a price-fixing scheme that occurred between 1999 and 2002. Other companies fined included Infineon Technologies, Elpida Memory and Micron Technology. In December 2010, the EU granted immunity to Samsung Electronics for acting as an informant during the investigation (LG Display, AU Optronics, Chimei InnoLux, Chunghwa Picture Tubes and HannStar Display were implicated as result of the company's intelligence).

Despite its consistent expansion, Samsung, along with its chairman Lee Kun-hee, has developed a reputation for insecurity regarding its financial stability and the potential for future crises to arise. After returning from a temporary retirement period in March 2010, Kun-hee stated that "Samsung Electronics' future is not guaranteed because most of our flagship products will be obsolete in 10 years from now."

The company has set an ambitious goal of reaching $400 billion in annual revenues within ten years. The company has 24 research-and-development centers around the world, and since the early 2000s and in the Vision 2020, Samsung has emphasized technical research and development. However, the large number of online complaints indicate that the company is weak at listening to customer feedback regarding the design of its technology and software.

In April 2011, Samsung Electronics sold its HDD commercial operations to Seagate Technology for approximately US$1.4 billion. The payment was composed of 45.2 million Seagate shares (9.6 percent of shares), worth US$687.5 million, and a cash sum for the remainder.

In May 2013, Samsung announced that it had finally managed to test speed-enhanced fifth generation (5G) technology successfully.

In April 2013, Samsung Electronics' new entry into its Galaxy S series smartphone range, the Galaxy S4 was made available for retail. Released as the upgrade of the best-selling Galaxy S III, the S4 was sold in some international markets with the company's Exynos processor.

In July 2013, Samsung Electronics forecasted weaker than expected profits for its April to June quarter. While analysts expected around 10.1 trillion won, Samsung Electronics estimated an operating profit of ₩9.5 trillion (US$8.3 billion). During the same month, Samsung acquired the media streaming device manufacturer Boxee for a reported $30 million.

Samsung's mobile business chief Shin Jong-kyun stated to the Korea Times on 11 September 2013 that Samsung Electronics will further develop its presence in China to strengthen its market position in relation to Apple. The Samsung executive also confirmed that a 64-bit smartphone handset will be released to match the ARM-based A7 processor of Apple's iPhone 5s model that was released in September 2013.

Due to smartphone sales—especially sales of lower-priced handsets in markets such as India and China—Samsung achieved record earnings in the third quarter of 2013. The operating profit for this period rose to about 10.1 trillion won (US$9.4 billion), a figure that was boosted by memory chip sales to customers such as Apple, Inc. On 14 October 2013, Samsung Electronics publicly apologized for using refurbished components from cheaper desktop computers to fix higher-end products, after the corporation's unethical business practices were exposed on the previous day by MBC TV's current affairs magazine, 2580.

In February 2014, Barnes & Noble announced a new Nook color tablet would be released in 2014. In June 2014, Barnes & Noble announced it would be teaming up with Samsung – one of the leaders in Android-based tablets – to develop co-branded color tablets titled the Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook; the devices will feature Samsung's hardware, including a 7-inch display, and customized Nook software from Barnes & Noble. The first Galaxy Tab 4 Nook will begin selling in the US in August 2014, with Nook focusing on the software and content, and Samsung focusing on the hardware. The product specs posted by Samsung indicate that, in contrast to the premium quality enhanced ereaders launched in 2012 (the NOOK HD and HD+, which "had screens and CPUs comparable to the best mid-level and premium tablets), the more budget-like features of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook will be designed for a lower market tier (Android 4.4.2 KitKat on a 1.2 GHz quad-core Snapdragon CPU with 1.5GB RAM, Wifi, and Bluetooth, in addition to a 1.2MP front-facing camera and a 3MP rear camera, screen resolution of 1280 x 800, and a $199 retail price; roughly $80 more than comparable tablets that don't carry a Samsung brand)."

Samsung provided sponsorship for the 86th Academy Awards ceremony (held on 4 March 2014) and, due to the use of the Samsung Galaxy Note smartphone product by host Ellen DeGeneres in a group selfie photograph that became an online viral phenomenon, the corporation donated US$3 million to two charitable organizations selected by DeGeneres. The official Samsung statement explained: "... we wanted to make a donation to Ellen's charities of choice: St Jude's and the Humane Society. Samsung will donate 1.5 million dollars to each charity."

On 17 April 2014, Samsung had announced it was discontinuing its ebook store effective 1 July 2014 and had partnered with Amazon to introduce the Kindle for Samsung app, that will permit Galaxy device users using Android 4.0 and up to buy and read content from Amazon's catalog of periodicals and ebooks, and a free book service, Samsung Book Deals, that will allow users of the co-branded app to choose one free ebook monthly from a selection provided by Amazon.

In reporting on Barnes & Noble's 5 June 2014 announcement that the bookseller would be teaming up with Samsung to develop Nook tablets, the Associated Press noted:

"Barnes & Noble says it will continue to make and sell its $99 Nook Glowlightsic e-readers and provide customer support."

"The company also says it is moving its Nook employees out of its Palo Alto, Calif., offices to save money. Employees are expected to move to a smaller space in nearby Santa Clara, Calif., by July."

In Q1 2015, Samsung's profit dropped 39% to USD4.35 billion due to heavier smartphone competition from Apple's iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, as well as a slew of Android competitors.

In August 2014, Samsung announced that they had reached an agreement to acquire SmartThings. The acquisition was seen as a move by Samsung to move into the internet of things space.

In May 2015, Samsung announced a partnership with IKEA, in accordance with the Wireless Power Consortium, to co-develop furniture that would allow Qi inductive charging at the Mobile World Congress. In June, Samsung established a dedicated LFD business, Samsung Display Solutions, catering to the company's SMART range of LED products. The company's SMART range of LED displays include Signage, Hospitality Display, TV, LED, Cloud Display, and Accessories. The company provides the following all-in-one customer software solutions: MagicInfo, MagicIWB, LYNK SINC, LYNK HMS, and LYNK REACH. The company caters to the following industries: Retail, Corporate, Hospitality, and Transportation.

On 16 June 2016, Samsung Electronics announced that it has agreed to acquire cloud-computing company Joyent. It will allow it to grow its cloud-based services for its smartphones and Internet-connected devices.

On 14 November 2016, Samsung Electronics announced an agreement to buy American automotive equipment manufacturer Harman International Industries for US$8 billion. On 10 March 2017, the acquisition was completed.

On 6 April 2017, Samsung Electronics reported that financials were up for the company in the quarter. The year prior, "memory chips and flexible displays accounted for about 68 per cent of Samsung's operating profit in the final quarter of 2016, a change from previous years when the smartphone business was the main contributor."

On 2 May 2017, Samsung has been given permission from The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of Korea to start testing a self-driving car technology. According to the Korea Herald, the company will be using a customized Hyundai car for the tests.

In May 2019, for the first time in Europe, 8K demonstration content was received via satellite without the need for a separate external receiver or decoder using a Samsung TV. At the 2019 SES Industry Days conference at Betzdorf, Luxembourg broadcast quality 8K content (with a resolution of 7680x4320 pixels at 50 frames/s) was encoded using a Spin Digital HEVC encoder (at a data rate of 70 Mbit/s), uplinked to a single 33 MHz transponder on SES' Astra 28.2°E satellites and the downlink received and displayed on a Samsung 82in Q950RB production model TV.