History of Samsung Group

The Samsung Group is a South Korean based conglomerate company that includes a number of subsidiaries. Samsung’s primary focus is in the electronics, heavy industry, construction, and defense industries. Other major subsidiaries of Samsung include insurance, advertising, and entertainment industry businesses. Samsung is one of the largest businesses in Korea, producing nearly one fifth of the country’s total exports.

Company History:

Samsung was formed in 1938 by Lee Byung-chull as a trading company based in Su-dong. The small company started as a grocery, trading goods produced in and around the city as well as its own noodles. The company grew and soon expanded to Seoul in 1947 but left once the Korean War broke out. After the war, Lee expanded in to textiles and built the largest woollen mill in Korea.

The successful diversification became a growth strategy for Samsung, which rapidly expanded in to the insurance, securities, and retail business. Samsung was focused on the redevelopment of Korea after the war with a central focus on industrialization.

Samsung entered the electronics industry in the 1960's with the formation of several electronics focused divisions. The initial electronics divisions included Samsung Electronics Devices, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Samsung Corning, and Samsung Semiconductor & Telecommunications. Samsung built their initial facilities in Suwon, South Korea, where they started producing black and white television sets.

In 1980, Samsung entered the telecommunications hardware industry with the purchase of Hanguk Jenja Tongsin. Initially building telephone switchboards, Samsung expanded in to telephone and fax systems which eventually shifted to mobile phone manufacturing. The mobile phone business was grouped together with Samsung Electronics which began to invest heavily in research and development throughout the 1980's. During this time Samsung Electronics expanded in to Portugal, New York, Tokyo, England and Austin,...