Introduction

Samsung Group is a South

Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Digital
City, Suwon, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united
under the Samsung brand, and is the largest South Korean chaebol (business conglomerate).
As of 2024, Samsung has the world's fifth-highest brand value.
Samsung was founded by Lee Byung-chul in 1938 as a trading company. Over the next three
decades, the group diversified into areas including food processing, textiles, insurance,
securities, and retail. Samsung entered the electronics industry in the late 1960s and the
construction and shipbuilding industries in the mid-1970s; these areas would drive its
subsequent growth. Following Lee's death in 1987, Samsung was separated into five
business groups – Samsung Group, Shinsegae Group, CJ Group, Hansol Group,
and JoongAng Group.
Samsung industrial affiliates include Samsung Electronics, Samsung Heavy
Industries, Samsung Engineering and Samsung C&T Corporation. Other subsidiaries
include Samsung Life Insurance and Cheil Worldwide. Notable Samsung industrial affiliates
include Samsung Electronics (the world's largest information technology
company, consumer electronics maker and chipmaker measured by 2017
revenues), Samsung Heavy Industries (the world's second largest shipbuilder measured by
2010 revenues), and Samsung Engineering and Samsung C&T Corporation (respectively the
world's 13th and 36th largest construction companies).[8] Other notable subsidiaries
include Samsung Life Insurance (the world's 14th largest life insurance company), Samsung
Everland (operator of Everland Resort, the oldest theme park in South Korea) and Cheil
Worldwide (the world's 15th largest advertising agency, as measured by 2012 revenues).

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HISTORY
1938–1970

Lee Byung-chul, founder of Samsung

In 1938, during Japanese-ruled Korea, Lee Byung-chul (1910–1987) of a large landowning
family in the Uiryeong county moved to nearby Daegu city and founded Mitsuboshi Trading
Company or Samsung Sanghoe . Samsung started out as a small trading company with forty
employees located in Su-dong It dealt in dried fish,[16] locally-grown groceries and
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, a textiles company,
and built the first plant in Chimsan-dong, Daegu. It was the largest woollen mill in the
country at the time of construction.
Samsung diversified into many different areas. Lee sought to establish Samsung as a leader
in a wide range of industries. Samsung moved into lines of business such as insurance,
securities, and retail.
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-chul. 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.
In the late 1960s, Samsung Group entered the electronics industry. It formed several
electronics-related divisions, such as Samsung Electronics Devices, Samsung Electro-
Mechanics, Samsung Corning and Samsung Semiconductor & Telecommunications, and
opened the facility in Suwon. Its first product was a black-and-white television set.[21] Byung-
chul was also the owner of the Tongyang Broadcasting Company, a private radio and
television company that existed from 1964 to 1980, shut down after the Korean government

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reviewed the number of media outlets allowed. TBC allowed an early success thanks to its
connections to Samsung, boosting the sale of its television sets.

1970–1990

The SPC-1000, introduced in 1982, was Samsung's first

personal computer (sold in the Korean market only) and used an audio cassette tape to load
and save data – the floppy drive was optional.
In 1980, Samsung acquired the Gumi-based Hanguk Jeonja Tongsin and entered
telecommunications hardware. 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. The company grouped them together under Samsung Electronics in the
1980s.
After Lee, the founder's death in 1987, Samsung Group was separated into five business
groups – Samsung Group, Shinsegae Group, CJ Group, Hansol Group and the JoongAng
Group. 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), Hansol Group (Paper/Telecom), and the
JoongAng Group (Media). Today these separated groups are independent and they are not
part of or connected to the Samsung Group. 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".
In the 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

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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.
In 1987, United States International Trade Commission found that the Samsung Group of
South Korea unlawfully sold computer chips in the United States without licenses from the
chip inventor, Texas Instruments Inc.

1990–2000
Since 1990, Samsung has increasingly globalised its activities and electronics; in particular,
its mobile phones and semiconductors have become its most important source of income. It
was in this period that Samsung started to rise as an international corporation in the
1990s. Samsung's construction branch was awarded contracts to build one of the
two Petronas Towers in Malaysia, Taipei 101 in Taiwan and the Burj Khalifa in United Arab
Emirates.[31] 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 world's largest producer of memory chips in 1992 and is the world's
second-largest chipmaker after Intel (see Worldwide Top 20 Semiconductor Market Share
Ranking Year by Year). In 1995, it created its first liquid-crystal display screen. Samsung grew
to be the world's largest manufacturer of liquid-crystal display panels. Ten years later, 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 Tanjung, South Korea. As of 26 December 2011, it was announced that
Samsung had acquired the stake of Sony in this joint venture.
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 per cent owned by Renault and 19.9 per cent
owned by Samsung. Additionally, Samsung manufactured a range of aircraft from the 1980s
to the 1990s. The company was founded in 1999 as Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), the
result of a 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.

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2000–present

The prominent Samsung sign in Times Square, New York

City
In 2000, Samsung R&D opened a development center in Warsaw, Poland. Its work began
with set-top-box technology before moving into digital TV and smartphones. The
smartphone platform was developed with partners, officially launched with the
original Samsung Solstice line of devices and other derivatives in 2008, which was later
developed into Samsung Galaxy line of devices including Notes, Edge and other products.

The Samsung Group's chairman, Lee Kun-hee (left), with South

Korean President Park Geun-hye, 2013
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 number of secret funds through bank
accounts illegally opened under the names of up to 1,000 Samsung executives – under his
own name, four accounts were opened to manage 5 billion won.
In 2010, Samsung announced a ten-year growth strategy centered around five businesses.
One of these businesses was to be focused on biopharmaceuticals, to which has
committed ₩2.1 trillion. 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.
On 24 August 2012, nine American jurors ruled that Samsung Electronics had to
pay Apple $1.05 billion in damages for violating six of its patents on smartphone technology.

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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. Samsung decried the
decision saying that the move could harm innovation in the sector. It also followed a South
Korean ruling stating that both companies were guilty of infringing on each other's
intellectual property. In first trading after the ruling, Samsung shares on the KOSPI fell 7.7%,
the largest fall since 24 October 2008, to 1,177,000 South Korean won. 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, but this was denied by the court.
As of 2013, 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. 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.
In 2015, Samsung has been granted more U.S. patents than any other company. The
company received 7,679 utility patents through 11 December.
The Galaxy Note 7 smartphone went on sale on 19 August 2016. However, in early
September 2016, Samsung suspended sales of the phone and announced an informal recall.
This occurred after some units of the phones had batteries with a defect that caused them
to produce excessive heat, leading to fires and explosions. Samsung replaced the recalled
units of the phones with a new version; however, it was later discovered that the new
version of the Galaxy Note 7 also had the battery defect. Samsung recalled all Galaxy Note 7
smartphones worldwide on 10 October 2016, and permanently ended production of the
phone the following day.
In 2018, they inaugurated the world's largest mobile manufacturing facility in Noida, India,
in the presence of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and South Korean President Moon
Jae-in.
In 2023, Samsung announced its decision to reduce the production of memory chips. This
action is on account of the company's projected 96% decline in quarterly operating profit - a
600 million won decline from the 14 trillion won in 2022. The said drop can be attributed to
the weak demand after COVID and a slowing global economy. Despite this decision, the
company's shares increased by more than 4%. Samsung has been the top two applicant for
PCT filled patents in 2022 and 2023 worldwide.

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Logo History

Beginnings of the Samsung Logo (1938 – 1958)

Samsung’s first logo was nothing like the minimalist design we see today. Introduced in 1938 when the
company was still a small trading company, the logo was a complex circular emblem featuring three fish
and three stripes inside a border containing Korean text. The fish, a kind of carp known as “Bekho,” were
meant to symbolize perseverance and persistence, key qualities that were driving Samsung’s ambitions.

Transition to Simplicity (1958 – 1969)

In 1958, the Samsung logo underwent a drastic change. The elaborate fish design was replaced with a
cleaner, more simplified logo. The logo was a rectangle with three stripes (resembling the earlier design),
with the company name written in Hangul (the Korean script). While it was a radical departure from the
earlier design, this logo laid the groundwork for the future design principles of Samsung – simplicity and
legibility.

A Western Influence (1969 – 1993)

The late 1960s saw Samsung branching out beyond Korea, leading to a change in the logo to
cater to Western audiences. The new logo, introduced in 1969, featured the name
‘Samsung’ in a western style, showcasing the company’s ambition to become a global
brand. The Samsung word was enclosed in an ellipse, which was tilted to the right,
symbolizing dynamism and innovation.

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The Birth of the Blue Oval Samsung Logo (1993 – Present)

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The most significant shift in Samsung’s logo design occurred in 1993. In a move reflecting its
growing status as a global electronics giant, Samsung introduced the blue oval logo that we
recognize today. The word ‘Samsung’ was stylized using a unique font and placed within a
blue ellipse. The blue color was chosen for its representation of stability, reliability, and
technology, while the ellipse was meant to represent the universe – indicative of Samsung’s
growing global ambitions and its vision of being a leader in multiple sectors.
The most interesting aspect of this logo is its minimalism. It does not use any symbol or
emblem, just the company name. This reflects Samsung’s belief in the power and
recognizability of its brand name, implying that it’s not just a logo, but a representation of
Samsung’s identity.

Samsung Logo: From 3D to 2D (2015 – Present)

In 2015, Samsung simplified its logo further. The company removed the blue oval and
switched to a simpler, 2D design. The 3D glossy effect was removed, making the logo more
clean, modern, and versatile for digital use. This modernized logo solidified Samsung’s
image as a trend-setter in the tech industry, remaining at the forefront of design trends.
The evolution of Samsung’s logo mirrors the company’s journey from a local trading
company to a global powerhouse. It has changed with the times, reflecting Samsung’s
shifting priorities, expanding visions, and adaptations to a rapidly changing global market.
Each iteration has held a mirror to the period it represented, marking important milestones
in the company’s history. As Samsung continues to shape the future of technology, it is
fascinating to ponder what the next transformation of its logo might be.

Boards Of Directors

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10
Conclusion
Samsung is a leading global technology company that has demonstrated consistent
innovation and growth across various industries. The company's diverse product portfolio,
including smartphones, consumer electronics, and semiconductors, has contributed to its
strong market presence. Samsung's commitment to research and development, coupled
with strategic partnerships, has enabled it to stay competitive in the rapidly evolving tech
landscape. Despite facing challenges such as intense competition and geopolitical factors,
Samsung's financial performance and brand recognition remain robust. Overall, Samsung's
ability to adapt to market trends and its focus on delivering high-quality products position it
as a key player in the global technology sector.

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