Samsung: from a grocery shop to the top of the world

From its inception as a small export business in Taegu, Korea, SAMSUNG has grown to become one of the world's leading electronics companies, specializing in digital appliances and media, semiconductors, memory, and system integration.

Today, Samsung's innovative and top quality products and processes are recognized all over the world. This timeline captures the major milestones in Samsung's history, showing how the company expanded its product lines and reach, grew its revenue and market share, and has followed its mission of making life better for consumers around the world. Wherever you are in the hustle of the streets or the comfort of the home, Samsung is part of the fabric of your life. As a global leader, Samsung is at the forefront of change, anticipating today what customers around the world will want tomorrow.

Diplomacy and Trade caught up with the President of Samsung Hungary, Mr. DaeHyun Kim, at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain and talked to him about global achievements and local challenges.

Samsung is known in Hungary for its electronic products, but the Company has a more versatile business on the Korean market than in Hungary.

Although, it is not really well-known in Europe, Samsung is comprised of companies that are setting new standards in a wide range of businesses, from consumer electronics to petrochemicals, from advertising to life insurance. They share a commitment to create innovative, high quality products that are relied on every day by millions of people and businesses around the world. The key business territories are Electronic Industries, Machinery and Heavy Industries, Chemical Industries, Financial Services, and other affiliated companies like The Shilla Hotels & Resorts and Samsung Welfare Foundation.

What is the secret behind this growth? As we know, Samsung is one of world’s fastest growing companies.

Samsung follows a simple business philosophy: to devote its talents and technology to creating superior products and services that contribute to a better global society. The result is that all of Samsung products – from memory chips that help businesses store vital knowledge to mobile phones that connect people across continents – have the power to enrich lives. And that’s what making a better global society is about. As stated in our new motto, Samsung Electronics' vision for the new decade is, "Inspire the World, Create the Future." This new vision reflects Samsung Electronics’ commitment to inspire its communities by leveraging Samsung's three key strengths: “New Technology,” “Innovative Products,” and “Creative Solutions.”

Environmental sustainability is a hot topic in the industry. What can Samsung do to reduce its ecological footprint?

Integrating corporate management and sustainable development is an issue of increasing importance in the business world, amid rising expectations for social and environmental responsibility. In response, Samsung has been improving the process of collecting stakeholders’ ideas and setting up a corporate wide vision and strategy for sustainable development. Samsung launched the PlanetFirst initiative in 2010. We aim to be a leading eco-friendly company by 2013 and for 100% of our products to exceed global eco-safe standards. PlanetFirst means always considering the impact on the environment as the company continues to design, develop and engineer innovative products, such as our ultra-slim, ultra-efficient LED TVs, fridges that use less electricity or washing machines that can wash even in cold water.

What is your goal in Hungary?

We want to be the most loved electronic brand on the Hungarian market. We can build our success on our great products, enthusiastic people, and our relentless passion to enrich people’s lives through new developments and services. The local TV factory is also a great advantage. In Hungary, Samsung employs approximately 3,000 people who produce state of the art LED TVs with high expertise and with the help of the latest technology. In line with our effort to be an environmentally responsible company, our Hungarian staff is working hard and smart to make our production as green as possible. I am very optimistic about our future, as we increased our performance even last year when market declined.