Korea’s world excellence … Samsung Electronics founded[그해 오늘]

[이데일리 전재욱 기자] Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the predecessor of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., was founded on January 13, 1969. Samsung Group President Lee Kun-hee took office (December 1987) and the following year, November 1, 1988, was designated as the founding date of Samsung Electronics. It was a measure taken while making that year the second year of foundation. Samsung Electronics, a flagship affiliate, has just been born, showing its willingness to leap forward internally and externally. Samsung group founder Lee Byung-cheol passed away (November 19, 1987), one year before the anniversary.

Initially, when Samsung tried to found the Samsung Electronics Industry in 1969, the opposition was fierce. From the outside, even a member of parliament went so far as to stop him. It was feared that the electronics industry would fail if Samsung entered the market. To compare it, it was like “don’t let big corporations invade the commercial area of ​​the alley.” It is a reaction that represents the level of our electronics industry at that time. It involved importing foreign parts, assembling them and selling them, but it was impossible to manufacture your own finished products. The world was struggling for dominance in the high value-added electronics industry, but in Korea the battle for a bowl of rice was in full swing over a tight domestic market. After Lee Byung-cheol, founder of Samsung, visited and convinced President Park Chung-hee, Samsung Electronics Industries was founded.

Samsung, which joined as a laggard, produced a catfish effect. Existing operators who don’t want to give up their places to Samsung and Samsung’s struggle to catch them have raised the bar in the Korean electronics industry. As a result, Samsung Electronics’ flagship black and white TV surpassed that of its rivals in Japan and the US within 10 years of its founding. Videotape Records (VTR) have also been a hit in the global market.

Using this as a stepping stone, Samsung Electronics is expanding its focus on semiconductors. On December 30, 1977, 8 years after entering the electronics industry, Korea Semiconductor was acquired. Semiconductors are the best technologies in the electronics industry. There were also skeptics about entering the semiconductor market. The key was whether it could bridge the technology gap with the existing US and Japan and also how long it would take.

Samsung Electronics’ goal was clear. “Semiconductors were the rice of industry.” To this end, Samsung Semiconductor was absorbed and merged (March 3, 1980) and Samsung Semiconductor Communications was formed (December 27, 1982). Eventually, Samsung Electronics managed to develop 64K DRAM semiconductors in November 1983. It was the third largest worldwide success in the semiconductor market, split between the United States and Japan.

It was through the founding of Samsung Electronics that the Samsung Group’s unique principle of pre-equity was popularized. “With the motto of creating Samsung Electronics, from sand to cathode ray tubes, we have adopted a preprocessing principle that connects the start and end of production” (Hoam Automobile) Currently, the business divisions of Samsung Electronics are DX (smartphone and home appliance), DS (semiconductor), SDC Although differentiated in (display), all three have an organic relationship. In the production process of Samsung Galaxy smartphones, it is necessary to mount the Samsung semiconductors and cover the Samsung display.

Samsung Electronics President Lee Jae-yong attended the 2nd anniversary of the late Samsung Group President Lee Kun-hee held in Seonyeong, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do on the morning of October 25th. President Lee was promoted from vice president to president two days after the funeral service (Photo = Yonhap News)

The almost reckless challenge to electronics and semiconductors has made Samsung Electronics a world-class company. The Japanese company that transferred television technology has already surpassed it in the 20th century and is occupying the No. Samsung Electronics, which went public in 1975, set a sales target of 25 billion won for that year, and last year recorded 279,604.7 billion won (consolidated basis). This is an 11,184-fold increase over the then target.

The reason Samsung Electronics received the national company title is because it served as a national stock. It has enjoyed the profits of its growth with the majority of its shareholders. Currently, the number of minority shareholders is 5.92 million (in the first half of 2022) and more than one in ten Koreans (51.46 million) (11%) are shareholders of the company. On the day of the announcement of the results, the site is often packed with people who want to see the announcement. This company celebrates its 53rd anniversary this year.