In just the past four years, Samsung has transformed itself into one of the top names in the industry by marrying its component-manufacturing expertise with strong branding, marketing and design. Many industry analysts believe the company can become a leader in the rapidly converging businesses of computing and electronics.
The numbers seem to support that theory. Samsung is No. 1 worldwide in TV sets, video recorders, flat-panel screens, computer monitors, PC memory, and flash memory used extensively in digital cameras, according to various industry estimates.
In cellphones, the company has climbed from sixth place in 2000 to third, with a global market share of 10.8 percent. Samsung shipped 20 million phones in the first quarter of 2004 alone. At that rate, it could reach 15.1 percent market share by the end of the year, surpassing No. 2 Motorola.
"Five years ago, we were nobody. We were down at the commodity level," said Eric Kim, executive vice president in charge of Samsung global marketing, who is considered one of the instrumental figures in the turnaround. "Five years ago in North America, we sold low-end TVs. We are now out of the low end. That was a very conscious effort on our part. In cellphones, we are now mentioned in the same breath as Nokia and Motorola."
Samsung's rapid ascent is a direct reflection of South Korea's recovery from economic crisis only a few years ago, when the 1997 Asian recession brought the country to the brink of financial disaster. The company was forced to slash roughly 34 percent of its work force, dropping from 83,800 employees to 55,000 worldwide. It also had to sell, dissolve or restructure 100 business groups.
To navigate its way back, Samsung took some advice regularly doled out by analysts and American chief executives: go upscale.
