Samsung facts for kids
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Samsung Town in the Gangnam station area of Seoul
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Native name
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Hangul: 삼성그룹
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| Private | |
| Industry | Conglomerate |
| Founded | 1 March 1938 in Daegu, Japanese Korea |
| Founder | Lee Byung-chul |
| Headquarters | Samsung Digital City,
Yeongtong-gu, Suwon
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Area served
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Worldwide |
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Key people
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Lee Jae-yong (chairman) |
| Products | Clothing, automotive, chemicals, consumer electronics, electronic components, medical equipment, semiconductors, solid-state drives, DRAM, flash memory, ships, telecommunications equipment, home appliances |
| Services | Advertising, construction, entertainment, financial services, hospitality, information and communications technology, medical and health care services, retail, shipbuilding, semiconductor foundry |
| Subsidiaries | Cheil Worldwide Samsung Asset Management Samsung Biologics Samsung C&T Corporation Samsung Electro-Mechanics Samsung Electronics Samsung Engineering Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Samsung Heavy Industries Samsung Life Insurance Samsung SDI Samsung SDS Samsung Securities |
| Samsung | |
| Hangul | |
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| Hanja | |
| Revised Romanization | Samseong |
| McCune–Reischauer | Samsŏng |
Samsung Group is a huge company from South Korea. It makes many different things, like smartphones, television sets, and even ships! It's one of the biggest companies in the world and is known for its electronics. Samsung has its main offices in Suwon, South Korea.
Contents
What Does "Samsung" Mean?
The name "Samsung" comes from Korean words. It means "three stars." The founder of Samsung, Lee Byung-chul, chose this name because "three" means something big, many, and powerful. "Stars" means something that lasts forever or is eternal.
History of Samsung
Starting Small (1938–1970)
Samsung was started in 1938 by Lee Byung-chul in a city called Daegu, in Korea. Back then, it was a small trading company with only 40 employees. They sold things like dried fish, local foods, and noodles.
The company grew, and Lee Byung-chul wanted Samsung to be a leader in many different areas. So, Samsung started new businesses. They got into things like insurance and even opened a wool mill.
In the late 1960s, Samsung started making electronics. They created different groups like Samsung Electronics Devices. Their very first electronic product was a black-and-white television.
Growing Bigger (1970–1990)
In 1980, Samsung got into making telecommunications equipment. They started with things like switchboards. This part of the company grew into making telephones and later, mobile phones. Samsung has made over 800 million mobile phones since then! All these electronics businesses were brought together under the name Samsung Electronics in the 1980s.
After its founder, Lee Byung-chul, passed away in 1987, Samsung Group was divided into five different business groups. These groups, like Shinsegae and CJ Group, became separate and independent companies.
During the 1980s, Samsung Electronics invested a lot in new ideas and technologies. This helped them become a leader in the global electronics world. They built factories in places like Portugal, New York, and England. They also built a large facility in Austin, Texas, which is one of the biggest foreign investments in the United States.
Becoming a Global Leader (1990–2000)
From 1990 onwards, Samsung became even more global. Their mobile phones and computer chips became their most important products. Samsung's construction part helped build famous buildings like one of the Petronas Towers in Malaysia, Taipei 101 in Taiwan, and the Burj Khalifa in the United Arab Emirates.
In 1992, Samsung became the world's largest maker of memory chips. In 1995, they made their first liquid-crystal display (LCD) screen. Ten years later, Samsung was the biggest maker of LCD panels in the world.
Samsung did well during the 1997 Asian financial crisis, unlike some other big Korean companies. However, they had to sell their car company, Samsung Motor, to Renault.
Recent Years (2000–Present)
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In 2000, Samsung opened a development center in Poland. They worked on digital TVs and later, smartphones. This led to the creation of the popular Samsung Galaxy line of phones and other devices.
In 2010, Samsung announced a plan to grow in five key areas, including biopharmaceuticals (medicines made from living things).
In 2012, Samsung Electronics became the world's largest mobile phone maker, selling more phones than any other company.
In 2016, the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphone had a problem with its battery, causing some phones to catch fire. Samsung stopped selling the phone and recalled all of them. They later ended production of that specific phone model.
In 2018, Samsung opened the world's largest mobile phone factory in India.
In 2023, Samsung decided to make fewer memory chips because there wasn't as much demand for them after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Samsung's Impact in South Korea
Samsung has a huge impact on South Korea's economy and culture. It has played a big part in the country's fast economic growth, sometimes called the "Miracle on the Han River." The companies connected to Samsung make up about one-fifth of all of South Korea's exports. In 2022, Samsung's total income was about 22.4% of South Korea's entire economy.
How Samsung Works
Samsung is made up of about 80 different companies. These companies do many things, including construction, making consumer electronics, offering financial services, building ships, and providing medical services. They also have research centers that work on new technologies like genetic engineering and nanotechnology.
In 2010, Samsung's total income was about $258 billion, with profits of about $27.6 billion.
Leaders of Samsung
- Lee Byung-chul (1938–1966, 1968–1987)
- Lee Maeng-hee (1966–1968)
- Lee Kun-hee (1987–2008, 2010–2020)
- Lee Soo-bin (2008–2010)
Main Samsung Companies
- Samsung Electronics is the most well-known part of Samsung. It makes things like air conditioners, computers, digital television sets, mobile phones, printers, refrigerators, and semiconductors (computer chips). It's the world's largest mobile phone maker and one of the biggest chipmakers.
- Samsung Biologics is a company that makes special medicines called biopharmaceuticals. They help develop and produce important drugs.
- Samsung Engineering is a construction company that builds large projects. These include oil and gas plants, power plants, and water treatment facilities.
- Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance is a company that provides different types of insurance, like car insurance and home insurance. It's the largest general insurance provider in South Korea.
- Samsung Heavy Industries builds large ships, including oil tankers and container ships. It's one of the biggest shipbuilders in the world.
- Samsung Life Insurance offers life insurance and retirement plans. It's the largest life insurance company in South Korea.
- Samsung SDI makes lithium-ion batteries for things like electric vehicles and mobile phones. They also used to make TV screens.
- Samsung SDS is an IT (Information Technology) service company. They help businesses set up and manage their computer systems and data centers. It's the largest IT service company in Korea.
- Cheil Worldwide is a marketing company that creates advertisements and public relations campaigns for businesses.
- Samsung Card is a company that provides credit cards in South Korea.
- Hotel Shilla is a hotel and resort company that runs luxury hotels.
- Samsung Medical Center is a large hospital and cancer center in South Korea. Samsung donates a lot of money to help it provide excellent medical care and research.
Major Customers
Samsung works with many big customers around the world:
- Shell plc: Samsung Heavy Industries helps Shell build huge facilities for storing liquefied natural gas (LNG). They are even building the world's largest floating LNG platform.
- United Arab Emirates government: Samsung, along with other Korean companies, is helping to build nuclear power plants in the United Arab Emirates.
- Ontario government (Canada): Samsung is part of a big project to develop renewable energy (wind and solar energy) in the Canadian province of Ontario.
Company Look and Sound
Logos
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First Samsung logo (1938)
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1960s–1993, as corporate logo
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1969-1979
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1979–1993, as Samsung Electronics logo
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1993–current, though still used by other Samsung companies than its electronics segment
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2015–current, Samsung Electronics's wordmark and current corporate logo
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Samsung's main logo color is blue. This color is often used to show that a company is stable and trustworthy.
Sound Logo
Samsung used to have a special sound that played, like a short tune. It was made of four musical notes. This sound logo is no longer used.
Fonts
Samsung has its own special fonts, or typefaces. In 2014, they introduced Samsung Sharp Sans. In 2016, they created SamsungOne. This font was designed to look consistent across all Samsung products, from small phones to large TVs, and in their advertisements. It supports over 400 different languages!
Sponsorships
Samsung Electronics spends a lot of money on advertising and marketing. In 2013, they spent an estimated $14 billion (U.S.). This is a very large amount compared to other big companies. Samsung became the world's biggest advertiser in 2012.
Samsung in Vietnam
In 2008, Samsung started building its first mobile phone factory in Vietnam. This factory, called Samsung Electronics Vietnam (SEV), has grown a lot.
Between 2018 and 2022, Samsung helped Vietnam earn over $306 billion from exports. In 2022 alone, Samsung contributed $65 billion to Vietnam's total exports. Samsung has also helped many Vietnamese businesses become part of its global supply chain. The number of Vietnamese companies supplying parts to Samsung has grown from 25 in 2014 to 257 by the end of 2022.
Images for kids
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Samsung Taepyeong-ro HQ in Jung District, Seoul
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Samsung Engineering India Office in New Delhi, India
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The Samsung Hub, formerly 3 Church Street, is a skyscraper located in the Downtown Core of Singapore.
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One of the world's largest oil and gas projects, Sakhalin-II- Lunskoye platform under construction. The topside facilities of the LUN-A (Lunskoye) and PA-B (Piltun Astokhskoye) platforms were built at the Samsung Heavy Industries' shipyard in South Korea.
See also
In Spanish: Samsung para niños
