Korean consumer electronics giant Samsung has made a remarkable transformation since its founding in $1938.$ Originally created as an exporter of dried Korean fish, vegetables, and fruit, the company evolved into a provider of value$-$priced commodity products during the $1970$ s and $1980$ s that original equipment manufacturers $($OEMs$)$ sold under their own brands. When Samsung's founder passed away in $1987,$ his son Kun$-$Hee Lee succeeded him and restructured the company with the goal of becoming one of the world's top electronic companies.

Samsung initially focused on volume and market domination rather than profitability. During the Asian financial crisis of the late $1990$ s$,$ other Korean chaebols or conglomerates collapsed beneath a mountain of debt, but Samsung took a different approach. The company cut costs and refocused its vision on product quality, complete customer satisfaction, and manufacturing flexibility. This revolutionary strategy allowed its consumer electronic products to go from project phase to store shelves within six months. Samsung invested heavily in innovation, and many of its products$-$from semiconductors to LCD screens$-$gained significant market share and became industry leaders in their respective categories. The company also focused intently on its memory$-$chip business, which established an important cash cow and made it the largest chipmaker in the world.

Samsung continued to pour money into R&D during the $2000$s$,$ budgeting $$40$ billion for $2005-2010$ alone. The company made innovation one of its highest priorities and emphasized its importance through extensive training and recruiting. As a result, it introduced a wide range of electronic products under its strong brand umbrella. Samsung also partnered with longtime market leader Sony to create a $$2$ billion state$-$of$-$the$-$art LCD factory in South Korea and signed a milestone agreement to share $24,000$ basic patents for components and production processes.

Today, Samsung is a global marketer of premium priced, Samsung$-$branded consumer electronics such as smart phones, flat$-$screen TVs$,$ digital cameras, batteries, digital appliances, and semiconductors. The company's high$-$end smart phones and cell phones are now its growth engines, leading to a steady stream of innovations including the first cell phone with an MP$3$ player, the first Blu$-$ray disc player, and the first Smartwatch.

Samsung's success has been driven not only by successful product innovation, but also by aggressive brand building. The company has spent billions of dollars in marketing over the past decade, including sponsoring the Olympics since $1998$ and running several global ad campaigns themed "Imagine," "Quietly Brilliant," and "Men Are Idiots," all of which included brand messages such as "technology," "design," and "human sensation$."$ In $2005,$ Samsung surpassed Sony in the Interbrand ranking for the first time, and it continues to outperform Sony today.