Samsung: operations beyond the visible

When we talk about consumer products—especially smartphones—the first company that comes to our mind is Samsung, the South Korean giant. However, Samsung is definitely not confined to just the consumer goods sectors, and is a lot bigger than what it seems.

Did you know that the multi-national company started off as a small trading company that dealt with grocery? Samsung was founded by Lee Chull in Korea in 1938 and had a workforce of approximately 40 employees back then.

During that epoch, the company produced noodles, sugar, and wool. A little later—around the late 1950s—the company moved into insurance, security, and retail business.

By the late 1960s, Samsung finally started the business that gives them their identity today—consumer electronics. Interestingly, the first ever product built by Samsung was a 12-inch black and white television in 1970.

The next big thing to join the company’s product portfolio was the Samsung computer, which was developed in 1983. However, Samsung’s real breakthrough came during the 90s when the company began to make steep inroads into the global marketplace, across numerous industries.

Since then, the company has been strengthening its stance and is currently one of the market leaders in the global industry. We all know about the companies numerous diversified consumer-oriented products—TVs, computers, smartwatches, chips for smartphones, smartphones, digital cameras, and even smart housing appliances!

But that’s not all. Most people who believe Samsung only deals with the aforementioned products should think again. The company’s modern day operations have exfoliated into several branches and there is a lot more to the company’s operations than meets the eye.

So how big is the company?

For starters, Samsung generates about 17 per cent of South Korea’s total GDP! In 2014, Samsung’s revenue was more than both Apple and Google’s combined. So how do the company make so much profit to make even Google look inferior?

Well, Samsung is made up of 80 different businesses and supporting partners. Some of the prominent ones include Samsung Engineering and Construction, Samsung Trading and Investment, and Samsung Heavy Industries.

Apart from Samsung Electronics, the company also owns Samsung Electromechanics, Techwin—a military arm, Samsung Mobile Display, and Samsung Digital Imaging.

In the financial sector, the company has Samsung Life Insurance, Securities, Investments, Trust Management, and Venture Investment. Moreover, there are a several chemical units such as Samsung Petrochemicals and Samsung BP chemicals.

The South Korean tech giants also have a prominent hotel and resort business, medical centre, and economic research institute. There are so many other businesses Samsung is involved with and here a bunch of lesser-known facts about that company that will leave you amazed:

#1 Since 1993, Samsung has been the largest manufacturer of memory chips in the world. You will be surprised to know that even the original Apple iPhone and numerous other devices run on Saumsung’s chips. Although Samsung has lost is edge over the past few years, the company still holds a strong position in the Asian market.

#2 A total of 4,90,000 employees, which is more than the number of Apple, Google and Microsoft combined together.

#3 You might also be interested to know that Samsung has been the largest manufacturer of television sets in the world. Moreover,  the company also boasts of producing the largest number of LCD panels in the world, and approximately 98 per cent of the AMOLED screen market is dominated by Samsung.

#4 The company has also made deep inroads in the field of R&D and have spent more than 14 billion dollars in 2014 alone.

#5 In 1995, Samsung invested two million dollars in a clothing brand know as Fubu.

#6 Samsung is also actively involved in military projects and have helped in developing surveillance equipment, aeronautics, automation, and weapons technology. The company has also designed a robot for South Korea!

#7 Samsung heavy Industries has the most efficient shipbuilding centre in the entire world and have built some of the largest cargo ships in the world.

#8 If that’s not enough, Samsung also runs the biggest theme-based park in Korea along with a zoo and numerous other attractions.

#9 The company has its very own clothing line, dubbed Samsung Fashion and the company has also been involved in car manufacturing for the past 20 years.

#10 Samsung was also the primary contractors for building one of the tallest buildings in the world—the Burj Khalifa!

The above-mentioned facts clearly point out that Samsung’s smartphone business is just a snippet of their vast empire and only generates a small portion of their total revenue.