Samsung Case Study
Marketing Excellence
>>Samsung
Korean consumer electronics giant Samsung has made a remarkable transformation, from a provider of valuepriced commodity products that original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) sold under their own brands, to a global marketer of premium-priced Samsung-branded consumer electronics such as flat-screen TVs, digital cameras, digital appliances, semiconductors, and cell phones. Samsung’s high-end cell phones have been a growth engine for the company, which has also released six Olympics, and ran several global ad campaigns themed “Imagine,” “Quietly Brilliant,” and “YOU,” all which included brand messages such as “technology,” “design,” and “sensation” (human). In 2005, Samsung surpassed
Sony in the Interbrand brand ranking for the first time and continues to outperform Sony today.
The economic downturn during 2008 and 2009 significantly affected the semiconductor industry, overall consumer electronics sales, and Samsung’s bottom line.
To survive, Samsung slashed profit margins, decreased production, and cut inventories. As a result, the company emerged at the end of 2009 with record-high quarterly profits despite significantly smaller profit margins.
Today, Samsung is the global leader in flat-panel TVs and memory chips, and the number two player in mobile phones. It is focused on growing technologies such as smart phones and has partnered with both Microsoft’s
Windows Mobile and Google’s Android software. In addition, Samsung has formed a green partnership with
Microsoft to help create energy-efficient computers.
Unlike rival firms, Samsung has become a global leader by making both components for electronics products and the actual devices sold to consumers,
a steady stream of innovations, popularizing the PDA phone, the first cell phone with an MP3 player, and the first Blu-ray disc player.
Samsung initially focused on volume and market domination rather than profitability. However, during the
Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s,
>>Samsung
Korean consumer electronics giant Samsung has made a remarkable transformation, from a provider of valuepriced commodity products that original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) sold under their own brands, to a global marketer of premium-priced Samsung-branded consumer electronics such as flat-screen TVs, digital cameras, digital appliances, semiconductors, and cell phones. Samsung’s high-end cell phones have been a growth engine for the company, which has also released six Olympics, and ran several global ad campaigns themed “Imagine,” “Quietly Brilliant,” and “YOU,” all which included brand messages such as “technology,” “design,” and “sensation” (human). In 2005, Samsung surpassed
Sony in the Interbrand brand ranking for the first time and continues to outperform Sony today.
The economic downturn during 2008 and 2009 significantly affected the semiconductor industry, overall consumer electronics sales, and Samsung’s bottom line.
To survive, Samsung slashed profit margins, decreased production, and cut inventories. As a result, the company emerged at the end of 2009 with record-high quarterly profits despite significantly smaller profit margins.
Today, Samsung is the global leader in flat-panel TVs and memory chips, and the number two player in mobile phones. It is focused on growing technologies such as smart phones and has partnered with both Microsoft’s
Windows Mobile and Google’s Android software. In addition, Samsung has formed a green partnership with
Microsoft to help create energy-efficient computers.
Unlike rival firms, Samsung has become a global leader by making both components for electronics products and the actual devices sold to consumers,
a steady stream of innovations, popularizing the PDA phone, the first cell phone with an MP3 player, and the first Blu-ray disc player.
Samsung initially focused on volume and market domination rather than profitability. However, during the
Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s,