Industry | Conglomerate |
---|---|
Founded | 1 March 1938 Daegu, Japanese Korea |
Founder | Lee Byung-chul |
Headquarters | 40th floor Samsung Electronics Building, 11, Seocho-daero 74-gil, Seocho District, Seoul, South Korea |
Area served
|
Worldwide |
Key people
|
Lee Kun-hee (Chairman) Lee Jae-yong (Vice-Chairman) |
Products | Apparel, chemicals, consumer electronics, electronic components, medical equipment, semiconductors, solid state drives, DRAM, ships, telecommunications equipment, home appliances |
Services | Advertising, construction, entertainment, financial services, hospitality, information and communications technology, medical and health care services, retail, shipbuilding |
Revenue | US$305 billion (2014) |
US$22.1 billion (2014) | |
Total assets | US$529.5 billion (2014) |
Total equity | US$231.2 billion (2014) |
Number of employees
|
489,000 (2014) |
Divisions |
Samsung Electronics Samsung C&T Corporation Samsung Heavy Industries Samsung SDS Samsung Life Insurance Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Cheil Worldwide |
Website | samsung |
Samsung | |
Hangul | 삼성 |
---|---|
Hanja | 三星 |
Revised Romanization | Samseong |
McCune–Reischauer | Samsŏng |
Samsung Group (Hangul: 삼성; Hanja: 三星; Korean pronunciation: [sʰamsʰʌŋ]) is a South Korean multinational conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the Samsung brand, and is the largest South Korean chaebol (business conglomerate).
Samsung was founded by Lee Byung-chul in 1938 as a trading company. Over the next three decades, the group diversified into areas including food processing, textiles, insurance, securities and retail. Samsung entered the electronics industry in the late 1960s and the construction and shipbuilding industries in the mid-1970s; these areas would drive its subsequent growth. Following Lee's death in 1987, Samsung was separated into four business groups – Samsung Group, Shinsegae Group, CJ Group and Hansol Group. Since 1990, Samsung has increasingly globalised its activities and electronics; in particular, its mobile phones and semiconductors have become its most important source of income.
Notable Samsung industrial affiliates include Samsung Electronics (the world's 2nd largest information technology company measured by 2015 revenues, and 5th in market value),Samsung Heavy Industries (the world's 2nd largest shipbuilder measured by 2010 revenues), and Samsung Engineering and Samsung C&T (respectively the world's 13th and 36th largest construction companies). Other notable subsidiaries include Samsung Life Insurance (the world's 14th largest life insurance company),Samsung Everland (operator of Everland Resort, the oldest theme park in South Korea) and Cheil Worldwide (the world's 15th largest advertising agency measured by 2012 revenues).