Samsung (KR) | Fracturing the Celestial Body | 2

Empires - An Asian Business Podcast

Samsung is a company that is too big to fail. It's business categories represent more than 20% of Korea's GDP, and close to 30% of Vietnam's. The Samsung that we know, Samsung Electronics is made of the consumer electronics segment (50%), semiconductors (30%), displays (10%) and connected home systems (10%).

But Samsung is actually a massive business empire, owned by a mysterious Lee family who is now at its 3rd generation of leaders. The Lee family, part of Korea's elite chaebols, had been a boon for authorities in the last 60 years and yet they are often creditted for Korea's phenomenal rise.

Samsung was founded by Lee Byung-Chul or B.C. Lee in 1938, and eventually the empire would grow so huge that it fracture into 4 other entities - Saehan, Hansol, Shinsegae and the CJ Group. But it would be the world of consumer electronics that they are most known for, eventually beating the likes of Sony in TV, possibly Apple in the smartphone, and broker deals in software with Google.

In Ep 1. We reveal the humble beginnings of B.C. Lee, and Samsung Sanghoe In Ep 2. We explain the political partnerships, and inter-family rivalry that shattered the original Samsung empire. In Ep 3. We meet Lee Kun-Hee, the 2nd generation Lee that would turn Samsung Electronics into the global behemoth that it is today. In Ep 4. We dive into the war on Sony for TVs (Bordeaux) and Apple on smartphones (Galaxy). In Ep 5. We continue exploring the smartphone wars, and Samsung's software gamble against Google (Android, Milk).

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