Essay on Samsung Electronics - Harvard Business School

From pioneering in memory DRAM semicon to exiting the low-margin DRAM market – Intel was primarily a Memory semicon manufacturer before it entered microprocessors in 1980s. Its added value in the memory industry in 1970s was very high because of its advances in MOS process to produce DRAM. However, with increase in competition and the advancement of Japanese conglomerates in the memory industry Intel was forced to play a chasing game to improve performance and reduce costs. In the mid-1980s, Intel’s market share in the core memory business was <1%, however it was continuing to invest in this domain. They finally exited the DRAM market, which was more of a cash burner with low-margins.

Third, Samsung created new uses for DRAM by outing its manufacturing and R&D in support of design firms (i.e., Rambus). Over the years, new DRAM products were launched which shared a common core design. This way, more DRAM chips were produced and sold, helping the company, not only to achieve larger economies of scale, but also to learn more about the market and its preferences.

This study seeks to examine the market structure and strategy of Samsung Company analyzing its micro-environmental level as well as SWOT analysis. In this regard, it is worth pointing out that Samsung is a well-established company. It manufactures different electronics products including home appliances and smartphones. It has been on the market since 1969. Its electronics division has 169 subsidiaries and affiliates, which are divided into three to include Consumer Electronics, Information Technology & Mobile Communications, and Device Solutions division (Samsung 2016, 2). In this precept, consumer Electronics focuses on advanced technology, exclusive design and significant offers for presenting new products such as TV, Refrigerator, Air Conditioner, and Medical equipment among other products. Information Technology & Mobile Communications division, on the other hand, produces mobile handset and customer friendly communication products. The Device Solutions in the same dictum division focuses on display pane and semiconductor products. The company has grown globally, and establishes outlets in different parts of the world, including the U.K.

In the modern world of technology, many different companies are attempting to secure their own ground in a particular market. Many companies work in many tech fields & some company focus on software, some on mobile phones, others on television but one of the most recognizable names in the technology field is that of Samsung.

The challenges faced by Samsung was of suitably shifting their product line, evaluating levels and distribution strategy, they also wanted to reposition their brand as a leading brand for the Canadian market.

By the end of 2012, Samsung electronics become the largest producer of televisions and mobile phone. In order to achieve the success and the dramatic rise in consumer electronics sector, the company initiated new methods to innovate and create high quality products .

In 2014 both Apple and Samsung sold a combined total of about 108.2 million units of their products! Samsung sold about 71 million units while on the other hand Apple sold 94.75 million units. For the past few years, the competing and comparison between Apple and Samsung was at its maximum. Fights started between people to prove an idea about which company is the best but they did not know that they were only comparing their smartphone. That is not the only thing a person should concentrate at while comparing two of the biggest multinationals in the world. People should look at the sales of all of the company’s products, their profits and losses, the history of the company, and the reviews of the people about their

Samsung is a multinational Korean electronics company engaged in designing, manufacturing and marketing mobile communication and other media devices, as well as related software, accessories and third-party applications. They are one of the most well-known electronic brands in the world. According to Mintel (2017), Samsung is still the world’s number one smartphone vendor and along with Apple they dominate the smartphone market with 66% of the market share. Samsung currently operates in relatively 84 countries and have hired more than 320 million employees working for them. In the recent period, it has been focusing on making products that help people lead a better and smarter lifestyle.

Intel excels at top-down innovation, where highly differentiated components and electronics command a high gross margin relative to competitors, enabling faster design wins with Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and development partners. This top-down innovation flow within Intel is so dominant, that the product design teams are significantly more productive than even the most advanced business process management teams (Segerstrom, 2007). Microprocessors and the follow-on Internet, networking, security and integrated motherboard products are all predicated on this top-down innovation cycle that leads to product line proliferation in Intel (Zimmerman, 2010). DRAMS were undifferentiated in structure, lacked industry standards that could create differentiated performance or compatibility based on adherence or alignment to standards or customer requirements (Nicholson, 1997). Intel chose to compete on the only other area of their core strength as a company, which is quality management and yield levels (Clark, Walz, Turner, Miszuk, 1993). Getting the yields for DRAMS to 60%, which for a brief period of time lead the global industry, only served to accelerate a very high level of commoditization in the industry (Voss, 1998).

Recent quality related issues have put Samsung Electronics, one of the world’s largest technology companies at risk. These quality concerns, spiked through recent recalls and external complaints, have generated a flow of bad news coming to the desk of quality director Kevin Sarni. The issues most commonly found within the complaints related to display issues, customer service support, faulty electric components, audio, and safety. Of the main issues, display and customer service support appeared to be the most detrimental. Once the patterns and themes became visible, Samsung and its quality director Kevin Sarni were challenged with immediately identifying root causes. This was

Company Background: Samsung is a South Korean multinational company those starting its business as a small trading company and right now becoming world largest corporation. The company deals with its business in several sectors such as advance technology, finance, petrochemical, semiconductors, plant construction, skyscraper, medicine, fashion, hotels, chemical and others. The company was established in 1969 in Suwon, South Korea and known globally for its electronic products (Kelly, 2011). The company is manufacturing several latest technologies, electronic appliances such as mobile phones, tablets, laptops, TVs, refrigerators, air conditioners, washers and other products. The company runs its operations and sales its products in 61 countries with approx 160,000 employees in all over the world (SAMSUNG, 2014). Moreover, the company acquired the position of the world biggest IT maker in 2009 by beating the Hewlett-Packard (HP) previous leader. Its sales revenue in the segment of LCD and LED is the highest in the world. Furthermore, Samsung also becomes world leader in the segment of tablets, mobile phones and gadgets.

plan. It is a plan which leads Samsung to be the top brand in the

Learning and experience Curve: Between 1983 and 1985, Samsung allocated more than $100 million in into DRAM technology, even paying another firm to teach them how to produce 64k DRAMs. As the market grew, firms tried to catch up to where Samsung already had a foothold. To further make advancements efficiently, Samsung has had separate R&amp;D groups compete within their company to come up with the same solution.

Samsung Electronics Corp. is one of the world’s major semiconductor manufacturers and is the largest information technology company in the world. SEC manufactures almost all kinds of consumer devices, which include mobile phones, tablets, DVD players, digital TVs, digital still cameras; computers. It also manufactures color monitors, LCD panels, printers; semiconductors such as DRAMs, static RAMs and flash memories. The company, which is the flagship of Samsung Group is also into making display drivers & communication devices ranging from wireless handsets and Smart-phones to networking gear.

From the three main activities, Samsung Electronics is the one that can compete with other leading brands. Initially that making Samsung’s products are on the rise is the development of 256K dynamic random access memory (DRAM) computer chip and a VLSI (very large scale integration) version of the 64K DRAM chip. By the turn of the millennium, the company’s successful introduction of leading-edge products such as mobile phones, MP3 players, digital televisions and personal digital assistants (PDAs).