Samsung Innovation Museum | The history of Samsung Electronics
The History Hall at Samsung Innovation Museum is where you can follow the footsteps of Samsung Electronics at a glance! we will show you how Samsung Electronics became a global company in the 1990s and 2000s. First, let’s take a look at the 1990s. On June 7th, 1993, Chairman Kun-Hee Lee announced the quality-oriented management in Frankfurt, Germany. It was the ‘New Management Initiative’. After being shocked to see Samsung Electronics’ products collecting dust in the corner of consumer electronics stores in L.A., the chairman made a shift toward quality-oriented management.
After the announcement of the New Management Initiative, Samsung Electronics began to introduce products that fit into Korean lifestyles and values in response to the market opening in the 1990s. A microwave oven that could barbecue and cook Doenjang-jjigae (soybean paste stew) and fish. A floor mop that could vacuum and mop. A washing machine that could boil laundry as the traditional way. Samsung Electronics has strengthened its position in the domestic market with Korean-style home appliances.
Samsung Electronics also implemented the ‘World’s Best Luxury Product’ policy and began to grow as a global company, developing products that achieved world-class standards. In 1992, Samsung Electronics surprised the world. Samsung Electronics succeeded in developing the world’s first 64M DRAM within 9 years of its VLSI business. Samsung Electronics, a company ranking top in the DRAM market also ranked top in the memory semiconductor market in 1993. The 256M DRAM and the ‘Dream Semiconductor’ 1G DRAM.
Samsung Electronics continued to develop the world’s first products. In a time when foreign markets were leading the semiconductor industry, Samsung Electronics began to be acknowledged as a global leader. In the 1990s, environmental awareness began to rise. However, not many changes were made in the computer business. Samsung Electronics took the first step forward. In 1993, the launch of the ‘Green Computer’ with energy-saving technology completely changed the game in the domestic PC market. The Green Computer was the first product to keep the noise level to below 20 decibels, which is equivalent to the quietness in a forest.
It was also the first product that automatically switched to sleep mode when it was not in use to reduce power consumption. It was a product that reflected the rising social awareness of the environment. The brand name ‘Anycall’ meant that one can make and receive calls anytime and anywhere. I recall the time when the brand name rose to prominence. It was a mobile phone that Samsung Electronics developed to reclaim the domestic mobile phone market from foreign companies.
Samsung Electronics offered the best call quality anytime and anywhere with a mobile phone suitable for South Korea’s mountainous terrain. The mobile business followed the success of the semiconductor business. Within the first 10 months of launching the brand ‘Anycall’, Samsung Electronics was reborn as a major player in the era of smartphones, leading the global market. ‘Finding the hidden 1-inch!’ The Myungpum plus One TV was the epitome of Samsung Electronics’ ambition to make the world’s best product in the TV business.
Until the 1990s, because of the CRT TV size and picture shaking problem, people had to watch a picture smaller than its broadcasted size. Samsung Electronics set out to find this lost TV screen. It was a small difference. However, Samsung Electronics was determined to find it and give it back to customers. The conventional aspect ratio is 4:3. In comparison, the Myungpum Plus One TV had a 12.8:9 aspect ratio which made it horizontally long. It was a new television standard that didn’t exist at the time. In doing so, consumers around the world now enjoy the uncut and clear screen that was 1-inch wider than the previous models.
The premium side-by-side Zipel refrigerator was Samsung Electronics’ world’s best product in the refrigerator category. It was a high-end brand that was launched to recapture the large-capacity refrigerator market that had been dominated by foreign companies. It adopted the side-by-side design that had been recognized as an expensive foreign product’s feature, placing a freezer on the left and a fridge on the right.
The product was also popular for preventing food odors from mixing by installing separate coolers in the freezer and fridge compartments. The brand name ‘ZIPEL’ was inspired by the German word ‘Gipfel’, which means ‘Summit’. The name suggests ‘Zero defect, Intelligent, Prestige, Elegant, and Lifestyle’. Samsung Electronics continues to pursue innovations to reflect evolving lifestyles by launching personalized home appliances. In the 2000s, Samsung Electronics took on creative challenges to become a global leader.