The History of Samsung Mobile Phones
Although its line of sparkling smartphones seems fresh and new, Samsung Mobile has been around since 1983. Samsung Mobile's parent company, Samsung Electronics, was founded in 1969. Once known for its televisions and other home appliances, Samsung recently eclipsed heavyweights Sony Ericsson and Motorola as one of the biggest cell phone manufacturers in the world.
A Rough Beginning
Samsung Mobile's first ever offering was a car phone it introduced in 1986. Because of poor reception and sales, manufacturing was halted. From this point until the early 1990s, Samsung Mobile would introduce mobile phone models, but sales were low because demand was low. The designs of these early attempts were bulky, and reception was poor. With Motorola holding a sizable advantage over the rest of a fledgling mobile phone field, Samsung nearly dropped its Mobile division.
Turning Point
In 1993, Samsung Mobile released the SH-700 series, which boasted a smaller and sleeker design and better sound quality. With a better product and a more aggressive marketing campaign, Samsung would reclaim more than half the mobile phone market share in Korea from Motorola.
The Global Market
Samsung cell phones found its way into American hands for the first time in 1996, when they partnered with Sprint on a line of sleek and compact phones. A few short years later, South America and Japan were enjoying the high-end design of Samsung Mobile phones.
Samsung Mobile Today
In early 2009, Samsung Mobile's global market share stood at more than 17 percent, second only to Nokia. In the 3rd quarter of 2008, for the first time in its history, Samsung Mobile shipped more than 50 million handsets in a quarter--despite a global recession.
Samsung Facts
Lee Byung-chull founded Samsung Group in 1938, naming the start-up company a Korean word which translates to "three stars" in English.
Samsung Mobile enjoys agreements with major cell phone service providers such as T-Mobile, AT&T, Sprint and Verizon Wireless.
In early 2009, Samsung Mobile and T-Mobile introduced the Memoir, a cell phone with a "Best in Class" 8-Megapixel camera.
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