Company Bytes · Episode 3 · Company Bytes · Season 1 · It started as something else
Samsung's Noodle Start
Samsung began in 1938 as Samsung Sanghoe, a small trading company in Daegu, Korea, founded by Lee Byung-chul. With about 40 employees, it traded dried fish, local groceries and noodles. The head office moved to Seoul in 1947, and Samsung entered electronics in the late 1960s.
A small shop in Daegu
In 1938, Lee Byung-chul founded Samsung Sanghoe in Daegu, a city in Korea. It was a small trading company with about 40 employees. Sources give the size as roughly forty, so we say "about 40" rather than an exact number.
What a trading company does
A trading company doesn't have to make anything itself. It buys goods and sells them on. Samsung Sanghoe traded dried fish, locally grown groceries and noodles. Our video shows this as crates going into a shop and coming out the other side, drawn as our own simple art.
A move to the capital
In 1947, the company's head office moved to Seoul, the capital. On the map, Seoul is north-west of Daegu. Our map of Korea is simplified, and shows no modern borders because the story is set in 1938 to 1947.
Into electronics
In the late 1960s, Samsung entered a brand new business: electronics. From 1938 to the late 1960s is about thirty years, a big jump from a shop trading fish and noodles. We keep this part general on purpose and leave the details of the later years for another day.
Try it yourself
Pick a company you use every day and find out what it sold first. Was it the same kind of thing it sells now, or something completely different? Then work out how many years it took to make the switch: for Samsung, it was about thirty.
Good to know
- Lee Byung-chul founded Samsung Sanghoe in Daegu in 1938 as a small trading company.
- It had about 40 employees (an approximate figure, not an exact count) and traded dried fish, locally grown groceries and noodles.
- The head office moved to Seoul in 1947.
- Samsung entered the electronics industry in the late 1960s; "about thirty years" counts from 1938 to then.
- The video does not explain the meaning of the name, which isn't in our listed facts.
- All artwork in the video is our own. No logos, product designs or brand lettering are shown. Byte Sized Academy is not affiliated with or endorsed by any company mentioned.
Your take
Would you trust a phone from a company that started with noodles? There's no wrong answer. Tell us what you think of Samsung's story, from dried fish and noodles to electronics, in the comments.
Sources
- Wikipedia, "Samsung": Lee Byung-chul founding Samsung Sanghoe in Daegu in 1938 as a trading company of about 40 employees dealing in dried fish, local groceries and noodles; the move to Seoul in 1947; and the move into electronics in the late 1960s
Video transcript
Samsung's first products were dried fish and noodles. So how did a grocery trader end up in electronics?
In 1938, Lee Byung-chul started a small trading company in Daegu, Korea. He called it Samsung Sanghoe.
It was a small business, with about forty employees. They traded dried fish, local groceries and noodles, buying goods and selling them on.
In 1947, the company's head office moved to the capital, Seoul.
Then, in the late 1960s, Samsung entered a brand new business: electronics.
From a small shop trading fish and noodles to making electronics, in only about thirty years.
Would you trust a phone from a company that started with noodles? Comment below!
That's your byte.