As of , [update] Samsung has the world's fifth-highest brand value. Samsung was founded by Lee Byung-chul in as a trading company. Over the next three decades, the group diversified into areas including food processing, textiles, insurance, securities, and retail.
Samsung entered the electronics industry in the late s and the construction and shipbuilding industries in the mids; these areas would drive its subsequent growth. The three stands for something big, numerous and powerful , [ 13 ] while stars stands for everlasting or eternal.
Samsung started out as a small trading company with forty employees located in Su-dong now Ingyo-dong. When the Korean War broke out, he was forced to leave Seoul. He started a sugar refinery in Busan named Cheil Jedang. In , Lee founded Cheil Mojik , a textiles company, and built the first plant in Chimsan-dong, Daegu. It was the largest woollen mill in the country at the time of construction.
Samsung diversified into various areas as Lee aimed to establish the company as a leader across multiple industries. The business expanded into sectors such as insurance, securities, and retail. After a few years, Cho and Lee separated due to differences in management style. Cho wanted a 30 equity share. In the late s, Samsung Group entered the electronics industry. Its first product was a black-and-white television set. In , Samsung acquired the Gumi -based Hanguk Jeonja Tongsin and entered telecommunications hardware.
Its early products were switchboards. The facility was developed into the telephone and fax manufacturing systems and became the center of Samsung's mobile phone manufacturing. They have produced over million mobile phones to date. Today these separated groups are independent and they are not part of or connected to the Samsung Group. One Shinsegae department store executive director said, "Shinsegae has no payment guarantees associated with the Samsung Group".
