Samsung Telecommunications America General LLC history

The company grew and expanded to Seoul in 1947 but left when the Korean War broke out.

Samsung first entered the electronics industry in 1969 with several electronics-focused divisions.

In 1970, Samsung-Sanyo produced its first black and white TVs and expanded its reach into shipbuilding, petrochemicals, and aircraft engines.

By 1974, Samsung Heavy Industries was one of the largest shipbuilders in the world.

Separate semiconductor and electronics branches were established, and in 1978 an aerospace division was created.

In 1980, Samsung entered the telecommunications hardware industry with the purchase of Hanguk Jeonja Tongsin.

In 1982, Samsung Printing Solutions was founded.

The following year, the company started producing personal computers, and in 1984 Samsung's sales reached one trillion won.

Samsung Data Systems (now Samsung SDS) was established in 1985 to serve businesses’ growing need for systems development.

Lee Byung-Chull died in 1987 and was succeeded by his son Lee Kun-Hee.

Despite its success, those years also brought about corporate scandals that afflicted the company, including multiple patent-infringement suits and bribery cases. (In one such case, Lee Kun-Hee was found guilty in 1996 of bribing former president Roh Tae-Woo.

Despite the 1997 financial crisis that affected nearly all Korean businesses, Samsung Electronics was one of the few companies that continued growing, thanks to its leadership in digital and network technologies and its steady concentration on electronics, finances and related services.

Samsung Ventures was founded in 1999 to invest in startup companies focusing on many of Samsung's core services.

Samsung entered the phone market with the SPH-1300, an early touch-screen prototype released in 2001.

The company also developed the first speech-recognition phone in 2005.

Since 2006 the company has been the top-selling global manufacturer of televisions.

In April 2008 Lee was indicted on charges of breach of trust and tax evasion as a part of a scheme, and shortly thereafter he resigned as chairman of Samsung.

In March 2010 Samsung Group executives made Lee Kun-Hee the head of Samsung Electronics, the conglomerate’s largest division.

The year 2012 also marked Samsung becoming the world's largest mobile phone maker and the acquisition of mSpot to provide entertainment to Samsung device users.

In September 2014, Samsung announced the Gear VR, a virtual reality device developed for use with the Galaxy Note 4.

By 2015, Samsung had more United States patents approved than any other company, with more than 7,500 utility patents granted before the end of the year.

Lee Jae-Yong was sentenced to prison in 2017 for bribing former president Park Geun-Hye.

He served one year and was released in 2018 when his sentence was suspended.