Samsung Started as a Grocery Store. The Phone in Your Pocket Is Built by a Noodle and Fish Business Founded in 1938.
From dried fish and noodles to semiconductors and smartphones — the unlikely 84-year journey of Samsung from a small grocery store to a global tech giant.
The Real Problem
In 1938 Korea, Lee Byung-Chull saw that his country needed basic goods. In 2026, Samsung provides the chips that power the global digital economy.
IMPACT: A company that started trading dried fish now manufactures 20% of the world's smartphones and 15% of its memory chips.
The Unsung Heroes
Lee Byung-Chull
Founder
Started Samsung as a grocery trading company with 40 employees and $2,500 in capital. His vision: 'We will become a company that contributes to humanity.'
Lee Kun-Hee
Chairman (1987-2020)
Transformed Samsung from a mid-tier electronics maker into a global powerhouse with the 'New Management' initiative — focusing on quality and design.
Key Takeaways
- •Started in 1938 as a grocery trading company with $2,500
- •Entered electronics in 1969 — 31 years after selling fish and noodles
- •Lee Kun-Hee's 1987 'New Management' initiative transformed quality and design
- •Now manufactures 20% of world's smartphones and 15% of memory chips
Root Connection
Samsung's journey from a Daegu grocery store in 1938 to the world's largest smartphone manufacturer is a masterclass in reinvention — and a reminder that every tech giant starts somewhere humble.
Timeline
Lee Byung-Chull founds Samsung Sanghoe as a grocery trading company in Daegu, Korea — 40 employees, $2,500 capital
Samsung enters sugar refining — first diversification beyond groceries
Samsung-Sanyo Electronics founded — entry into consumer electronics
Samsung acquires 50% of Korea Semiconductor — begins chip manufacturing
Samsung starts producing personal computers
Lee Kun-Hee becomes chairman, launches 'New Management' quality initiative
World's first CDMA digital mobile phone developed
Samsung surpasses Sony as world's largest consumer electronics maker
Galaxy S3 becomes best-selling Android phone — Samsung vs. Apple begins
Samsung becomes world's largest smartphone manufacturer
Samsung overtakes Intel as world's largest semiconductor company
Samsung: #1 in smartphones, #1 in memory chips, #1 in TVs — all from a grocery store root
On March 1, 1938, in the city of Daegu, Korea, a 28-year-old entrepreneur named Lee Byung-Chull opened a small trading company. He had 40 employees and $2,500 in capital. His business? Selling dried fish, noodles, and other groceries.
He called it Samsung Sanghoe — 'Samsung' meaning 'three stars' in Korean, symbolizing something 'big, numerous, and powerful.'
No one could have imagined how big.
We started by selling what people needed: food, clothing, basic goods. Then we asked: what will people need next? The answer was always: more, better, faster.
For the first three decades, Samsung was a trading company. It sold what Korea needed: food, textiles, basic goods. But Lee Byung-Chull had bigger ambitions.
In 1951, Samsung entered sugar refining. In 1954, wool manufacturing. In 1958, life insurance. The pattern was clear: identify an industry, master it, then move to the next.
The grocery store taught us distribution. Electronics taught us manufacturing. Semiconductors taught us the future.
The real transformation came in 1969, when Samsung partnered with Sanyo to form Samsung-Sanyo Electronics. This was Samsung's entry into consumer electronics — black-and-white TVs, calculators, refrigerators.
But Lee Byung-Chull saw something bigger than consumer goods. He saw the future in semiconductors.
In 1974, Samsung acquired a 50% stake in Korea Semiconductor. This was the bet that would define the company's future. Chips were the foundation of the digital revolution.
The breakthrough came under Lee Byung-Chull's son, Lee Kun-Hee, who became chairman in 1987. He launched the 'New Management' initiative — a relentless focus on quality and design. Samsung products would no longer be cheap knockoffs. They would be premium.
In 1993, Samsung developed the world's first CDMA digital mobile phone. In 1999, it launched its first MP3 player. In 2007, it introduced the first Android smartphone.
The Galaxy S series, launched in 2010, was the turning point. With the Galaxy S3 in 2012, Samsung became the world's largest smartphone manufacturer — a title it still holds in 2026.
But Samsung's real power isn't in smartphones. It's in semiconductors. In 2020, Samsung overtook Intel as the world's largest semiconductor company. Today, Samsung manufactures 15% of the world's memory chips — the chips that power everything from smartphones to data centers.
From dried fish to memory chips. From a Daegu grocery store to a global technology empire. The root is humble. The result is extraordinary.
Every time you use a Samsung phone, remember: it's built by a company that started selling noodles 84 years ago. That's the power of reinvention.
How did this make you feel?
Recommended Gear
View all →Disclosure: Some links on this page may be affiliate links. If you make a purchase through these links, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only recommend products we genuinely believe in.
Framework Laptop 16
The modular, repairable laptop that lets you upgrade every component. The right-to-repair movement in action.
Flipper Zero
Multi-tool for pentesters and hardware hackers. RFID, NFC, infrared, GPIO — all in your pocket.
The Innovators by Walter Isaacson
The untold story of the people who created the computer, internet, and digital revolution. Essential tech history.
reMarkable 2 Paper Tablet
E-ink tablet that feels like writing on real paper. No distractions, no notifications — just thinking.
Keep Reading
Want to dig deeper? Trace any technology back to its origins.
Start Research