14 DAY TRIAL // The smartphone business is an ever-changing industry that recorded some of the biggest fails (Nokia, BlackBerry), but also some of the most impressive rises for companies that not many had heard before (Xiaomi, Meizu).
Since Nokia’s dominance in the mobile phone market crumbled to dust, many companies have tried to take its position as number one, world’s largest mobile phone vendor.
After a fierce struggle with Apple and other major handset makers, that position has been taken away by Samsung, as the South Korean company has shipped the highest amount of mobile phones in the last couple of years.
Another major player in the smartphone business, LG, has been flirting with world’s top five largest handset makers for quite some time but never got too close to Samsung.
It all started with the Korea vs. Japan industrialization race
The main force that is driving Samsung and LG to make everything in their power to the best in everything they do is their aversion for Japanese companies.
Koreans have been living for a long time under Japanese rule in the last 100 years, which is why the relations between the two countries reached abysmal levels after the end of the Second World War.
After American and Soviet forces liberated Korea from Imperial Japanese rule in 1945, the country was split in two, each being ruled by separate governments and economic systems supported by the two major forces.
The irony is that while the industrialization of Korea started when the country was still independent, it was accelerated under Japanese occupation. However, the foreign rulership utilized the advantages of the industrialization for its own benefits. Basically, Koreans were exploited in their own country by the Japanese leadership.
Soon after Korea regained its independence in 1945, it becomes a matter of honor to repay Japan in full for what they did during the last two world wars.
Naturally, as another conflict was out of the question, the perfect answer was to beat Japan where they would be hurt more. The industrialization race has begun soon after the end of World War II, and it took Korea many decades to outpace Japan.
Not long ago we praised Sony’s amazing TVs and smartphones, but now they are just niche products bought by nostalgic customers and fans of the brand, as both Samsung and LG have become more popular among customers.
Although Korean companies raced against Japan’s giant, Sony, for many years, it was only recently that they have managed to come on top.
Samsung and LG methodically monopolize various industry key sectors
Samsung systematically invested in various industries and brought them all on top, but the process was slow and unnoticeable to the untrained eye. Once Samsung’s become one of the largest TV makers, the Korean company turned its focus to the smartphone industry.
Samsung is now the world’s largest mobile vendor and will soon become the biggest provider of home audio accessories. Not to mention that the Korean company is now the most important mobile display manufacturer on the market. It has recently become a major player in the mobile chipset industry having partnered with Qualcomm for the manufacture of Snapdragon 820 SoC.
On the other hand, LG has tried to keep up with its bigger brother, Samsung. LG Display has come up with an ingenious solution for the smartphone market and is one of the most important innovators in the mobile display industry.
Just like Samsung, LG has managed to attain leadership in the TV industry with some of its products. The company’s TVs are selling even better than Samsung’s in many countries.
Although it dropped a few positions in the top 5 world’s largest mobile phone manufacturers, LG is determined to gain more market share in the top-tier segment with the launch of LG G5, one of the most innovative devices released in the last couple of years.
However, Samsung and LG will never compete against each other in the smartphone market. The Galaxy S7 and G5 are completely different products that target different customer categories. The pattern can be easily applied to all previous flagships launched by the Korean companies.
Even though Sony Mobile has come up with a new Xperia X series in an attempt to resuscitate its smartphone business, Samsung and LG are likely to crush this attempt in its infancy.
China might be a tough nut to crack
While racing Sony for supremacy in smartphone and TV industry, Samsung and LG got very close to top positions in many areas. Now that Sony is out of the way, a shadow of what the Japanese company once was several years ago, the only competitor for Samsung and LG is the rest of the world.
Since Japan has been brought to its knees, Korea is now turning its fangs to China, which is a much-harder-to-get prey. Companies like Huawei, Xiaomi, and Lenovo are well established in the Mainland, whereas Samsung and LG have yet to penetrate this market with their products.
But the world is big and Korean companies seem to be more interested in global domination rather than in attaining leadership in just one country, even if China might be the largest market in the world.
So how’s the “Rest of the World” going to fare against the Korean onslaught? I believe that’s a question we won’t be able to answer for the next several years since this is going to be a long fight. Let’s just hope that the competition will be beneficial for us and that this race for supremacy will bring many technological advancements with positive effects on humanity.