Samsung SWOT analysis 2015

Company Background
Name

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Logo

Industries
served

Consumer electronics (digital cameras, camcorders, TVs, blu-rays, laptops, home theaters,
displays, tablets)
Telecoms equipment (phones, smartphones)
Semiconductors (DRAM, V-NAND, SSD, UFC)
Home appliances (washers, refrigerators, microwaves, dishwashers, vacuums)[1]

Geographic
areas served

Worldwide (80 countries)[1]

Headquarters

Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea

Current CEO

Oh-Hyun Kwon

Revenue

228.692 trillion (2013) 13.71% increase over 201.103 trillion (2012)[1]

Profit

30.474 trillion (2013) 27.78% increase over 23.845 trillion (2012)[1]

Employees

326,000 (2014)

Main
Competitors

Apple Inc., Nokia OYJ, Intel Corporation, LG Display and LG Electronics, Sony
Corporation, Texas Instruments Inc., Lenovo Group Limited, Hewlett-Packard Company,
Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd., Toshiba Corporation, SK Hynix Inc., Western Digital Corporation
and many other companies in consumer electronics.

Business description
Samsung Electronics, Co., Ltd., a part of Samsung Group, is the worlds largest technology company by
revenues. The company produces consumer electronics, telecoms equipment, semiconductors and
home appliances. Samsung Electronics business is divided into three divisions:
Consumer electronics. Visual Display Business, Digital Appliances Business, Printing
Solutions Business and Health & Medical Equipment Business.
IT and Mobile communications. Mobile Communications Business and Networks Business.
Device solutions. Memory Business, System LSI Business and LED Business.
The company is the worlds largest mobile phone and smartphone vendor. It is the largest memory
chip maker and the largest TV manufacturer. Company operates in 80 countries, where it sells more
than 100 products.

Samsung SWOT 2015 Factors

Strengths
1. Very high R&D expenditure resulting in one of the strongest patent portfolios among
the technology companies. Innovation is the key in succeeding in the technology sector and
usually, the more a business spends on R&D the more innovations it creates. Samsung Electronics has
spent $10.4 billion for R&D in 2013, which was the 2nd largest amount spent for R&D in the world.[2]
R&D spending strongly correlates with the companys revenue growth and expansion into the new
product markets.
Figure 1. R&D spending by Samsung Electronics and its largest competitors
Company

2013
(billions)

Change from
2012

As a % of
revenues

2014
(billions)

Change from
2013

As a % of
revenues

Samsung
Electronics

$10.4

15.6%

5.8%

$13.4

28%

6.4%

Apple

$4.5

32%

2.6%

$6.0

35%

3.3%

Nokia

$6.1

-14.4%

15.8%

Microsoft

$9.8

8.5%

13.3%

$10.4

6.1%

13.4%

Intel

$10.1

21.5%

19%

$10.6

4.6%

20.1%

Google

$6.8

31.5%

13.5%

$8.0

17.1%

13.3%

LG

$2.1

23.7%

3.8%

$2.3

9.1%

3.9%

Sony

$5.7

9.3%

7%

Source: Strategy& [2][3]

Samsung invested the most in research in 2013 and 2014 and only Intel and Microsoft came close to
spending the same amount. Samsungs R&D budget was also used quite efficiently as the company
spent only 5.8% and 6.4% of its total revenues for R&D in 2013 and 2014, respectively.
Samsungs high R&D spending also resulted in the largest patent portfolio among its key rivals. The
flowing table shows the number of patents granted for each company in the U.S.
Figure 2. Utility patents granted in the U.S.
Company

2011

2012

2013

Samsung Electronics

4868

5043

4652

Apple

676

1136

1775

Nokia

585

605

610

Microsoft

2309

2610

2659

Intel

1244

1287

1454

Google

426

1151

1851

LG

1404

1617

1945

Sony

2265

3017

3073

Source: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office [4][5][6]

The more patents the company has, the better position it has to defend its innovations from being
copied by rivals. Currently, Samsung Electronics patents portfolio is one of the strongest in the
technology industry.
Both, R&D sending and patent portfolio, factors indicate Samsung Electronics strong competitive
position.

Reasons to buy this SWOT

Our team of analysts prepared this SWOT using their extensive knowledge about the company and
years of experience in writing the analyses. We know what is the most important to our readers (thanks
to your feedback), so we composed the SWOT with all the best qualities:
Up-to-date analysis. We published it in January 2015.
Well researched. We spent hours to research all the factors.
Comprehensive. All the factors are thoroughly explained.
Professional. It is prepared for presentations and assignments.
Referenced. We provide our sources so you can do your own research if needed.
Unique content. 12 pages explaining Samsung's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and
threats that you won't find anywhere else.