Samsung Elec. chairman to attend product comparison event

In February 1993, then Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee looked serious at a large event hall in a Los Angeles hotel. Executives of the conglomerate`s electronics affiliates said nothing and hanged their heads down.

On display in front of them were dozens of home appliances including VCRs, TVs, refrigerators and air conditioners produced not only by Samsung but also by global rivals such as Sony, Toshiba and Whirlpool.

Chairman Lee organized this event after expressing shock over dust-covered Samsung products abandoned on the corner of an electronics goods store in Los Angles one month ago.

He disassembled the products of rival companies and said, “The price of our VCR is 30 percent lower than Toshiba’s though ours has 30 percent more parts than the latter’s. How can our products win the competition?”

Lee also warned Samsung executives against complacency, saying, “Don’t be satisfied with being the runner-up.”

The biennial event, the predecessor to Samsung’s famous “Comparative Exhibition for Advanced Products,” is intended to compare Samsung’s products with those of its rivals and has served as one of the driving forces behind Samsung’s growth.

Lee’s warning that day was followed by his “New Management Declaration” in Frankfurt, Germany, in June the same year. His demand to change everything in his organization except for wives and children has drastically changed the corporate culture of Samsung Electronics.

On this, Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Choi Ji-sung said last year, “The L.A. event and the Frankfurt declaration serve as catalysts to Samsung’s transformation.”

Since then, the company has held the event in Korea after naming it the Comparative Exhibition for Advanced Products. In the event, Samsung has made thorough analyses of its products including home appliances, mobile phones, semiconductors and LCDs items by comparing them with those of competitors.

This year’s event will run from Monday through July 29 at Samsung Digital City in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province.

Samsung affiliates and the electronics industry are showing interest in the exhibition, not to mention other sectors in Korea. This is because Lee will attend the event for the first time in four years.

Chairman Lee has attended every exhibition except that held in 2009. With Pyeongchang`s successful bid to host for the 2018 Winter Olympics, he is expected to focus his energy on management.

foryou@donga.com