Samsung opens ‘innovation museum’

SUWON ― Samsung Electronics said Monday that it will open the Samsung Innovation Museum (SIM) at its headquarters in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, on Thursday.

The company said that the opening of the museum, the first of its kind in the industry, symbolizes the company’s tireless commitment to innovation.

“The history of the electronics industry is like a map that shows human challenges and a zeal for finding new values,” said Kwon Oh-hyun, vice chairman at Samsung Electronics in a statement, Monday.

“Inside the museum, visitors can read about the technology companies’ consistent efforts to find new things. Samsung hopes that visitors share its vision and management philosophy,” he added.

The 10,950-square meter museum at the center of Suwon on the outskirts of Seoul, also known as Digital City, has five sections and houses what the company describes as a “composite of historical assets.”

The museum is part of Samsung’s $11 billion global investment into research and development. Samsung plans to expand into new business areas.

Samsung is the first company to establish a museum that not just showcases its products but also provides a history of the global consumer electronics industry, said another Samsung official to The Korea Times.

The first three exhibition rooms in the museum describe the history of the electronics industry and display some 150 historical products such as light bulbs invented by Thomas Edison, transistor radios and TVs.

They also outline the developments in the last 100 years of some of the world’s largest technology firms such as Siemens, AT&T, Philips, General Electric and NEC.

The Samsung Digital History Room shows how the company grows and develops its key businesses and tackles challenges at major milestones. It also has a small theater that shows a 10-minute video about the company’s past, present and future technologies.

“Samsung is committed to investing in new things. There’s no doubt that technologies will evolve and develop, and we aim to expand our contributions to the global community. Things will get better and life will get easier as technologies improve,” said the Samsung official.

The museum is open to the public Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 6 p.m. without reservations.

From Monday to Friday, it is open only to visitors who make reservations, which are available from today. Reservations for weekdays can be made via the museum’s website, www.samsunginnovationmuseum.com.

Samsung Electronics is the world’s largest electronics company in terms of annual revenue and the No. 1 mobile phone manufacturer. As a global industry leader, it constantly faces pressure to develop innovative products.

According to Samsung officials, it is doing everything it can to be recognized as an innovator, not just as a fast follower, a strategy that Samsung has pursued in the last few decades.

The firm is gradually cutting its reliance on its component-related businesses and has been focusing more on its software and content businesses.

However, critics say Samsung has yet to see positive results from its non-hardware businesses.

“Establishing a media solutions center in Korea, opening an innovation center in Silicon Valley, hiring more international talent and acquiring software companies that own competitive patents are part of Samsung’s strategy to transform from ‘Samsung 1.0’ to ‘Samsung 2.0.’ That will be painful and costly, but that’s the path that it should go,” said another Samsung official, who declined to be named.

“We recognize that future trends demand the ever-increasing integration of hardware and software. Opening the museum is a strategic milestone in realizing our ambition to deliver rapid innovations that make technology available to everyone,” said a senior Samsung executive, who also asked not to be named. By Kim Yoo-chul The korea times займ безработным без отказа на киви