Samsung History

                                    SAMSUNG HISTORY

          On August 24, 2012, nine American jurors ruled that Samsung had to pay Apple $1.05 billion in damages for violating six of its patents on smartphone technology. The award was still less than the $2.5 billion requested by Apple. The decision also ruled that Apple did not violate five Samsung patents cited in the case. Samsung decried the decision saying that the move could harm innovation in the sector. It also followed a South Korean ruling stating that both companies were guilty of infringing on each other's intellectual property. In first trading after the ruling, Samsung shares on the Kospi index fell 7.7%, the largest fall since October 24, 2008, to 1,177,000 Korean won. Apple then sought to ban the sales of eight Samsung phones (Galaxy S 4 G, Galaxy S 2 AT&T, Galaxy S 2 Skyrocket, Galaxy S 2 T-Mobile, Galaxy  S 2 Epic 4 G, Galaxy S Showcase, Droid Charge and Galaxy Prevail) in the United States which has been denied by the court.

On September 4, 2012, Samsung announced that it plans to examine all of its Chinese suppliers for possible violations of labor policies. The company said it will carry out audits of 250 Chinese companies that are its exclusive suppliers to see if children under the age of 16 are being used in their factories.

In 2013, a New Zealand news outlet reported a number of Samsung washing machines spontaneously catching on fire.The corporation is expected to spend $14 billion on advertising and marketing in 2013, with publicity appearing in TV and cinema ads, on billboards and at sports and arts events. In November 2013, the corporation was valued at $227 billion.

In May 2014, Samsung announced it would be shutting down its streaming service on July 1, 2014, also meaning the end of the Samsung Music Hub app that typically comes installed on its Android phones.

On September 3, 2014, Samsung announced Gear V R, a virtual reality device in collaboration with Oculus V R and developed for the Galaxy Note 4.

In October 2014, Samsung announced a $14.7 billion investment to build a chip plant in South Korea. Construction will begin next year with production beginning in 2017. The company has not yet decided the type of chips to be produced.

In October 2014, Samsung also announced it would invest 633 billion South Korean won ($560 million USD) in the construction of a new 700,000 square meter production complex in Vietnam.

Samsung plans to launch a new set of services beginning early 2015. The goal of this new suite of business offerings, dubbed Samsung 360 Services, is to become a help desk of sorts for businesses IT departments. The customizable services range from technical support to security solutions for having a Samsung employee embedded in a client's business as an on-site support manager or technology consultant.

On December 2, 2014, Samsung announced it will sell Fiber Optics to U.S. speciality glass manufacturer Corning Inc.

Samsung Electronics Inc. is expanding in Silicon Valley with a $300 million facility in San Jose, California. The 10-story complex will include 1.1 million square feet of floor space, a clean room for semiconductors and a "fitness center in the sky". The facility will be split between semiconductor research and development and other sales and marketing functions. It will serve as the North America headquarters for semiconductor operations.

In 2015, Samsung has been granted more U.S. patents than any other company - including IBM, Google, Sony, Microsoft and Apple. The company received 7,679 utility patents through 11 December.

2016

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In January 2016, Samsung announced it will be working with Microsoft to develop IoT devices based on Windows 10, where the companies will work together to develop products that will run on the platform, as well as integrate with other companies developing hardware and services on Microsoft's OS.

Samsung released a fitness smartwatch called the Gear Fit 2 and a brand of wireless earbuds called Gear Icon X.

On 2 August 2016, Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Note  7 smartphone, which went on sale on 19 August 2016. However, in early September 2016, Samsung suspended sales of the phone and announced an informal recall. This occurred after some units of the phones had batteries with a defect that caused them to produce excessive heat, leading to fires and explosions. Samsung replaced the recalled units of the phones with a new version; however, it was later discovered that the new version of the Galaxy Note 7 also had the battery defect. Samsung recalled all Galaxy Note 7 smartphones worldwide on 10 October 2016, and permanently ended production of the phone the following day.

On 31 August 2016, Samsung announced the Gear S 3 smartwatch, which was released on 18 November 2016.