# Is Samsung Korean or Japanese? (And Is It Chinese?)

URL: https://upfour.online/explained/is-samsung-korean-or-japanese
Category: Explained
Tags: samsung, south korea, company, history
Published: August 28, 2026
Last updated: August 28, 2026

**Short answer:** Samsung is South Korean. It was founded in Daegu, Korea in 1938 by Lee Byung-chul, and Samsung Electronics is headquartered in Suwon, South Korea. It is not Japanese and not Chinese.

Samsung is **South Korean**. Not Japanese, not Chinese. It is one of the most recognisable companies in South Korea and, by some measures, the largest.

> **Why the confusion is so common**
>
> Sony, Panasonic and Toshiba defined consumer electronics for decades, so "big Asian electronics brand" still reads as Japanese to a lot of people out of pure habit.
> Samsung has been Korean-owned, Korean-headquartered and Korean-managed since 1938, when it started out selling dried fish and noodles. The electronics came thirty years later.

## The basic facts

| | |
|---|---|
| **Country** | South Korea |
| **Founded** | 1938, in Daegu |
| **Founder** | Lee Byung-chul |
| **Headquarters** | Samsung Digital City, Suwon, South Korea |
| **Electronics arm** | Samsung Electronics, founded 1969 |

The name itself is Korean: *samsung* (삼성) means "three stars".

## From groceries to semiconductors

Samsung did not begin as an electronics company. Lee Byung-chul founded it in 1938 as a trading business dealing in dried fish, vegetables and noodles, exporting to Manchuria and Beijing.

It expanded through textiles, insurance, retail and shipbuilding across the following decades. **Samsung Electronics was established in 1969**, initially making black-and-white televisions. Semiconductors followed in the 1970s and 1980s, and that decision — to invest heavily in memory chips — is what eventually made Samsung a global technology company rather than a regional conglomerate.

Today Samsung Electronics is among the world's largest manufacturers of smartphones, televisions and memory chips simultaneously, which is an unusual combination.

## Why people think Samsung is Japanese

Several reasons, and none of them unreasonable at first glance:

- **Sony, Panasonic, Toshiba and Sharp** dominated consumer electronics for decades, so "big Asian electronics brand" reads as Japanese by habit.
- Samsung competes directly with Sony in televisions and image sensors, so the two are mentally filed together.
- Korea and Japan are geographic neighbours and are frequently conflated by people unfamiliar with either.
- Samsung's early growth was influenced by Japanese industrial practice, and Lee Byung-chul studied in Japan.

But Samsung has always been Korean-owned, Korean-headquartered and Korean-managed.

## Why people think Samsung is Chinese

Usually because of manufacturing:

- Many electronics are assembled in China, so people assume Samsung's are too. In fact **Samsung closed its last Chinese phone factory in 2019** — its phones are built mainly in Vietnam and India. See [where Samsung phones are made](/explained/where-are-samsung-phones-made).
- Chinese brands such as Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo and Huawei occupy the same shelf space, and the brands blur together.
- Some Samsung components — LCD panels in particular — are bought from Chinese suppliers.

Samsung is not Chinese, is not Chinese-owned, and no longer assembles phones or TVs in China.

## Is Samsung the same as LG?

No. Both are South Korean, both are large conglomerates, and both make phones, TVs and appliances — but they are entirely separate, competing companies with different owners and different founders.

LG was founded by Koo In-hwoi in 1947, nine years after Samsung. The two are direct rivals. See [are LG and Samsung the same company](/explained/are-lg-and-samsung-the-same-company).

## What "Samsung" actually covers

Samsung is a *chaebol* — a large Korean family-controlled conglomerate — and the electronics arm is only part of it. The Samsung Group also includes:

- **Samsung Electronics** — phones, TVs, appliances, semiconductors
- **Samsung Display** — OLED and LCD panels, including panels sold to competitors
- **Samsung Heavy Industries** — shipbuilding
- **Samsung C&T** — construction and engineering; built the Burj Khalifa and Petronas Towers
- **Samsung Life Insurance** — one of Korea's largest insurers
- **Samsung Biologics** — pharmaceutical manufacturing

This breadth is why Samsung's revenue represents a significant share of South Korea's total economic output — a level of concentration with few parallels among developed economies.

## Who owns Samsung today?

Samsung Electronics is publicly traded on the Korea Exchange. There is no single owner. The Lee family retains significant influence through a web of cross-holdings between group companies, and Lee Jae-yong — grandson of the founder — serves as Executive Chairman. Large institutional investors, including Korea's National Pension Service and international funds, hold substantial stakes.

## Where Samsung products are made

Being a Korean company does not mean Korean manufacturing:

- **Phones** — mainly Vietnam and India, some South Korea and Brazil
- **TVs** — Mexico, Hungary, Slovakia, Vietnam, India
- **Semiconductors** — South Korea, with major fabs in the United States
- **Displays** — South Korea and Vietnam

Design, engineering and corporate control remain in South Korea; assembly follows cost and proximity to market like every other global manufacturer.

## In short

Samsung is **South Korean**, founded in **1938** in **Daegu** by **Lee Byung-chul**, and headquartered in **Suwon**. It is not Japanese, not Chinese, and not related to LG beyond being a competitor in the same country.

## Frequently asked questions

### Is Samsung a Korean or Japanese company?

Samsung is South Korean. It was founded in Daegu, Korea in 1938 by Lee Byung-chul, and Samsung Electronics is headquartered in Suwon, South Korea. It has never been Japanese.

### Is Samsung a Chinese company?

No. Samsung is South Korean and is not Chinese-owned. It closed its last Chinese smartphone factory in 2019 and now builds phones mainly in Vietnam and India.

### Who owns Samsung?

Samsung Electronics is publicly traded with no single owner. The founding Lee family retains major influence through cross-holdings between group companies, and Lee Jae-yong serves as Executive Chairman.

### What does the name Samsung mean?

Samsung (삼성) is Korean for three stars. The company was named by founder Lee Byung-chul when he established it as a trading business in 1938.

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