The world's biggest chipmaker, Samsung Electronics, on Friday commemorated its 50th anniversary at Samsung Digital City, its headquarters in Suwon.<br />Kim Hyesung reports.<br />90 billion U.S .dollars in exports last year, number six in global brand value, number one in goods including TVs and smartphones.<br />Samsung Electronics, South Korea's tech giant marked its 50th anniversary on Friday.<br />At the ceremony held at Samsung Digital City attended by hundreds of employees and the heads of company divisions, Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, the company's de facto leader, through a video message, thanked Samsung employees for their dedication... and emphasized the company's commitment to build on its legacy and make it to a hundred.<br />He added that Samsung will contribute to global society through innovative technologies, pointing to innovation, change and social contribution as three key goals heading forward.<br />Founded in 1969, the company started with just 36 employees producing black and white TVs, but has since grown into a global powerhouse.<br />Innovation and challenge has been the driving force of Samsung Electronics, which entered the semiconductor business in 1983.<br />Chairman Lee Kun-hee in 1993 famously told employees to "Change everything, except for your wives and your children" to improve its electronics products.<br />Since then, Samsung Electronics started producing mobile phones.<br />Its TVs, refrigerators and semiconductors now top the global markets.<br />As of 2019, Samsung's exports increased from 100 million dollars in 1979 to 90 billion dollars last year, accounting for around 15 percent of Korea's total exports.<br />Sales hit 208 billion dollars last year.<br />Despite the firm's success, Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, the only son of Chairman Lee Kun-hee, faces numerous challenges including the on-going U.S.-China trade dispute, the need to find new growth engines and a retrial on corruption charges that landed him in prison in 2017.<br />In April, Vice Chairman Lee unveiled plans to become world's number one in non-memory chips by investing a total of 116 billion dollars by 2030.<br />Kim Hyesung, Arirang News.<br /><br />
