Customer Reviews

Sony vs Samsung: The Inside Story of the Electronics Giants' Battle For Global Supremacy

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A great, easy read on business history, which spells out the vast differences between two seemingly similar electronics firms. It also brings a greater understanding as to how Samsung Electronics, being such a late starter and technologically handicapped competitor, came to become a world leader in Display and Mobile technologies with the help of digitalization.

The book outlines the organizations' differences across several dimensions. Sony has always had a corporate emphasis on creativity and ingenuity (a good read on Sony's history is Sony), but has had problems with format biases, segmented leadership, and being stuck in its own glory (Betamax, Trinitron, MD-ATRAC). In stark contrast, Samsung has focused on speed and scale through its militaristic leadership structure, however faces big hurdles in leadership transition and creative development.

Perhaps most interesting are the implications of each organization's strengths and weaknesses on its future outlook. The two are very different companies, but are direct competitors in many markets. Sony's performance under its new CEO, and Samsung's leadership transition to Lee Kun Hee's son, Lee Jae Yong, will be very interesting.

A must read for those interested in Asian vs. Western business cultures, and the electronics industry as a whole.

A very detailed analysis of not just Sony and Samsung, but a window on the inner workings of Japanese and Korean business groups as a whole and particularly the electronics manufacturing and technology space. As a market practioner with access to sell-side research from any number of houses, I have found it difficult finding work that even approaches the level of depth and detail displayed in this book. Presents not only the history but sets the competitive landscape as well. A must read for anyone attempting to navigate current markets.

Well done Mr Chang. This is not just a story of two great companies and their determination to achieve global success, but the culture and calculated strategy of both. As an engineer, involved in sales with both brands, I was released from my passion for electronics to better understand what makes a winner! This book is for the big and small, the startup company and the corporate. If you are involved in electronics manufacturing and sales this book is for you!

This is a great book that truly analyzes the different corporate strategies employed by both Sony and Samsung, and gives the history and rationale behind them. Explains how and why Sony and Samsung do what they do. The stories are interesting and informative and the book is an easy read overall. There are very few books (especially on Samsung) that provide such up-to-date and relevant information.