Samsung phones buyer’s guide - Everything you need to know - Android

Who is Samsung?

Samsung’s origins begin in the 1930s when founder Lee Byung-chul started the company. Byung-chul involved Samsung in multiple industries including food, textiles, insurance, and retail. It wasn’t until the late 60s, though, that Samsung started making electronics.

The very first electronic products from Samsung were black-and-white televisions. Throughout the next decades, the company would create all manners of electronics, with a major focus on creating components for products sold by other companies. This is something Samsung still does today, with it being the leading developer of smartphone displays.

Samsung has sold many different products in its history, from dried fish to smartphones.

In 1988, the first of many Samsung phones hit the market. The SH-100 looked like many mobile phones of the 80s, with a thick, boxy design and a rubber antenna. Unfortunately, the phone didn’t do well and Samsung found it hard to gain market share against rival Motorola.

In the 1990s and early 2000s, Samsung made headway in the mobile phone industry very slowly. Its persistence paid off. By 2007, it was the world’s second-largest mobile phone manufacturer. This put it far behind Nokia but just ahead of Motorola.

The smartphone wars begin

In 2007, Apple launched the first iPhone, heralding the beginnings of the smartphone industry. Around this time, Samsung launched a series of smartphones based on many different operating systems, including Symbian, Windows Phone, and even its own short-lived in-house operating systems.

It wasn’t until 2010, though, that Samsung struck gold with the first Samsung Galaxy S phone (shown above), which ran the Android operating system. That device helped the brand gobble up market share from other companies. By late 2011, Samsung phones accounted for nearly 24% of the market, dwarfing Apple’s 15% share.

Related: Samsung Galaxy S series: A history of the biggest name in Android

Eventually, Samsung went all-in on Android-based smartphones. Each year, it would release dozens of phones with some only available in certain parts of the world. In 2012, it officially became the world’s largest mobile phone manufacturer.

Since then, Samsung’s status has remained largely unchanged. Huawei briefly overtook Samsung as the world’s largest manufacturer earlier in 2020, but that lead won’t last long. As of now, when it comes to Android-based devices, Samsung phones are king.