Samsung…

Samsung’s Takeover

I remember when I was eight years old, my grandparents bought me a TV for my room. It was full color, 13 inches, and got a wide range of channels. It was also made by someone called Samsung. My family members had never heard of the brand name, but the TV seemed to work really well and lasted me well into my teen years. Fast forward to thirty years later and you can barely get away from the Samsung brand. Besides making some of the most popular cell phones on the market, they also seem to have cornered the home appliances market as well. From tablets to smartphones to the hottest televisions, Samsung is now a household name for everything you could possibly want. While they were virtually unknown in the United States in the eighties, their spread through our homes is undeniable. Look around. You can probably find at least one Samsung product in the vicinity.

Buy American?

For years, there has been a very passionate “buy American” stance about household appliances. However, American household appliances have shown themselves to be lackluster when it comes to the longevity. Most of them work well for several years, but then a part malfunctions that would be more expensive to fix than buying a new appliance altogether. For many people involved in the “buy American” movement, American appliances are not worth the money anymore. It just costs too much to repair them. For this reason, people have started looking for better, longer-lasting appliances and brands like Samsung tend tofit the bill.On a personal note, I’ve owned two Frigidaire refrigerators since I’ve lived on my own. The first malfunctioned shortly before I was set to go to the grocery store and the loss was minimal. The second, however, broke down immediately aftertaking a trip to the local grocery store, the local butcher, and Sam’s Club. The loss was extensive. On both of these units, the compressor had gone bad. When the compressor malfunctions on a refrigerator, the cost of the parts and the labor isn’t costeffective. The thing is, Samsung offers viable and similarly priced alternatives on nearly everything a household requires. They often offer fantastic prices, great warranties, and excellent customer service and thus people are flocking in droves to purchase their products. From refrigerators to washing machine sets to televisions, Samsung is reigning supreme in both the household market and the electronics market.

Dethroning the Giants?

Brands like Sony and Sharp have now been replaced by brands like LG and Samsung. While the other brands are still quite successful, their meteoric rise to fame has fizzled in recent years. Samsung’s products have proven themselves to be well-made and long-lasting and therefore they’ve increased their sales dramatically.Outside of the cell phone market, which Samsung is ruling as well, their products are being off-loaded into homes across the country. Some may argue that this is to the detriment of American products, but the flip side of this could also be argued.Perhaps Samsung’s upward mobility should work as an inspiration to American appliances makers, that they should get their act together if they want to remain relevant in households in this country, or simply be forgotten.