By Kim Yoo-chul
What Apple has least wanted from its patent dispute with Samsung Electronics may have happened _ the increased value of the Korean tech giant.
Samsung’s brand value, which was placed at 42nd in 2001 with a value of $6.37 billion, has grown to 17th with its brand value estimated at as much as $23.4 billion, according to a report by Interbrand, “2011 Best Global Brands.”
Samsung is the first Korean company that surpassed the ``$20 billion’’ barrier.
Last year, Samsung’s brand value was estimated at $19.49 billion, Interbrand said. In a string of international legal disputes, Samsung and Apple accuse each other of copying patents of the other.
``It’s quite inspiring result for Samsung to add two-notches in brand value this year from last year’s 19th,’’ said one Samsung executive, wondering whether it has anything to do with its Apple fight.
Samsung has been focusing on innovation in its overall management strategy since the early 2000s with an aim to rise in the highly-competitive consumer electronics business, resulting in huge spending on marketing and branding.
In 2005, the company passed over its long-time Japanese rival Sony, to be ranked as the world’s 20th biggest consumer electronics maker with a brand value of $14.96 billion according to Interbrand.
Its value rose to $16.85 billion in terms of revenue by the same consultancy in 2007 _ the year when Samsung beat Motorola of the United States, making Samsung the world’s No. 2 handset maker.
In 2009, Samsung passed over Hewlett-Packard (HP) of the United States and Siemens of Germany to become the world’s top technology company with annual revenue of $117 billion.
Not surprisingly, the brand value measured by Interbrand rose to 19th, estimated as much as $17.52 billion.
``Samsung passed over HP, Sony and Nokia, which were all our critical business partners, to become the world’s top tech firm,’’ said its chief executive Choi Gee-sung.
The latest report by Interbrand stated that seven of the world’s top 10 brands came from the tech sector, with Apple boosting the most meteoric rise _ at 58 percent _ in brand value compared to last year.
Apple ranked at 8th with $33.5 billion brand value. It is the creator that opened a whole new smartphone market, but it’s being heavily challenged by its Korean corporate “frenemy” Samsung Electronics.
Finland-based Nokia, which was once a handset giant, was the top loser, experiencing a dip for the second year in a row. Nokia was 14th from No. 8 in 2010. The brand value of Sony also decreased 13 percent.
``That’s the right story in Nokia and Sony. Nokia has seen a steep decline in its brand value over past few years and even next year won’t be different as Samsung rises as the sole competitor to Apple thanks to the on-time release of Galaxy-branded smartphones,’’ said Nam Tae-hyun, an analyst at IBK Securities, a local brokerage.
Samsung is widely expected to pass over Nokia in brand recognition next year because this year will be another ``significant and noticeable’’ one for Samsung.
As of the end of the second quarter of this year, Nokia controlled 24.5 percent of the entire global handset market, followed by Samsung with 20.5 percent, data from Strategy Analytics (SA) showed. For the full last year, Nokia’s share was 33.3 percent.
In smartphones, Samsung is anticipated to outpace Apple to become the world’s biggest smartphone maker in terms of shipments with analysts estimating 30 million in sales during the third quarter of this year from an estimated 25 million that Apple had shipped.
Spokesman Shin Young-jun declined to comment. Performance details of Samsung’s divisions during the July-September period will be announced later this month.
``It’s not surprising to see Samsung ranked as the world’s No. 10 brand within the next few years. Samsung may be the only one in an entire tech industry to guarantee the commitment of product output, on-time delivery and product quality,’’ said Daishin Securities, another local brokerage.
Daishin said Samsung’s dual-strength in parts and finished products will make it even stronger and expected the product mix-up in smartphones, televisions and semiconductors will help it secure its bottom line.
Samsung is aiming to get $400 billion in sales revenue by the end of 2020 and chief executive Choi Gee-sung said more will be coming from Samsung’s previously-untouched territories such as solar-cells.