page_title: Samsung Telecommunications
section_title: Global market and GSM era (1998 on)
hierarchical_section_title: Samsung Telecommunications / History of Telecommunication Business / Global market and GSM era (1998 on)
caption_attribution_description: English: First Samsung's GSM phone SGH-100 made by Dancall
context_page_description: Samsung Mobile Division is one of five divisions within Samsung Electronics, belonging to the Samsung Group, and consists of the Mobile Communications Division, Telecommunication Systems Division, Computer Division, MP3 Business Team, Mobile Solution Centre and Telecommunication R&D Centre. Telecommunication Business produces a full spectrum of products from mobiles and other mobile devices such as MP3 players and laptop computers to telecommunication network infrastructure. Headquarters is located in Suwon, South Korea.
  In 2007 Samsung Mobile Division Business reported over 40% growth and became the second largest mobile device manufacturer in the world. Its market share was 14% in Q4 2007, growing up from 11.3% in Q4 2006. At the end of November 2011, Samsung sold more than 300 million mobile devices which was a close second after Nokia with 300.6 million mobile devices sold in the first three quarter of 2011. As of Q3 2012, Samsung is the largest manufacturer of devices running Google's Android with a 46% market share.
  On 19 August 2016, Samsung officially released its Samsung Galaxy Note 7.
context_section_description: Samsung made its first foray into the global market in 1996, when it exported its PCS phones to Sprint, an American CDMA carrier. Sprint signed $600 million contract with Samsung, under which Samsung would provide its PCS phones to Sprint for three years under the co-branded name Sprint-Samsung. After this Samsung expanded into Hong Kong (Huchinson, CDMA) in 1997, and Brazil (TELESP and TELERJ, CDMA) in 1998. After successfully exporting to Brazil, Samsung built a mobile phone production facility in Brazil in 1998, in the hopes of expanding into Latin America.
  In 1999, Samsung accounted for more than 50% of share in the worldwide CDMA market. However, the worldwide CDMA market was far smaller than the GSM market, which accounted for 70% of the total worldwide mobile communications market. Moreover, the domestic market was approaching saturation, and competition was becoming more intense.
  Thus, to achieve further growth, Samsung had to penetrate the GSM market.
  First GSM model carrying the Samsung logo was SGH-100 made by European company Dancall (Denmark). The first own GSM model was the SGH-200, which was made for European customers. But it was not as good as the company's CDMA phone. It was difficult to hurdle the high entry barrier, which the then "Big 3" Nokia, Motorola, and Ericsson had built for years. The company's next few models didn't attract Europeans, either. The development team realized that a simple change in the circuit system wouldn't work in the European market. Thus, it decided to look more closely at the customer's point of view. They found that Europeans preferred geometric, balanced, and simple designs. Using this information, Samsung adopted 'simple' as the design concept, then developed a new design to suit the tastes of Europeans.
  The SGH-600 was born in September 1998. To market this model, Samsung changed its market entry strategy by adopting a high-end strategy. Samsung needed to escape from its low-end image. It figured that its new mobile phone, with its sophisticated design and distinguished functionality, would help it do just that. Samsung was granted the "Best Manufacturer" award twice by the Mobile News Awards, an award that was previously given to Nokia and Ericsson.
  Samsung introduced its first mobile phone to India in 2004. In 2008, Samsung Electronics' Telecommunication Business declared its new business strategy focusing on consumer and marketing. Samsung mobile phones are divided into 6 major categories – Style, Infotainment, Multimedia, Connected, Essential and Business.
  The SGH-P250 and SGH-J165 were the last phone models sold worldwide, outside North America, that used the original model numbering system. The GT-S7330 was the first mobile phone model to use the new model numbering system.
caption: Samsung SGH-100 - first GSM phone sold with Samsung's logo and made by Dancall
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