Samsung's catch-up with Sony: an analysis using US patent data

Abstract

This paper examines Samsung Electronics’ catch-up with Sony in terms of technological capabilities and investigates the various aspects of the change in the two firms’ technological characteristics in the course of the catch-up. Using the US patents of the two firms as a basis, this paper finds that in terms of the quantity of patents, Samsung Electronics’ catch-up with Sony happened around the mid-1990s, and in terms of the quality of patents, Samsung Electronics’ catch-up occurred earlier, at the beginning of the 1990s. In addition, Samsung Electronics has come to be more independent from Sony, proving that Samsung Electronics has gone beyond simply imitating and applying Sony's technology. This paper also analyzes the other aspects of catch-up, namely the generality and the originality of the knowledge base, technology cycle and appropriability. Samsung Electronics caught up with Sony in terms of sales, corporate value and brand value only after the 2000s. Our study shows that technological catch-up precedes the catch-up in other dimensions. This implies that technological catch-up sets the stage for value- and brand-value-based catch-up.