Samsung opens new Innovation Museum

April 21, 2014

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In an apparent effort to prop up its image as an innovator, and possibly get youth exposed to Samsung via school field trips, the company has opened the Samsung Innovation Museum at its Digital City campus in Suwon, South Korea. Samsung recently opened the doors for a quick preview of the new facility that revealed the museum, while perhaps not worthy of a trip in and of itself, is a worthwhile stop for anyone who is in the area. According to Samsung the museum gives the public a chance “to see where we’ve come from.”

The museum is a five story complex and appears to become more Samsung-centric the higher up you travel. The first floor primarily focuses on the history of electronics going all the way back to an Edison filament light bulb that Samsung managed to procure for the exhibit. Samsung also covers items like the first ever TV and even an old StarTAC. According to visitors, Samsung does a good job with the displays including lots of background information.

Moving up, Samsung starts to draw visitors in a little closer to the company as it focuses more on recent history and the present. This includes items like smartphones, computers, and the Internet. Probably not by coincidence, the topics covered are also those that helped turn Samsung into the global electronics giant it has become. Some of the items include the first phone with a TFT-LCD display and the first phone that could play MP3 files, both Samsung products. Also noted by visitors is the spin Samsung puts on the role of corporations and how they helped enable innovators to eventually get their products out to the mass markets.

The last floor takes visitors to the conclusion of all the innovations covered, how Samsung is capitalizing and continuing the trend. This part of the exhibit pretty much throws out any attempt at producing a neutral bias regarding innovation and heavily promotes Samsung products. Several tables are available for visitors to check out new products like Samsung’s Gear 2 or Gear Fit devices. Not everything is consumer oriented though as Samsung also shows off a military-style Galaxy S4, some contactless payment systems, and even point-of-sale displays. Samsung has even included a curved UHD theater. Of course, no museum would be complete without a souvenir shop and Samsung made sure to cover their bases there as well.