---
title: "Which came first, Apple or Samsung?"
description: "Apple vs Samsung: Samsung came first, by 38 years — 1938 against 1976. What happened in each case, and why the dates are often given differently."
url: https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/apple-vs-samsung/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Which came first, Apple or Samsung?

**Which came first, Apple or Samsung?: Samsung**

1938 — 38 years before Apple

Samsung came first, by 38 years. Lee Byung-chul opened a trading company in Daegu, Korea.

## Side by side

|  | Apple | Samsung |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Year | 1976 | 1938 |
| Date | 1976-04-01 | 1938-03-01 |
| Category | company | company |
| What happened | Jobs, Wozniak and Wayne founded Apple Computer Company. | Lee Byung-chul opened a trading company in Daegu, Korea. |

## Apple

Apple was founded on 1 April 1976, a year and a day after Microsoft. Ronald Wayne, the third founder, sold his 10% stake back for $800 twelve days later. The Apple I was a bare circuit board sold for $666.66; the Apple II of 1977 was the machine that made the company.

## Samsung

Samsung began in 1938 as a grocery trading company dealing in dried fish, vegetables and noodles, which it exported to Manchuria. It moved into textiles, insurance and retail before making its first electronic product — a black-and-white television — in 1970. The name means "three stars".

## Common questions

### Which came first, Apple or Samsung?

Samsung, by 38 years — 1938 against 1976.

### When did Apple start?

1976. Jobs, Wozniak and Wayne founded Apple Computer Company.

### When did Samsung start?

1938. Lee Byung-chul opened a trading company in Daegu, Korea.

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## Sources

- Wikidata — Wikimedia Foundation (https://www.wikidata.org/) [CC0 1.0]