---
title: "Which came first, India or Samsung?"
description: "India vs Samsung: Samsung came first, by 9 years — 1938 against 1947. What happened in each case, and why the dates are often given differently."
url: https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/india-vs-samsung/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Which came first, India or Samsung?

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

1938 — 9 years before India

Samsung came first, by 9 years. Lee Byung-chul opened a trading company in Daegu, Korea.

## Side by side

|  | India | Samsung |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Year | 1947 | 1938 |
| Date | 1947-08-15 | 1938-03-01 |
| Category | country | company |
| What happened | India became independent from British rule. | Lee Byung-chul opened a trading company in Daegu, Korea. |

## India

India became independent on 15 August 1947 and a republic on 26 January 1950, when the constitution took effect — which is why the country has two national days. It remained a dominion with the British monarch as head of state for those two and a half years. India as a civilisation is thousands of years older; India as a state with its present borders is younger than the ballpoint pen.

## 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, India or Samsung?

Samsung, by 9 years — 1938 against 1947.

### When did India start?

1947. India became independent from British rule.

### When did Samsung start?

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

## Related pages

- [Germany or India?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/germany-vs-india/)
- [Pakistan or Samsung?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/pakistan-vs-samsung/)
- [India or the United States?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/india-vs-united-states/)
- [India or Pakistan?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/india-vs-pakistan/)
- [India or television?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/india-vs-television/)
- [India or LEGO?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/india-vs-lego/)
- [India or McDonald's?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/india-vs-mcdonalds/)
- [Fanta or India?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/fanta-vs-india/)
- [Fanta or Samsung?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/fanta-vs-samsung/)
- [Nintendo or Samsung?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/nintendo-vs-samsung/)
- [the Ford Motor Company or Samsung?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/ford-vs-samsung/)
- [Coca-Cola or Samsung?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/coca-cola-vs-samsung/)

## Sources

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