Selling phones with Windows Phone 8 could make Samsung's life easier as well.
Developing countries can boast one or two examples of their own: India's Tata and South Korea's Samsung began life as small trading companies; Thailand's Charoen Pokphand Group, an agri-business firm, started as a seed shop.
In a circular chain of interlocking control, Everland holds a stake in Samsung's life insurance company, which owns shares of Samsung Electronics, which in turn has a stake in the credit card company.
Samsung dominates life in its home country like no other company in the world.
Samsung injected major life into the Gear VR platform by capitalizing on the excitement of the Galaxy S7 and shipping a ton of free headsets with pre-orders.
Higher manufacturing costs are a fact of life and Samsung, which has put in a dent in Apple's profit margins, is a formidable competitor.
Both Korea Life and Samsung have been trying hard to come to the market first to get better pricing, amid some concerns that their multibillion-dollar I.P.O.'s at a similar time could soak up market liquidity, analysts said.
Samsung pegs the battery life at three hours.
The Galaxy S is the flagship device for what Samsung is calling "Smart Life"–essentially, the potential for smart phones to improve users' daily lives by making them "simple, organized and integrated".
It's actually a touch thicker than the S2, likely owing, at least in part, to a bigger 6,000mAh battery that promises up to 12 hours of life by Samsung's count, and was certainly able to get me through a day's use, no problem.
These products are "a pledge by Samsung to make everyone's life easier," the company said in a press statement.
