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Samsung Shines In The World's Most Innovative Company Rankings

This article is more than 10 years old.

Today I want to conclude some observations on the Boston Consulting Group list of the world's most innovative companies. Samsung lies at number 3 in the BCG list, just behind Apple and Google.

It's record for innovation, as opposed to its litigation with Apple, is finally winning plaudits and not just at BCG. And that might bode ill for Apple in 2013.

Samsung's position at number 3 is telling. For much of 2012 it's reputation hung in the balance.

Having been taken to court by Apple for patent infringement, it would hardly be plausible to see it rising in anyone's innovation rankings. Apple fans and many neutrals thought of Samsung as a copier not an innovator.

While we wait for Apple's entry into the TV market, however, Samsung is already there and at CES began to make a serious impression on analysts.

And as reported here on Forbes a few days back, Samsung looks like to be first to market with a bendable, unbreakable phone/tablet form factor:

Samsung is not the only one with OLED technology, but Samsung is believed to be the most advanced and closest to bringing flexible, bendable and unbreakable OLED screens in mass produced phones and tablets. There is even a rumor that Galaxy SIV, the upcoming successor to the popular Galaxy SIII, will include an OLED display.

And the American tech press has gradually been waking up to Samsung's innovation record:

"....when Samsung first unveiled the Galaxy Note—a 5.3-inch smartphone that was big enough to be a minitablet, hence the ugly portmanteau—the world’s tech pundits couldn’t stifle their giggles. Was it a phone? Was it a tablet? Was it a joke? Smartphone industry blog Boy Genius Report called the Note “the most useless phone I’ve ever used,” adding: “You will look stupid talking on it, people will laugh at you, and you’ll be unhappy if you buy it.” Gizmodo argued that the Note “isn't just designed poorly—it's hardly even designed for humans....Confounding our predictions, Samsung sold 10 million Notes in 2012, making it one of the most successful smartphone launches in history. Then, in the fall, Samsung launched the Galaxy Note II, an upgraded version with an even larger screen—and it promptly sold 5 million of them, and is on track to sell 20 million over the course of the year.

In Q3 2012 its year on year profits were up by 90%. The BBC reports the company's October results:

Samsung Electronics has reported record profits in the three months to September, led by strong sales of its Galaxy range of smartphones.

Net profit was 6.5tn won ($5.9bn; £3.7bn), up 91% from a year earlier.

The South Korean phonemaker was also boosted by strong demand at its display panel unit.

Samsung is an innovator and has risen up the BCG rankings by 8 places. Behind the scenes Samsung invests heavily in its engineers' innovation capabilities. While we've all been watching the court case, Samsung has gone from strength to strength. And is now neck and neck with Apple on revenues. 2013 could be the year we look to Korea for who is defining the future of tech.

Follow me on Twitter @haydn1701