42nd book of 2020: scraping the bottom.
I’ve probably read too many books about business in the tech industry, but reading so many allows me to confidently place Samsung Rising at the bottom of the heap. This should be a fascinating read, considering the company’s history: a chaebol that has survived in the era of smartphones and grown amidst competition from the world’s fiercest competitors. Samsung is the only company that I’ve directly worked with and rolled my eyes at due to their many quirks, yet somehow they are responsible for the construction of my favorite building (Burj Dubai), the Android phone in my pocket, the flash memory in my iPhone, the washing machine in my home and many other things I probably don’t even know about.
The book had zero narrative about the broader Samsung company beyond hints of corruption scandals and strange behavior of its ruling family. I was hoping for a Samsung version of Alibaba’s World or Kochland, but the author keeps the focus on tech-press coverage over the last 5 years, missing what I think is the more interesting story.
Even within this myopic view of Samsung, the author misses the boat. Cain’s chapters weave in and out of Samsung’s scandals, but 90% of the book is bitter white dudes complaining about Samsung. I would have loved to understand more about how Samsung adopted Android, why they became such a brand powerhouse even by the time the S3 rolled around, and when they started finding product market fit. Between 2008 and now, the smartphone industry has been fascinating, but if you want a book about adapting in the iPhone era, read Losing the Signal. If you want a book about culture clashes and advertising at big hardware companies, Console Wars is better.