C. Scott Brown / Android Authority
Actions speak louder than words. That was the mindset of Samsung’s late Chairman, Lee Kun-hee. Back in the 90s, he was fed up with the company’s direction. He was a man obsessed with quality, which was something Samsung wasn’t exactly known for in those days.
In 1995, when defect rates for Samsung’s phones hit an all-time high, Lee figured out that all those speeches about quality he was making weren’t having the effect he was hoping for. So, he decided to make his point with a move so bold it became company legend: he gathered a few thousand employees in a factory courtyard and burned 150,000 Samsung phones right in front of them.
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The day that changed everything
Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
Samsung phones had serious quality issues back in 1994. The defect rate had climbed to a staggering 11.8% — meaning more than one in ten phones didn’t work and had to be returned. At the time, the company was focused on rushing products out the door to turn a quick profit rather than building something that lasted.
That strategy backfired. Chairman Lee knew he had to make serious changes. He wanted to shift the company’s entire DNA from quantity to quality, but that is easier said than done. When he realized his speeches on the topic weren’t sinking in, he decided to take things up a notch.
In March 1995, Lee piled up 150,000 defective devices at Samsung’s Gumi factory in front of 2,000 workers. He selected ten employees — some of them wearing headbands that read “Quality first” — to smash the phones with sledgehammers. Then, they set the remains on fire.
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