Samick Pianos - "Enjoy Music Enjoy Life"
Established in 1958 by Hyo Ick Lee, who began building and selling a few vertical pianos each week from a small shop, Samick has grown to be one of the world's largest manufacturers and exporters of pianos and other musical instruments, and is South Korea's predominant maker of musical instruments. In 1964 they became the first Korean company to export pianos. By the early 1970s, Samick had become a major manufacturer of musical instruments, with more than 3,000 employees building pianos and guitars.
In 1978 the company expanded by opening a branch office in the United States at Los Angeles, California, and then in 1980 a office in Dusseldorf, Germany. The companies U.S. sales grew and in 1982 Samick formed their American subsidiary, Samick Music Corporation (SMC).
The companies founder, Hyo Ick Lee passed away in 1990 after a battle with cancer and the company began to have leadership problems, and along with an Asian currency crash in 1996 the company began having financial problems and was one of many thousands of Korean businesses that filed for bankruptcy. Samick was placed under court control for several years with no effective business strategy or leadership and was in danger of losing its market share to new competitors. In June of 2002, the company was saved by Korean business mogul Jong-Sup Kim when he purchased Samick for $100 million by outbidding several other large musical instrument companies.
JS Kim is one of Asia's most successful businessmen, with companies in many different industries. It was his knowledge and wise decisions, such as his 2002 purchase of C. Bechstein Piano Company, that brought the company out of bankruptcy to become entirely debt-free and become one of the world’s most respectable piano makers in such a short time.
Samick Music Corporation manufactures fine pianos under several world renowned and award winning names such as C. Bechstein which was purchased by SMC in 2002, as well as Wm. Knabe & Co., Kohler & Campbell, Sohmer & Co., and other fine pianos. Samick is the oldest and largest piano manufacturer in Korea, and the third ranked piano maker in the world in terms of sales. Samick Piano has grown from its beginnings in a small workshop into a hi-tech modern company that produces over 30,000 pianos each year. Samick Pianos are enjoyed by by pianists all over the world.
Samick Piano holds several certifications and awards such as the gold prize in "The World Piano Quality Contest" held by the international musical publication Diapason, in 1985 and 1988.