How These 10 Big Companies Reinvented Themselves

1. Nokia:?Originally founded in 1865 as a pulp mill, Nokia transformed into a?conglomerate active in a number of businesses, including rubber, cables, and electronics. It then narrowed its focus to just telecoms and rose to the top of the mobile phone industry worldwide.

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2. Avon began as the California Perfume Company and sold perfumes door-to-door when it was established in 1886. It developed into a well-known international beauty brand as it expanded its product line over time to include cosmetics, skincare, and personal care products.

3. Samsung:?As an international trading company founded in 1938, Samsung has interests in a number of sectors, including textiles, food production, and insurance. The business entered the electronics market in the 1960s and rose to prominence in the fields of consumer electronics, semiconductors, and smartphones.

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4.?In 1997,?Netflix?was established as a DVD rental service. The business debuted its streaming service in 2007, and it immediately surpassed the DVD rental option in popularity. One of the most widely used streaming services nowadays is Netflix.

5.?Lucky Chemical, a Korean electronics giant founded in 1947 by Koo In-Hwoi, is where LG’s origins may be established. Lucky face cream, a novelty at the time in Korea, was the business’s first commercial success.

In 1958, Lucky Chemical launched a new business called Goldstar to enter the electronics market. Many household appliances, including TVs, refrigerators, air conditioners, washing machines, and more, were initially produced in Korea by Goldstar.

In 1983, the business’s name was changed to Lucky Goldstar Group, and in 1995, it was abbreviated to LG. LG acquired Zenith Corporation, a significant American home appliance manufacturer, in the same year.

LG currently consists of 19 distinct holding companies that cover a variety of industries, including LG Chem, the original chemical corporation founded in 1947, and LG Sports, which is the owner of the LG Twins (baseball) and LG Sakers (basketball), two professional sports clubs in Korea.

6. One of the greatest and wealthiest oil businesses in the world,?Shell plc, got started in a little antique store in London’s East End. Marcus Samuel sold elegant shells from the Far East that were in demand for interior decoration in the 1830s. His sons expanded the company into a larger import/export operation. They transported equipment and tools to Asia and returned with copperware, rice, and silk.

As the internal combustion engine revolutionized transportation in the late 19th century, there was a large demand for oil. The Samuels constructed the first bulk oil tanker to transit the Suez Canal in 1892, which sped up and reduced the cost of shipping oil to Europe. In 1897, they changed the name of their shipping company to the Shell Transport and Trading Company.

7. The Japanese video game developer?Nintendo?was founded long before the 1985 release of its wildly successful Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) platform. Fusajiro Yamauchi established Nintendo Koppai in 1889 as a business that produced playing cards [source: Jones]. After suffering a stroke in 1949, Fusajiro’s grandson Hiroshi, at 22 years old, took over. Hiroshi Yamauchi would turn Nintendo into the most prosperous game company in the world during the ensuing 63 years.

8. Long-distance communication was made possible when Samuel Morse sent the first telegraph message from Washington, D.C., to Baltimore, Maryland, in 1844. As soon as this ground-breaking technology became available, businesspeople sprang into action, building miles of telegraph lines to link America’s emerging towns. The New-York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company, established in 1851, was one of the early telegraph firms. The business quickly combined with rival telegraph networks and adopted its present name Western Union.

In 1929, when it was at its height of popularity, Western Union shipped more than 200 million telegrams. The introduction of less expensive long-distance phone service caused a fall in that industry, which the internet ultimately put an end to. Thankfully, the business has always had a range of interests. It began operating a wire transfer service back then.

Additionally, the business established the first commercial communications satellite in 1974, a fax service in 1935, the first commercial e-mail service in 1982 (EasyLink), and the first commercial telecommunications satellite in 1974. With more than 600,000 agent locations throughout more than 200 countries, Western Union is currently the largest money transfer service in the world

. In 2006, the business sent its final telegram.

9.?With the iconic PC,?IBM?was the undisputed leader in computing in 1984. Because IBM didn’t try to do everything on its own, it was successful. Contrast to Apple, which created every component of hardware and every line of software for their computers, IBM purchased hardware from smaller producers and supplied its Computers with Microsoft Windows already installed.

Ironically, IBM’s business plan that made it the favorite of Wall Street almost brought to its destruction. The market quickly became inundated with so-called “PC clones,” all of which were made with less expensive parts and ran identical versions of Windows. Due to IBM’s vast size and lack of innovation, its prices were undercut by quick competitors. IBM recorded the then-largest loss in corporate America history in 1993, totaling $8 billion.

The corporation, which had survived technological revolutions involving everything from punch cards to supercomputers, was faced with a very challenging decision: innovate or perish. The bold choice was made to give up producing and selling low-margin PCs, computer chips, printers, and other hardware, which was the foundation of its business model. Giving businesses access to IT know-how and computing services would be IBM’s new focus. More than 200 businesses providing IT services have been purchased by IBM by 2010. Business schools used IBM’s reinvention as a case study for company evolution in the information era.

With its Watson supercomputer—the one that defeated Ken Jennings, the best Jeopardy player at the time—the corporation also made significant investments in artificial intelligence, which was supposed to be its next big thing. Watson is still one of the greatest natural language processors in the industry, but has yet to find a key application.

Don’t write off IBM just yet, though.

10.?And last on the list is Apple Inc.

The greatest inventions made by Apple happened when it shifted its focus away from computers and toward mobile devices. Again, the iPod and iPhone were not the first MP3 players or smartphones, but the industry manufacturing gadgets was completely transformed by their zen-like aesthetic and cutting-edge touchscreen technology. With the iPad, Apple used all of its most current innovations, including touchscreens, lightweight designs, extremely powerful processors, and long-lasting batteries, to revive the tablet market, which was once thought to be dead [source: Old Computers]. With the launch of new product lines like the Apple Watch, AirPods, and its own streaming TV network Apple TV+, Apple has continued to develop and expand.

These companies demonstrate the importance of adaptability and seizing opportunities for growth and innovation. By recognizing market trends, consumer demands, and technological advancements, they successfully transitioned from their initial business models to become industry leaders in different sectors.

Source: https://blog.tracelinebranding.com.ng/how-these-10-big-companies-reinvented-themselves/