This is a great book that truly analyzes the different corporate strategies employed by both Sony and Samsung, and gives the history and rationale behind them. Explains how and why Sony and Samsung do what they do. The stories are interesting and informative and the book is an easy read overall. There are very few books (especially on Samsung) that provide such up-to-date and relevant information.

A great, easy read on business history, which spells out the vast differences between two seemingly similar electronics firms. It also brings a greater understanding as to how Samsung Electronics, being such a late starter and technologically handicapped competitor, came to become a world leader in Display and Mobile technologies with the help of digitalization.

The book outlines the organizations' differences across several dimensions. Sony has always had a corporate emphasis on creativity and ingenuity (a good read on Sony's history is Sony), but has had problems with format biases, segmented leadership, and being stuck in its own glory (Betamax, Trinitron, MD-ATRAC). In stark contrast, Samsung has focused on speed and scale through its militaristic leadership structure, however faces big hurdles in leadership transition and creative development.

Perhaps most interesting are the implications of each organization's strengths and weaknesses on its future outlook. The two are very different companies, but are direct competitors in many markets. Sony's performance under its new CEO, and Samsung's leadership transition to Lee Kun Hee's son, Lee Jae Yong, will be very interesting.

A must read for those interested in Asian vs. Western business cultures, and the electronics industry as a whole.

A very detailed analysis of not just Sony and Samsung, but a window on the inner workings of Japanese and Korean business groups as a whole and particularly the electronics manufacturing and technology space. As a market practioner with access to sell-side research from any number of houses, I have found it difficult finding work that even approaches the level of depth and detail displayed in this book. Presents not only the history but sets the competitive landscape as well. A must read for anyone attempting to navigate current markets.

This book can be digested and enjoyed by anyone, because it is easy to read and the stories behind these two companies are quite interesting. And you can at the same time learn something about decision making at the top of the corporate ladder. However, some silly mistakes made me feel that the book isn't as polished as it should be.

For example on page 80 and 81 Yamaha Denki is mentioned as the biggest electronics distributor in Japan. But having lived in Japan for over 2 years I haven't seen said Yamaha Denki! However there is a Yamada Denki which is one of the biggest electronics retailers in Japan. And it takes no more than a wikipedia search and a google search to find out that Yamaha Denki doesn't even exist. Because if Yamaha Denki was such a big retailer I am sure they must have at least a website in this 21st century.

Now it is obvious that they mixed up a 'd' with an 'h'. However I am sure they could have done a little bit of homework to avoid such a silly mistake, because it wasn't a typo as it was mentioned several times.

Also on page 13, even though this is not meant to be a technical book, I don't think calling CD/DVD Rom media "cartridges" is correct at all.

Even though these are small mistakes it made me feel that the author was too lousy for not researching the correct name and terms. More so now that you can google almost anything just to verify.

If you overlook these small issues the book is worth every penny of its price. I am sure they wil go mostly unnoticed anyway.