The expression ‘what’s in a name’ – or the slightly more poetic ‘a rose by any other name’ – means, essentially, that a name doesn’t matter. It suggests that it’s the attributes of a person or object that will dictate what it truly is and how it is seen by the world.
However, in the world of brands and big business, this isn’t necessarily the case. Company names need to encapsulate something personal but trustworthy. Or have to, at least, offer some relative merit over other options. Why is Nike (originally known as Blue Ribbon Sports) called Nike? Because it’s named after a mythological Greek goddess who personified victory. That sounds a lot better than Blue Ribbon Sports, doesn’t it?
With this in mind, we had a look at some of the biggest tech brands and the meaning behind how they got their names.
With this in mind, we had a look at some of the biggest tech brands and the meaning behind how they got their names.
Samsung
This is a pretty straight-forward one. The word Samsung in Korean means “three stars” and was chosen to represent the virtues of being “big, numerous and powerful” (like stars in the night sky, or so the story goes).
Samsung’s first products included dried fish, vegetables, noodles and fruit, although it obviously went on to diversify into a wide range of different industries. Today, it’s best known for smartphones and other consumer electronics, but over the years Samsung has entered the aerospace, insurance and financial industries, among others. It was only in 1987, with the passing of Samung’s founder Lee Byung-chull, that the new CEO (Byung-chull’s son, Kun-Hee Lee) set sights on becoming a top 5 electronics manufacturer.
Samsung’s first products included dried fish, vegetables, noodles and fruit, although it obviously went on to diversify into a wide range of different industries. Today, it’s best known for smartphones and other consumer electronics, but over the years Samsung has entered the aerospace, insurance and financial industries, among others. It was only in 1987, with the passing of Samung’s founder Lee Byung-chull, that the new CEO (Byung-chull’s son, Kun-Hee Lee) set sights on becoming a top 5 electronics manufacturer.
Between 1938 and 1993, each Samsung logo actually featured the three stars in different forms. Since 1993, Samsung has been using its current logo, sans-stars.
Nokia
Despite Nokia’s most recent fate in bowing out of the smartphone market, it’s pretty widely known that it didn’t start life in the electronics business.
In fact, in 1865, its first operation was a wood pulp mill at the Tammerkoski Rapids in Finland. In 1868, seeking better water flow, the business opened another mill a few miles away from the town of Nokia on the banks of the Nokianvirta river, which is what inspired the name Nokia in 1871. Clearly, there was no rush for branding back in the late 19th Century.
In fact, in 1865, its first operation was a wood pulp mill at the Tammerkoski Rapids in Finland. In 1868, seeking better water flow, the business opened another mill a few miles away from the town of Nokia on the banks of the Nokianvirta river, which is what inspired the name Nokia in 1871. Clearly, there was no rush for branding back in the late 19th Century.
In 1967, it took the formal name of Nokia Coporation and was comprised of five different businesses: rubber, cable, forestry, electronics and power generation. Today, following its sale to Microsoft, there are three businesses left: Nokia Networks, HERE, and Nokia Technologies.
Apple
As one of the world’s largest companies, Apple obviously attracts a fair amount of attention nowadays, but it wasn’t always that way.
In the video below, a much younger Steve Jobs explains how, when starting out, the company had to file “a fictitious business name statement” for official purposes. Suggestions included things like Matrix Electronics, but Apple Computer was finally settled on, with the proviso that it would become the company name if no one else had any better suggestions before the filing deadline.
So, why Apple? In Jobs’ own words: “Partially because I like Apples a lot and partially because Apple is ahead of Atari in the phonebook and I used to work at Atari”. In 2007,it dropped ‘Computer’ from the name to become just Apple.
In the video below, a much younger Steve Jobs explains how, when starting out, the company had to file “a fictitious business name statement” for official purposes. Suggestions included things like Matrix Electronics, but Apple Computer was finally settled on, with the proviso that it would become the company name if no one else had any better suggestions before the filing deadline.
So, why Apple? In Jobs’ own words: “Partially because I like Apples a lot and partially because Apple is ahead of Atari in the phonebook and I used to work at Atari”. In 2007,it dropped ‘Computer’ from the name to become just Apple.
Clearly, that plan worked pretty well – Apple is now a global powerhouse, while Atari bowed out of the hardware game long ago. As a bonus nugget, the name Atari comes from a Japanese verb meaning to hit the target, which is pretty apt for a gaming company.
LG
Like many of the other companies here, LG Electronics didn’t start life with the name it now has. Instead, in 1958, GoldStar was founded in the aftermath of the Korean War with a remit to build electronic devices.
Sister-company to GoldStar was Lak-Hui (pronounced “Lucky”), and hence ‘Lucky Goldstar’ was born. This obviously contracts to the LG name we know today, and which is used for the tagline ‘Life’s Good’. In 1995, GoldStar officially adopted the LG brand and logo.
Now, the company says it just stands for LG, rather than either Life’s Good or Lucky Goldstar.
Now, the company says it just stands for LG, rather than either Life’s Good or Lucky Goldstar.
HTC
Most people will tell you that HTC stands for High-Tech Computer, which it once did, but there’s another reason behind the name.
In 1997 when the company was founded by H.T. Cho (now chairman) and Cher Wang (now chairwoman) the two decided to use their own initials to form a name – and hence HTC was born.
In 1997 when the company was founded by H.T. Cho (now chairman) and Cher Wang (now chairwoman) the two decided to use their own initials to form a name – and hence HTC was born.
Cher Wang, co-founder (and the ‘C’) of HTC
Although admittedly the company could have been named after H.T Cho alone and come up with the same result, anecdotally, an exec did once refer to Wang as ‘the C in HTC’ while in conversation with us.
Read more at http://thenextweb.com/insider/2014/10/24/how-21-big-tech-comapnies-got-their-names/
