Just a few years ago, Samsung was the brand you bought if you couldn't afford Sony or Toshiba. Suddenly it's the name that consumers all over the world--especially young ones--seek out for the most fun and stylish models of everything from cell phones to flat-panel plasma TVs. One of the driving forces behind that transformation is Eric Kim, who was reared by Korean parents in Southern California and returned to his homeland to work as head of global marketing for Samsung Electronics.
The company earned $2.5 billion in net profits last year while many retail-tech stars fizzled. Business in the U.S....