Samsung has always moved fast. Two months after it built its first black-and-white TV in 1970, it was exporting them to Panama. "For Koreans, being number one, getting the gold medal is the thing," says Tony Michell, author of Samsung Electronics and the Struggle for Leadership of the Electronics Industry. "Samsung is an also-ran in the global smartphone market," observed the Economist 18 months ago. Now, Samsung is the market leader, selling about 50 million smartphones in the second quarter of 2012 to Apple's 26 million. While there is one basic iPhone, Samsung offers smartphones at every conceivable price.