2012 will go down as Samsung's best year and worst year for the South Korean electronics giant. It was one heck of a rollercoaster ride filled with success and failure. From record setting smartphone shipments, to being found guilty of infringing on Apple's iPhone and iPad patents and being slapped with over $1 billion in damages, 2012 was quite an eventful year for Samsung.

Samsung began 2012 with a clear goal in mind and that was to dethrone Apple as king of the smartphone world. Samsung had two well laid out plans. One was to build some of the best smartphones with innovative designs and features and another was to flood the market with as many smartphones as possible. Samsung delivered on both of these promises when it released the Samsung Galaxy S3 and the Galaxy Note 2. The two smartphones showcased Samsung's attention to design detail as well as their commitment to creating cutting-edge software features found in its smartphones. Samsung also released almost 40 different smartphone models in a bid to attract customers from the low-end to the high-end and it worked, the company shipped a record breaking 213 million smartphones. These were the high points of Samsung's 2012.

The biggest and really only low point Samsung faced in 2012 was a very costly one. Apple sued Samsung for patent infringements, accusing Samsung of copying both its iPhone and iPad. The case went to trial and a jury found Samsung guilty of infringing on many of Apple's patents and decided that Samsung would be required to pay Apple $1.05 billion in damages.

As Samsung enters 2013, it appears that the company is set to keep the acceleration of its high points going. It is already seeing the hype and interest of its upcoming smartphones on the same level a company like Apple only sees. Samsung is also expecting to ship 500 million cell phones in 2013 and is predicting that 350 million of them will be smartphones. As with all things in life, there are highs and lows but it appears Samsung has already begun and is determined to make 2013 its brightest year yet.