Samsung couldn’t have been more obvious, naming their entry into mirrorless NX (Sony’s was NEX), using an APS sensor (like Sony’s), and coming out with similar lenses (both had 16mm primes early on). Put simply, they wanted you to buy a Samsung mirrorless camera instead of a Sony.
Since then, the two companies seem to be on different paths, though. Sony transitioned to Alpha and quite different designs, while Samsung began putting a Tizen operating system in their cameras and connecting them more directly to their mobile platforms.
Samsung produced no new models in 2016 and withdrew completely from the mirrorless camera market.

What will probably surprise you is how many mirrorless cameras Samsung has already generated in a few short years:
Available Samsung NX Lenses
Available Samsung NX mini Lenses