The world’s leading manufacturer of smartphones, Samsung Electronics, has named a new head for its mobile business, which, of late, has been struggling to keep pace with its hitherto winning ways.
Samsung appointed 54-year-old Koh Dong Jin (D.J. Koh), Executive Vice President of mobile R&D, as substantive president of the mobile communications business, taking over from Shin Jong-kyun, 59, who has held sway since 2009.
Although the mobile communications business appears to have seen a recent improvement in sales, profitability declined sequentially in Q3 due to a “price adjustment” related to its flagship Galaxy S6 line and change in product mix. It declined 13 per cent quarter-on-quarter.
59 year-old Shin Jong Kyun (J.K. Shin), the outgoing head of the mobile business who has been called ‘Mr. Galaxy’ and served in the position since 2009, will remain head of the IT & Mobile Communications division but will “focus more on long-term strategy”, the Korea Herald reported.
Koh led the development of the Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy Note 5 phablets and was involved in developing the software platforms such as Samsung Pay and the KNOX mobile security platform.
Shin’s departure was a surprise since the mobile business appeared to be recovering after the company took quick steps to boost sales and profitability, including cutting costs and changing its product mix.