Samsung’s head of Electronics and mobile division and co-CEO JK Shin, is stepping down from hands-on management of the smartphone business, Reuters reports. Although Shin will remain in technical charge of the overall mobile division, his role as president will be taken over by Dongjin Koh, who will handle day-to-day operations. Shin will focus on new businesses and long-term strategy.
Koh was head of Samsung’s mobile R&D until now, reportedly “playing a key role” in the development of recent Samsung phones like the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6. Both phones were well-received critically, especially in the tech community representing a shift toward premium design for Samsung, but the flagship S6 only managed to make a “quite marginal” impact on Samsung’s earnings earlier this year and subsequently underwent price cuts.
“While it’s true that Shin delivered remarkable performance in the past, it’s indisputable that the Galaxy S6’s results fell short of expectations so a new leader was needed,” Hansung University economics Professor Kim Sang-jo said.
“Today’s appointments appear to acknowledge the need to develop a management system that can more proactively respond to challenges from Xiaomi and other Chinese companies.”
