As Samsung aims to take on Chinese smartphone makers to make up for the lost market share in the smartphone business, the company has today announced a major management reshuffle.
The South Korean giant has named its president Roh Tae-moon as the new mobile chief. He is touted to be the one to champion the company’s shift to outsource more phones to Chinese and other companies in order to cut costs and better compete with rivals.
The company has also clarified that former mobile chief DJ Koh will continue to lead Samsung’s IT & mobile communications (IM) division, which includes both mobile devices and network equipment. Along with this reshuffle, Samsung has also promoted its network business chief Cheun Kyung-whoon to president.
The management restructuring comes at a time when the company is facing increased competition from the Chinese smartphone market. While Xiaomi has dethroned Samsung from the top position in India, Realme is also cutting its market share. Globally, while the company remains the top smartphone vendor, Huawei, which is currently the second largest phone maker, is also trying to close the lead.
Samsung was expected to make announcements regarding organizational reshuffle last year but the company had remained silent because of the ongoing legal issues involving de facto leader Lee Jae-yong and over 30 executives.
The South Korean company is now also focusing on its telecom network equipment business as it aims to capitalise on the security concerns related to Huawei. The Chinese company is battling allegations by the United States and other Western countries that its equipment could enable Chinese spying and should not be used in 5G networks.
