Samsung replaces CEOs, merges mobile & consumer electronics businesses

In a surprise move, Samsung Electronics announced a restructuring of its management with several changes to leadership, replacing heads of its three major business units and merged the company’s mobile and consumer electronics businesses into a single entity, according to a statement by the company.

As such, the restructuring leaves two co-CEOs over the world’s largest maker of smartphones, televisions, and semiconductors. Samsung has ambitious investment plans to compete against Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. on advanced chipmaking, while attempting to resist Chinese rivals with phones and other gadgets.

Jong-hee (JH) Han, the head of the Visual Display business, is also now a co-CEO with responsibility for the SET division. Samsung credits him with having led the company to the top position in TV sales worldwide for 15 years running, stressing that he is “expected to strengthen the synergies among the different businesses in the SET Division and help drive new businesses and technologies.”

In addition, the other new CEO is Kyehyun Kyung, previously CEO of Samsung Electro-Mechanics, who worked on Samsung’s flash memory product team and the DRAM design team, and will now be tasked with leading Samsung’s all-important, highly profitable semiconductors division.

The company president Kyung has also been named co-CEO and will now lead its chip and components division. He is a semiconductor design expert and used to leading the company’s flash product and technology team. He’s expected to help maintain Samsung’s semiconductor leadership and conjure innovative ideas at the same time.

It is worth mentioning that mobile generated the biggest revenue $24.2 billion for Samsung in the third quarter of 2021, whilst its chip business is gaining profit. Also, its semiconductor business posted $22.6 billion in revenue due to the heightened demand for server DRAMs and for computers in general during the pandemic.

Samsung is aiming to become the leading chip contract manufacturer within the next decade and invested hundreds of billions into the business. In November, it announced that it’s building a $17 billion semiconductor factory in Texas to manufacture high-end and advanced chips for smartphones, 5G and artificial intelligence.