In rather unexpected news today, Choi Gee-sung who has been Vice Chairman and CEO of Samsung since 2010, has stepped down from his position. Kwon Oh-hyun who is currently Vice Chairman of device solutions, will be the new CEO. The company is putting up walls so to speak between their consumer and components business, and essentially is continuing to optimize for profits from manufacturing chips and OLED displays.
“Despite difficult business environments, including seasonal low demand for major products such as PCs and TVs amid a global economic slowdown, we achieved record quarterly results based on our differentiated products and technology leadership,” said Robert Yi, senior vice president and head of investor relations, in a statement.
Kwon Oh-hyun will remain in his control over the display-component and chip business as he has for the last several years, including corporate affairs. Interestingly enough, the consumer devices divisions won’t report to the new CEO. If there happens to be a conflict between both businesses, Lee Kun-hee, Chairman of Samsung Electronics, will be able to address the situation.
Samsung had made it clear that their components business is most important as they’ve been doing quite well in that arena. The company did lose a record $655 Million in 2011, though that was very shortlived after they posted a $4.45 Billion profit in the first quarter of 2012. Although there’s a separation between the two sides of their business, they’ve managed to do well this year and with the mobile business up, maybe some of that can rub off in other areas.