Samsung Electronics said Wednesday that it has restructured its organization, dividing it into two separate units ― digital media/communications and device solutions ― for independent operations.
Consumer electronics and information technology and mobile communications will be included in the digital media and communications unit, which will focus on finished goods.
Yoon Boo-keun, who served as the president of Samsung’s visual display business, will lead the consumer electronics business that includes visual display and digital appliance businesses. The information technology and mobile team, which expanded its territory into IT solution, network and digital imaging businesses, as well as the media solution center, will be headed by its mobile chief Shin Jong-kyun.
Both its bio and health as well as its medical equipment business teams were strengthened because they have been labeled future growth engines which will diversify the company’s business portfolio. The firm’s bio lab was transformed into a bio research center and research projects on biosimilar and new bio medicines.
The firm also created a software center to increase its software competitiveness like its overseas rivals Google and Apple and established a media solution center called MSC America in Silicon Valley, California.
“We expect the reorganization to provide better business opportunities between the units and with our suppliers as we officially announced independent operation systems for finished goods and subparts since constructing the device solutions unit (in July),” said Samsung officials.
The announcement comes shortly after Samsung Group, the country’s biggest conglomerate, reestablished a “two-top system” for its flagship electronics arm, naming device solutions chief Kwon Oh-hyun as vice chairman along with vice chairman Choi Gee-sung.
The move was interpreted as one giving greater power to the company’s subpart divisions such as its semiconductor and liquid-crystal display businesses, enabling related divisions to draw more challenging decisions at a faster pace with Kwon taking the vice chairman role.
Choi, who has been taking charge of Samsung Electronics for two years since the two-top system of Lee Yoon-woo and Choi was halted in late 2009, will look over the finished goods sector, while Kwon takes charge of the subpart divisions.
In the meantime, Samsung LED chief Kim Jae-kwon was repositioned as the electronics arm’s global operation head of the mobile communications business, offering projections that Samsung LED ― a joint venture between Samsung Electronics and Samsung Electro-Mechanics ― will soon merge with the company.
The company also named former Google employee David Eun as executive vice president who will support media-related divisions. Eun was a media expert that led Google’s acquisition of YouTube during his employment term at Google.
By Cho Ji-hyun (
sharon@heraldcorp.com)
