New York: Samsung Electronics named its newly merged mobile-phone and home-appliances businesses “DX Division” as the tech giant moves to strengthen its corporate structure.
DX, which stands for Device eXperience, reflects the company’s focus on targeting consumer demand in a variety of electronics, the South Korean firm said in a statement Sunday.
The team will seek to meet the needs for a wide range of products, from TVs and appliances to smartphones and network equipment, according to the statement.
Revamping business divisions
Samsung Electronics is combining two of its three business divisions and appointing new leaders to replace its three co-CEOs in its biggest management shakeup since 2017.
The reorganisation, decided under the oversight of de-facto leader and Samsung heir Jay Y. Lee, will see the consumer and mobile divisions merged into a newly formed SET Division, to be led by Jong-Hee Han. Promoted from the company’s TV research and development team, Han succeeds co-CEOs Dongjin Koh and Hyunsuk Kim, who had respectively led the smartphone and consumer appliances groups. Kyehyun Kyung is stepping in to lead the company’s Device Solutions group, which encompasses its key semiconductor business lines such as memory, logic processors and chipmaking for outside customers.
The consolidation of consumer offerings under one umbrella simplifies the company’s operational structure and may help the South Korean electronics giant better compete with US archrival Apple.
“Apple uses one OS for phones, PCs and TVs and its products show seamless integration,” said Kyungmook Lee, professor of business management at Seoul National University. “Samsung’s IT products, however, lack such seamless integration between phones and gadgets. The merger between its consumer and mobile divisions, which have until now operated independently, may help fix this issue.”
The fact that the merged SET unit will be overseen by someone from home appliances rather than the smartphone business suggests that “the company probably thought the mobile unit needs a lot of improvement and consolidation,” said Daiwa Securities analyst SK Kim. Samsung remains the world’s biggest smartphone maker with 20.8 per cent market share, according to the latest data from IDC.
As part of the reorganization, Samsung also announced that Hark Kyu Park will be its new chief financial officer, having previously held a post in the Device Solutions team.
