While most people in North America were asleep, Samsung announced a reorganization of its leadership structure.
Most significantly, Jong Kyun Shin, the executive who was responsible for leading Samsung’s mobile division over the past couple of years (and the individual on whom the blame for the company’s recent mobile shortcomings fall upon) is stepping back from day-to-day duties. His role will be taken over by Dong Jin Koh.
Conduct a Google search for Koh and you’re more likely to find something about a electronic DJ than the Samsung executive. Despite the fact his name doesn’t resonate like that of a Dave Burke or Matias Duarte (at least here in North America), almost everyone that has owned a Samsung smartphone, and indeed most people with some passing knowledge of the mobile landscape, will be familiar with his work.
Koh oversaw the development of Tizen, the Linux-based mobile operating system found on two of Samsung’s lower end smartphones and all of its smartwatches, Samsung Pay, its mobile payments solution and Apple Pay competitor, and Knox, the company’s enterprise mobile security platform.
In appointing Koh, the company seemingly wants to shift its focus to software, the part of its smartphone experience most consumers do not like.
“Based on Koh’s career background, it suggests Samsung will put more weight on its software focus instead of hardware,” said Greg Roh, an analyst interviewed by Bloomberg. “The change shows that just the new cycle of hardware offerings won’t do much to revive growth. The new leader will try to boost software power and foster new innovations.”
Still, it’s not all bad news. According to Bloomberg, Koh had a hand in the development of the Galaxxy S6 and Note 5, certainly two of Samsung’s more well-received smartphones in recent memory. Likewise, while the strategy behind Tizen may be questionable, the software itself is solid.
All of this to say, it will be interesting to see what Koh brings to the role.
[source]The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg[/source]
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