Roh Tae-moon will take over as CEO of Samsung’s smartphone division, replacing DJ Koh, who will continue to head up the company’s IT, mobile and communications arms.
As reported by Bloomberg, Roh is Samsung Mobile’s third CEO in the last dozen years. Koh was appointed in 2015, while his predecessor JK Shin held the position for about six years. Roh has been with the company since 1997 and helped develop the Galaxy device lineup. He is reportedly a stickler for engineering and design and is charged with improving Samsung’s reputation when it comes to quality.
Under Koh, the company released the Galaxy Note 7, which had a battery issue that caused devices to catch fire. Samsung also had to delay the Galaxy Fold due to display issues.
Along with repairing Samsung’s reputation, Roh is tasked with ushering foldable products into the mainstream, as well as expanding Samsung in India and China. The incoming CEO is known as a cost-cutter who outsourced production to better compete with China-based rivals like Huawei, Xiaomi and Oppo.
Roh is taking over the position starting Monday, which means he’ll be in charge when Samsung’s Unpacked event kicks off in February. Samsung is expected to unveil new smartphones at the event, including the next Galaxy S smartphone with a rumoured change in naming scheme — Galaxy S20 instead of S11 — as well as a new foldable device, reportedly called the Galaxy Z Flip.
Source: Bloomberg
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