Samsung replaces its head of mobile operations

Today Samsung has announced that its head of mobile communications, Shin Jong-Kyun, and another co-chief executive officer, B.K. Yoon, will be stepping back from day-to-day operations. Kyun, a nine year veteran at the company, will be replaced by Koh Dong-Jin, who was involved with the launch of the Galaxy S6 and Note 5.

Shin Jong-Kyun was involved with a lot of the early success of the Galaxy smartphone line and his time at Samsung isn’t over. Kyun will remain as president and co-CEO of the main Samsung electronics mobile division, working on longer term strategies rather than day-to-day operations. Former head of Samsung’s consumer electronics division, Koh Dong-Jin, is making a similar move and will also stay on as a co-CEO of Samsung’s main electronics business.

[related_videos title=”Galaxy smartphones:” align=”right” type=”custom” videos=”657282,647458″]The announcement comes after another questionable year for Samsung’s mobile division. Although well received by critics and consumers, this year’s Galaxy S6 series has not set a new record for mobile shipments as Shin had expected. In fact, Samsung saw a 38 percent drop in its mobile profits for the launch quarter of the Galaxy S6, as more expensive components and excess unsold stock drove up the division’s costs.

Coupling this misjudge demand with a shrinking global market share and increasing competition from lower cost Chinese rivals, Samsung’s mobile revenue has missed the mark repeatedly in 2015. Although, the company still managed to post a notable boost in overall revenue in Q3, mostly due to its booming semiconductor business.

Samsung’s latest management reconfiguration is the latest in a string of shake-ups in the past twelve months, which also saw three marketing executives resign last year. Perhaps these changes will lead to better fortunes next year.