Samsung’s smartphone division gets a new CEO

Samsung’s smartphone division gets Tae-moon Roh as its new CEO. He takes over from DJ Koh. Koh will continue to lead Samsung’s IT and mobile communications division. Roh has been with the company since 1997 and helped the company start the Galaxy line.

In a statement, which has been seen by Reuters, among others, Samsung says that Roh must breathe new life into the smartphone division, at a time of fierce competition. Although Samsung is probably still the largest smartphone manufacturer in the world, its biggest competitor, Huawei, is still growing. Counterpoint analyst Tom Kang says Roh is known for being decisive and will likely be able to respond quickly to the challenge posed by Huawei’s growth.

In recent years, under Koh’s leadership, Samsung has had to cancel or postpone a phone twice, because major problems came to light. More than three years ago, deliveries of the Note 7 were stopped because the batteries could explode and last April the Galaxy Fold was postponed due to the fragility of the foldable device. On February 11, Samsung will announce new Galaxy smartphones.