The sweeping move is the latest sign of centralised change
at the world's largest memory chip and smartphone maker, after Vice Chairman
Jay Y. Lee was paroled in August from a bribery conviction.
The head of visual display business, Han Jong-hee, was promoted
to vice chairman and co-CEO, and will lead the newly merged division spanning
mobile and consumer electronics as well as continuing to lead the TV business.
Han has risen through the ranks in Samsung's visual display
business, without experience in mobile.
Kyung Kye-hyun, CEO of Samsung Electro-Mechanics, was named
co-CEO of Samsung Electronics and will lead the chip and components division.
The newly merged businesses differ in size. The mobile
business made KRW 3.36 trillion in operating profit in the July-September
quarter, compared to consumer electronics' KRW 760 billion.
Other high-profile promotions included naming as vice
chairman Chung Hyun-ho, the head of a "task force" which analysts
said is a central coordination unit for decision-making in Samsung Electronics
and affiliate companies.
"There may be more prompt execution of funds or
decision-making," said Kim Sun-woo, an analyst at Meritz Securities.
The last time Samsung Electronics named new CEOs was in late
2017.
Samsung Group is focusing on areas such as semiconductors,
artificial intelligence, robotics, and biopharmaceuticals, and plans to invest
KRW 240 trillion in these fields in the
next three years.
Group flagship Samsung Electronics is aiming to overtake
TSMC to become No. 1 in chip contract manufacturing by 2030 by investing about
$150 billion into logic chip businesses including foundries.
Late last month, Samsung chose Taylor, Texas as the site of
a planned $17 billion US chip plant after months of deliberation, coinciding
with Lee's first business trip to the United States in five years. © Reuters
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