By Heekyong Yang
SEOUL (Reuters) -Samsung Electronics said on Friday it has named its mobile chief TM Roh as a new co-CEO and head of its device experience division, which oversees the company’s mobile phone, TV and home appliance businesses.
The appointment returns Samsung to its traditional co-CEO structure, which divides oversight of its chip and consumer divisions, after the company had been operating under a sole-CEO setup following the sudden death of co-CEO Han Jong-Hee in March.
Roh has been serving as acting head of the consumer business since April, following Han’s death.
Ryu Young-ho, a senior analyst at NH Investment & Securities, said Samsung had made a “safe and predictable” choice, adding that the appointment appeared aimed at further strengthening competitiveness.
Ryu noted that Samsung’s strongest-performing businesses so far this year have been memory chips and mobile, and by naming TM Roh as co-CEO, the company is signaling it wants to put more weight behind those divisions.
The memory business is benefiting from a favourable market, he said, but is also showing progress as Samsung works to narrow the gap with rivals in the AI chip race under co-CEO Jun Young-hyun’s leadership of the division.
The reshuffle comes after Samsung’s appointment earlier this month of a new head of its business support office, a key decision-making body at the technology giant that serves chairman Jay Y. Lee.
The body functions as a strategy unit that acts as a mini-control tower inside Samsung Group, South Korea’s top conglomerate whose businesses range from chips to smartphones, ships and pharmaceuticals, and coordinates across business units and affiliates, analysts said.
Samsung Electronics shares were down 4.2% as of 0105 GMT, compared with a 3.2% fall in the benchmark KOSPI.
Analysts said the move was not related to the leadership changes, noting that Asian stocks broadly fell after U.S. tech shares slid on concerns over AI valuations and as U.S. jobs data failed to provide clarity on the interest rate outlook.
(Reporting by Heekyong Yang and Jack KimEditing by Ed Davies)
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