Dive Brief:
- Samsung Electronics CFO Hark Kyu Park is transitioning to a new role at the South Korea-based technology giant as part of a broader senior management shake-up, according to a Wednesday announcement.
- Park will move to the Business Support Task Force, the company said in a press release, which did not say who will replace him as CFO. A company spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
- Samsung said in the release that it was announcing “new leadership for the next phase of the company’s growth and to strengthen its future competitiveness, focusing on the semiconductor business.”
Dive Insight:
The shakeup comes on the heels of profit struggles at Samsung, a global memory chip manufacturer.
The company’s third-quarter operating profit was 9.2 trillion won ($6.6 billion), compared with 10.4 trillion won ($7.5 billion) in the second quarter period, according to results released on Oct. 31. The decline was attributed mainly to “one-off costs, including the provision of incentives” in Samsung’s Device Solutions business.
Samsung stock has been one of the worst performers among major chipmakers this year, losing nearly a quarter of its value, as the company has struggled to catch up with rivals amid a race for dominance in artificial intelligence, according to a Reuters report.
The company had expected its Q3 operating profit to be slightly lower. In early October, it issued a rare apology to investors after announcing a preliminary estimate of 9.1 trillion won.
“We will definitely make the serious situation we are currently facing into an opportunity for a leap forward,” Samsung Electronics DS Division Vice Chairman Jeon Young-hyun said in a public letter addressed to customers, investors and employees of the tech giant. “Our management will take the lead in overcoming the crisis.”
Among the flurry of leadership changes announced Wednesday, Samsung said that Young Hyun Jun, vice chairman and head of the DS Division, was named CEO and will also become the head of the Memory Business and Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology. In addition, Jinman Han was promoted to president and will become the head of the Foundry Business, while Seok Woo Nam will become chief technology officer of the Foundry Business, a newly-created position, according to the release.
