Samsung has shuffled around its leadership quite a bit over recent years, in part due to scandals or rethought strategies. The latest restructuring falls into the latter category — the Korean conglomerate is looking to become more agile so it can better react to its rising Chinese competition. The company has thus appointed the Galaxy devices leader Roh Tae-moon as the new head of the smartphone division, making him the youngest Samsung president at 51.
Roh Tae-moon was previously number 2 in Samsung's smartphone unit and is known to be one of the leading forces behind the tremendously successful low- to mid-range Galaxy devices. Thanks to his cost-cutting efforts, these handsets managed to compete against Chinese manufacturers such as Huawei and helped Samsung cement its position as the world's top Android phone seller. But since the smartphone market is ever-changing, Samsung knows that it needs an agile, quick-thinking leader for its mobile division and seems to have found that person in Roh.
The company also hopes that through Roh's guidance, it will see fewer mishaps such as the Galaxy Fold delay or the exploding Note7, which Bloomberg attributes to former mobile chief and co-CEO Koh Dong Jin's tendency to rush things. He will continue to oversee the company's IT and mobile communications division, which includes the mobile sector.