A massive executive shakeup could be looming for Samsung in an attempt to reverse the company's recent downward trend, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Samsung's profitability, stock price and market share are all down, as other companies have been elevating their performance to better compete with Samsung.
One scenario for the executive shakeup will see J.K. Shin, Samsung's co-CEO and head of mobile removed from his role of overseeing the company's mobile business, which could also mean that Shin will lose his co-CEO title.
The 58-year-old Shin led Samsung's mobile division on its ascent to the leader of the industry, but the business unit has recently tumbled amid increased competition from low-cost manufacturers in China such as Xiaomi.
The sources reported that co-CEO B.K. Yoon could take over handling the mobile business of Samsung, in addition to the television and home appliance divisions that he is already overseeing.
Widening the responsibilities of Yoon could allow the company to have more streamlined management, which would allow Samsung to quickly respond to market situations with only one person calling the shots.
The possible appointment of Yoon to take over Samsung's mobile unit will position him to integrate mobile into home appliances and allow the company to enter the smart home industry, wherein appliances and other devices in the home are interconnected with one another. Yoon has been one of the major proponents for Samsung to pursue the industry, as evidenced by his signing off on the $200 million acquisition of the smart home startup company SmartThings.
The decision for Yoon to take over Samsung's mobile division isn't final yet, though. Kwon Oh-hyun, the third co-CEO of Samsung who handles semiconductors and display panels, could possibly stay in that role.
The executive shakeup comes as the company posted a 60 percent drop in its third-quarter profit, as smartphone market share all over the world continues to decline.
While Samsung still leads the industry with a 25 percent global market share, it has lost its dominance in the China market with Xiaomi selling more smartphones in the country than Samsung.
The plans are a part of the annual year-end reshuffling of Samsung that places key company decisions on hold over several weeks as company executives target certain positions.
Samsung earlier revealed that it will be reducing the number of smartphone models it will release next year by between 25 percent and 30 percent, as the company looks to trim costs to address Samsung's profit decline.
