The tech world is abuzz over the future of Samsung after its mobile design chief resigned from his post. The move leaves a void in the company, but also hope as many users say it could signal a shift away from plastic into a more upscale, posh device.
The world's leading maker of mobile phones, said that Chang Dong-hoon offered his resignation the final week of April and will be replaced by Lee Min-hyouk - the company's youngest ever senior executive - in the role of Vice President for Mobile Design, a company spokeswoman said.
"The realignment will enable Chang to focus more on his role as head of the Design Strategy Team, the company's corporate design center which is responsible for long-term design strategy across all of Samsung's businesses, including Mobile Communications," Samsung said in a statement.
Lee has been instrumental in Samsungs overtaking of Apple's iPhone in the battle for smartphone supremacy. According to statistics, Samsung currently sells around twice as many smartphones as Apple, thanks largely in part to the company's global success with the Galaxy series phones.
With Samsung currently battling Apple across the planet over patents, with Apple claiming the South Korean company has copied much of its hardware as well as duplicating the look of their smartphones in violation of laws. Samsung has denied any wrongdoing, although it was handed a hefty fine recently over infringements.
Chang will continue to lead Samsung's overall design strategy, with Lee beginning to take a senior role in the look and feel of the company's smartphone industry, which did not receive the expected boost with the Galaxy S5 release, which lacked the hardware innovations of previous models and the company was also lambasted across the board for the plastic case.
Samsung is known for its regular shifting of top executives in an effort to keep ideas fresh and new, and reports suggest that this is one of those periods for the company as mobile sales - the company's largest revenue stream - remain lower than expected and uncertainty following the Galaxy S5's potential success or failure.
The company did not elaborate on any other changes or roles that will be handed on to others in the company.
Despite Lee leading the charge on mobile design, like most things at Samsung, the final say on product design falls with co-chief executive J.K. Shin.
