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Samsung shakes up CEOs and merges business units

Combining its mobile and consumer units is a sign of Samsung's shifting priorities.

A blue Samsung logo sign

Samsung merged its consumer and mobile electronics businesses.

Photo: Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Samsung replaced the heads of its three biggest business units with two new co-CEOs, the company announced late Monday, merging its consumer and mobile electronics businesses.

Kyehyun Kyung, formerly CEO of Samsung Electro-Mechanics, will lead the company’s components business. Jong-Hee Han, previously head of Samsung's flash memory product and technology team, will run the combined mobile and consumer electronics unit. Han and Kyung will replace former components head Kim Ki-nam, consumer electronics head Kim Hyun-suk and mobile head Koh Dong-jin, who had been in their roles since 2017.

Combining its mobile and consumer units is a sign of Samsung's shifting priorities as it sees gains in other sectors. While personal electronic devices once drove its profit, semiconductors have become its powerhouse business.

Nat Rubio-Licht

Nat Rubio-Licht is a Los Angeles-based news writer at Protocol. They graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in newspaper and online journalism in May 2020. Prior to joining the team, they worked at the Los Angeles Business Journal as a technology and aerospace reporter.

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