Samsung to further foster mobile, other key units

By Lee Minji SEOUL, Dec. 12 (Yonhap) -- Samsung Electronics Co. on Wednesday announced a business restructuring plan designed to further bolster its mobile and consumer electronics units as well as nurture future growth engines, mirroring the growing importance of smartphones and TVs at the world's biggest technology firm by revenue. Under the plan, Samsung will rearrange its operation into Consumer Electronics, IT and Mobile (IM), which oversees handsets and network products, and Device Solutions, which covers electronics components such as computer memory chips, the company said in a press release. The current heads of each business, Yoon Boo-keun, Shin Jong-kyun and Kwon Oh-hyun, will continue to lead each umbrella unit, it said. The move comes a year after Samsung streamlined its business into two umbrella units of components and finished products, each headed by vice chairmen Kwon Oh-hyun and Choi Gee-sung. "By reinforcing the responsibilities of each head, we enabled speedy action against changes in the global environment where competition is intensifying," Samsung said. The company also said it aimed to reinforce its key units as well as accelerate growth in other units, such as printers, cameras and medical equipment. As part of the move, Samsung shut down its IT solution business unit, which used to take charge of the PC and printer business, and allocated the PC unit to the IM division and the printer unit to the consumer electronics division. The reorganization stems from the company's plan to create synergy between its tablet PC and Note PC development as well as better deal with the growing trend of hybrid mobile gadgets, according to the company. The 2013 plan comes two weeks after Samsung promoted Chairman Lee Kun-hee's only son Jae-yong to vice chairman of its flagship unit, escalating the heir closer to the top spot. Samsung Electronics, the key unit of South Korea's largest family-owned conglomerate, is the world's biggest maker of smartphones, TVs and computer memory chips. In the third quarter, the company posted a record 8.1 trillion won (US$7.5 billion) operating profit, propelled by robust smartphone sales.