Samsung replaces mobile design chief amid Galaxy S5 criticism

[anuseems]

Samsung's head of mobile design Chang Dong-hoon has stepped down from his post amid criticism of the company's latest flagship, the Galaxy S5, which debuted globally last month, according to a report by Reuters.

He will now be the head of design strategy at the company's corporate design center, and will be replaced by vice president for mobile design Lee Min-hyouk.

"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.

42-year-old Lee began his career with Samsung designing cars for a joint venture between the company and Renault in the 1990s. He was heavily involved in designing the Galaxy series, picking up the nickname 'Midas' in the process.

The Galaxy series was a huge success, so much so, it unseated Apple's iPhone as king of the global smartphone market. According to market research firm IDC, a total of 284.8 million smartphones were shipped in the last quarter, up over 30.2 percent year-on-year. While Samsung's market share stood at 30.2 percent, Apple's share was 15.5 percent. The two have been involved in patent litigation across courtrooms and countries worldwide.

The Galaxy S5's failure to take the smartphone market by storm may have prompted the company to take the decision. The device received a lukewarm response from customers, who have criticized the use of a cheap-looking plastic case and lack of eye-popping hardware innovations.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/08/us-samsung-elec-design-idUSBREA4702I20140508

Edited May 8, 2014 by anuseems

[Rok]

Corrupt Samsung. Why blame only head mobile design ? What the hack others were doing and why have they all passed the design ? Samsung should first replace its corrupt management, get over its corrupt practices then they should raise fingers on individuals.

This was (S5 failure) bound to happen. The hype was long over.

Edited May 9, 2014 by Rok