Samsung’s mobile chief retains position despite plummeting sales

With rumors swirling about the fate of mobile head J.K. Shin, Samsung has announced that he would keep his job after all. Reports suggested that Shin may be replaced by consumer electronics chief B.K. Yoon in light of weak smartphone sales. Samsung’s top money-making models, the Galaxy S5 and Note 4, have met with a tepid market reception stateside despite design overhauls, causing Samsung’s profits to fall off the map. The company is also battling tough rivals in China like Huawei, Xiaomi, and Lenovo.

Samsung Group announced annual management changes at its business units on Monday but said top executives at its flagship unit, Samsung Electronics Co., will remain in their current positions as the company seeks to reverse recent profit declines. Samsung Electronics’ mobile business head, J.K. Shin, the chief of the company’s consumer electronics unit, B.K. Yoon, and the current chief executive for the component business, Kwon Oh-hyun, will all maintain their positions, Samsung said. But D.J. Lee, one of Mr. Shin’s top lieutenants as president and head of sales and marketing at the company’s mobile unit, is leaving his current position, people familiar with the matter said Monday, taking responsibility for lackluster smartphone sales. It wasn’t immediately clear who would replace Mr. Lee. When contacted by phone, Mr. Lee declined to comment. The departure of Mr. Lee would remove one of the mobile division’s few public figures. When Samsung unveiled its new Galaxy Note 4 smartphone during the IFA trade show in Berlin in September, it was Mr. Lee, 58 years old, who took the stage instead of Mr. Shin to showcase the new device.