The management shake-up comes at the end of a disappointing year for Samsung’s mobile division, after its flagship Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge handsets failed to turn the company’s fortunes around. Despite announcing a surprise third quarter profit of 7.39 tr won ($6.45 bn) and return to growth - largely attributed to the release of the giant Galaxy S6 Edge+ and Galaxy Note 5 smartphones - it is still on course to declare its lowest profit in four years.
Californian rival Apple, however, reported the biggest annual profit in history in October, after its $53.4bn (£35bn) profit eclipsed the $45.2bn made by ExxonMobil in 2008.
Samsung is under increasing pressure from all sides - on the low end of the market, there is the rising popularity of modestly-priced smartphones from homegrown brands and on the high-end, the sustained demand for the new larger iPhones.
Consumers in emerging economies are opting for cheaper models from brands including Chinese manufacturers Huawei and Xiaomi and Indian giant Micromax, while Apple’s larger-screened iPhone 6s and 6s Plus handsets sold more than 13m units within three days of availability, bolstered by particularly strong demand from China.