KOLKATA: Ken Kang, who was heading the smartphone business for Samsung India till 2017, will soon take over as the company’s managing director, replacing HC Hong who is moving to head the Latin America region for the Korean electronics major, two senior industry executives said.
Samsung India on Friday informed select trade partners and employees about the exit of Hong. But it has not yet announced Kang’s appointment. The company did not respond to an email from ET as of press time Friday.
Kang currently heads Samsung’s smartphone business in the Middle East region.
“The fact that Kang, who has been a mobile phone business executive, has been chosen for the overall leadership role in Samsung India indicates the company will make a stronger pitch this year to regain its lost share in mobiles,” said one of the executives cited earlier.
Industry executives said the change of guard for the Indian business may lead to a change in senior management team when the new MD takes charge.
The development comes on the heels of the Korean firm rejigging its global top management team earlier this month, which included change of the global mobile phone business chief and 162 executives who earned promotions in an annual reshuffle exercise.
Samsung is the country’s largest mobile phone maker by revenue, but it has lost its top spot in smartphone volume sales to Chinese rival Xiaomi in the last couple of years. It is also facing stiff competition from other Chinese brands such as One-Plus, Realme, Oppo and Vivo.
The Chinese brands are also charting ambitious plans in televisions where Samsung leads in overall Indian market.
Under Hong, who led Samsung India for five years, the company more than doubled its India revenues that crossed the $10-billion (Rs 73,086 crore) sales milestone last fiscal, and set up world’s largest mobile phone factory in Noida.
However, Samsung India’s net profit declined to Rs 1,540 crore in FY19 from recent peak of Rs 4,156 crore in FY17. It has now decided to stay away from price war with the Chinese brands. To reduce pressure on profit, the company has initiated other measures to cut costs including freezing hiring and removing unnecessary roles.
Samsung is also charting plans to become a big player in home appliances where ace rival LG leads the Indian market. Samsung recently said it has become the largest brand in refrigerators and microwave ovens and wants to replicate these successes in air-conditioners and washing machines, too.
Source: Economic Times
