After the death in March of Vice Chairman Han Jong-hee, Samsung Electronics, whose two-CEO structure of DX (finished goods) and DS (semiconductors) had collapsed, restored the "two-top" system by appointing mobile expert President Roh Tae-Moon as head of the DX division and CEO on the 21st. In addition, by bringing the top experts in each field into the helm of Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT) and as DX division chief technology officer (CTO), the company granted more authority to "technology-oriented" professional managers.
◇ Vice Chairman Jun Young-hyun still irreplaceable… "Will be responsible for semiconductors until next year"
With Vice Chairman Chung Hyun-ho of the Business Support TF, once called the No. 2 at Samsung Electronics, stepping down, Vice Chairman Jun Young-hyun, who was also born in 1960, has effectively remained in place to revive the semiconductor business until next year. Vice Chairman Jun will continue his mission of reviving the memory business, the backbone of Samsung Electronics, by concurrently serving as head of the DS division and head of the Memory Business Unit, including high bandwidth memory (HBM) and next-generation DRAM. Some had mentioned other figures as potential candidates for the head of the Memory Business Unit, but Samsung's management appears to believe that Vice Chairman Jun's role is still significant.
Inside Samsung, some say there is still no one to replace Vice Chairman Jun. Together with former Samsung Electronics Chairman Kwon Oh-hyun, he led the golden age of Samsung semiconductors and returned last year as a relief pitcher amid a crisis in which the DS division recorded massive losses. However, reflecting concerns that his titles were too excessive as he was simultaneously serving as head of the DS division, head of the Memory Business Unit, CEO, and SAIT president, he relinquished the SAIT presidency in this personnel move. Nonetheless, assessments inside and outside Samsung are that he remains an irreplaceable manager.
Previously, the industry had expected that, considering his age, Vice Chairman Jun would delegate business unit duties other than the head of the DS division to other semiconductor executives, but he is also keeping the post of head of the Memory Business Unit. The explanation is that this reflects Vice Chairman Jun's strong determination. A senior Samsung official said, "He is said to have strongly expressed his intention to strengthen Samsung's position in the HBM business, where the market was ceded to SK hynix, and to see through the development of next-generation DRAM, his area of expertise."
◇ President Roh Tae-Moon, Samsung's first DX division head from mobile
There are two major interpretations of President Roh Tae-Moon's appointment as CEO. By entrusting the DX division head—traditionally held by an appliance expert—to Roh, a mobile expert, the management appears intent on implanting the MX division's success DNA into all set businesses, including appliances and TVs. In fact, at "IFA 2025" in Berlin in September, Roh said, "We must innovate all home appliances around AI and connectivity."
It also hints at an overall organizational reshuffle for the appliances and TV businesses, which are struggling with profitability improvement. Some analyze that the management diagnosis and audit results for the DX division, including the Visual Display (VD) division in charge of TVs, were reflected in the actual personnel moves. Even before Roh's appointment as CEO, professional staff from the MX division had been reassigned to appliances and TVs.
An industry official said, "The lineage of DX division heads, including former President Yoon Boo-keun and then Vice Chairman Han Jong-hee, is based on the tradition that experts in TVs or appliances understand the finished goods business best," adding, "Elevating President Roh Tae-Moon to a position overseeing finished goods reflects a realistic judgment that the existing approach cannot win against China."
◇ "Technology-oriented" Presidents Yoon Jang-hyun and Park Hong-geun newly appointed… Authority delegated for new technology discovery
Another key point in this round of presidential appointments is the selection of Yoon Jang-hyun as Samsung Electronics DX division CTO (president) and Park Hong-geun as SAIT (formerly Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology) president (president). The crux is the "full deployment of tech talent." It is assessed that Samsung reflected in its personnel moves the intent not to stop at stabilizing management and reorganizing the organization, but to accelerate a shift to a future business structure centered on AI and semiconductors. It is interpreted as a signal to strengthen "technology management" in both pillars of finished goods (DX) and future technology research (SAIT).
President Yoon Jang-hyun, appointed as the new DX division chief technology officer (CTO) and head of Samsung Research, is a representative technology veteran who has led Samsung Electronics' software and platform strategy. He has worked across the MX division in IoT and Tizen, software platforms, and SW oversight, and at the end of last year moved to become CEO of Samsung Venture Investment, where he led investments in promising technologies in AI, robotics, bio, and semiconductors. Samsung expects that Yoon's "eye for technology" and investment experience will create direct synergies in the DX division's AI transition and in strengthening the competitiveness of the set business.
President Park Hong-geun, newly recruited as SAIT president, is a global scholar who served as a professor at Harvard University for 25 years. He has led convergence research that crosses disciplinary boundaries while studying basic sciences across chemistry, physics, and electronics, and Samsung has tasked him with overseeing next-generation device research such as quantum computing and neuromorphic semiconductors, assigning him a core role in the design of future technologies. The appointments are seen as revealing Samsung's strategy to accelerate the development of new semiconductor technologies and its transition to an "AI-driven company."