Samsung Electronics replaces chip business heads, CFO in sweeping reshuffle

By Hyunjoo Jin and Heekyong Yang

SEOUL (Reuters) -Samsung Electronics on Wednesday announced new heads of its memory and foundry chip units, as it scrambles to catch up with SK Hynix and Taiwan’s TSMC in the booming AI chip market.

The South Korean giant’s shares fell 2% at market open as the sweeping reshuffle of top brass did little to calm concern about competitiveness as well as policy risk associated with the incoming U.S. administration of President-elect Donald Trump.

Samsung named Jun Young-hyun as its co-CEO as well as head of its memory chip business and appointed Han Jin-man as company president and head of the foundry business.

President and CFO Park Hark-kyu moves to the Business Support Task Force led by a second-in-command to Chairman Jay Y. Lee. Samsung has yet to announce a new CFO.

Samsung’s share price has steadily fallen since August on investor concern that it is lagging rivals in supplying high-end chips to leading AI chip designer Nvidia.

Jun, who takes direct control of memory chips, has headed the overall semiconductor division since May in an appointment Samsung said was aimed at tackling a “chip crisis”.

Last month he apologised for a 40% on-quarter profit plunge at the division and said AI chip business with a “major” customer had suffered a delay.

This week, in rare public comments, Chairman Lee said Samsung faces unprecedented challenges.

“I am fully aware that there are grave concerns about the future of Samsung recently,” Lee said during the final hearing of an accounting fraud trial where he is a defendant. He has denied wrongdoing.

Wednesday’s appointments also included Nam Seok-woo, head of chip factory engineering and operations, as chief technology officer of the foundry business. Samsung also named a new president of management strategy at its Device Solutions division.

(Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin, Heekyong Yang, Hyunsu Yim and Joyce Lee; Writing by Jack Kim; Editing by Ed Davies and Christopher Cushing)