Samsung Has a New Smartphone Boss

Shin Jong-kyun, the current mobile business chief who has been affectionately called “Mr. Galaxy”, will step back from day-to-day operations to focus more on long-term strategy and fostering new growth businesses, the company said. Samsung made this announcement as part of its annual management revamp.

Samsung Electronics’ smartphone gross sales lead has been dwindling within the face of competitors from Apple Inc. within the premium market and Chinese corporations in cheaper units. Lee Jae Yong, the only son of the ailing patriarch, has quietly steered the nation’s largest chaebol of more than 60 companies without being named chairman, leading a spree of deals and announcing the largest buyback ever at its key electronics unit. He keeps his title of CEO of the IT and mobile division that encompasses phone, network and computer businesses.

Samsung says he led the development of two flagship smartphones released this year, the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy Note 5.

The fact that Samsung’s decided to make this move during the holiday season could also mean the company may be struggling to reach its sales goals in what is typically the most lucrative quarter for most tech companies.

Shin, 59, took over the mobile division in 2011 and oversaw Samsung’s rise to the world’s number-one smartphone maker.

But the latest research data show the company’s third-quarter global market share continued to slide from a year earlier.