Samsung Electronics CEO resigns over “unprecedented crisis”

The Vice Chairman and CEO of the South Korean technology giant Samsung Electronics, Kwon Oh-hyun, has made a decision to resign amid an “unprecedented crisis”, the company said Friday, adding that Kwon would neither seek the re-election as Chairman of the Board.

Operating profit for the period was likely to total 14.5 trillion won ($12.8 billion), Samsung said – a new record and almost triple the figure from a year earlier.

The world’s top smartphone vendor may have overcome its biggest PR crisis ever a lot faster than anyone anticipated, with minimal long-term financial repercussions and no lasting brand damage, but something way more serious than a few flaming batteries is crippling Samsung’s management for years.

64 year-old Kwon was the head of the company’s components division and was viewed by many at Samsung Group as the person directly under Lee.

“I’m anxious about a leadership vacuum at a time when Lee is absent from management”, Chung Sun-sup, chief executive of research firm Chaebul.com, said following Kwon’s announcement.

Samsung also leads in the next generation of screens called organic light-emitting diode displays.

Following the announcements, Samsung shares dropped to 1.42% at close.

The Samsung Electronics CEO has resigned and called for a new, youthful leadership approach to take on the fast changing industry. Other key executives have also left the company amidst the bribery scandal. The company is expected to smash its annual profits this year, largely due to soaring demand for its memory chips.

For the three months to the end of September, operating profits are expected to have tripled to £9.65 billion.

Driven by its chip memory, display and handset businesses, Samsung says its Q3 outlook is rosy.

Kwon Oh-hyun Kwon will step down when his tenure expires in March 2018.

A major earnings driver for the South Korean electronics giant is its semiconductor business, which is benefiting from positive pricing trends, especially for dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) chips. He called for youthful leadership suited to taking on the fast changing industry.