The head of Samsung’s mobile design division has been ousted from his position following widespread criticism and negative feedback for the firm's latest Galaxy S5 flagship.
Reuters reports that Chang Dong-hoon “offered to resign last week”, an offer that was apparently accepted because he’s now being replaced by vice president of mobile design Lee Min-hyouk. Chang Dong-hoon isn’t being banished from Samsung though, far from it; he’s being installed as head of the company’s Design Strategy Team at its corporate design strategy, essentially an umbrella design division which covers all of Samsung’s device departments, including mobile.
“The realignment will enable Chang to focus more on his role as head of the Design Strategy Team, the company's corporate design center which is responsible for long-term design strategy across all of Samsung's businesses, including Mobile Communications,” Samsung said in a press statement.
That could mean we still see his influence in Galaxy devices going forward, but hopefully this reshuffle is a sign that Samsung has recognised it dropped a clanger with the Galaxy S5’s design and things will improve with future models. The new guy, Lee Min-hyouk, is allegedly regarded around Samsung as a “Midas” for his “golden touch”, as he’s been a major influence in the overall design of the largely successful Galaxy series – but surely that means he’s as culpable for the Galaxy S5’s squiffy exterior? Perhaps, but hopefully lessons have been learned.
Samsung’s design will likely remain static for the time being, however, with scheduled launches for the Galaxy Note 4 in September and the Galaxy S5 Active already in the pipeline – these are already well past the drawing board phase and any serious design revolution will probably have to wait until 2015.
by pbriden via Featured Articles
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