Samsung says goodbye to mobile chief
As a big player in the mobile industry, Samsung has been making big changes
lately. The company is stressing more US sales, though it is a global
company, and has been trying to find ways to stay ahead. The new Samsung
Galaxy Note 3 and Smartwatch have been huge hits and are bringing in more
business than ever. You wouldn’t think a change of of mobile chief would be
good news for a company doing so well.
Goodbye Packingham, we’ll see you in another mobile market
Kevin Packingham, according to the New York Times, has left Samsung, though
the Samsung spokesperson was not willing to comment on whether or not his
leaving was voluntary. Whether or not he left on his own isn’t really what
matters so much as how it has affected the company. In the past, Packingham
has been an executive at Sprint Nextel and Amerilink Telecom Corp,
according to Forbes. A statement from Samsung Mobile said “Kevin Packingham
has departed Samsung Mobile. We thank Kevin for his contributions and wish
him well in his future endeavors.”
Large change made by Packingham
One big change that Packingham made to the mobile industry, or at least
with Samsung, was his willingness to promote his own phone, according to
the New York Times. Apparently, it is more common for mobile manufacturers
to require carriers to advertise the phones for them. Instead, Samsung
marketed their own phones ensuring success to carriers, who were then more
than happy to sell the phones. This change has not been followed by many
other manufacturers, but it did set Samsung apart. Though it is unknown if
this really boosted profit margins for Samsung, it is still a smart move to
gain more favor with the person selling your phone.
Is it good or bad for Samsung?
So far, there hasn’t been much of a change seen for Samsung. Apparently,
nobody is too worried about the loss of Packingham. People are much more
concerned with the amount of profit Samsung is making. According to the
Wall Street Journal, Samsung has been reporting huge profit increases in
the last couple of quarters, and the most recent quarter is expected to be
even better. Compared with last year, profits are supposed to be up 11 to
15 percent. Still, the share prices are fairly low. You would think some of
this news would have a positive impact on the value of Samsung, but I guess
people aren’t that interested.
The Wall Street Journal believes that the low share prices may be due to
the fact that Samsung sells more than just phones, and a third of the
profit comes from phone sales. It sounds like a good thing, but it means
that the other areas of the business are not doing as well. It may not
matter as long as Samsung can keep selling phones and innovating to get
more business.
Samsung is now the world’s biggest smartphone maker by shipments. Because
of this, you can expect Samsung to do pretty well, even with the loss of
its mobile chief.