The South Korean tech giant strengthens its tech-driven leadership bench as TM Roh is named co-CEO alongside Vice Chairman Jun Young-hyun
Samsung Electronics Co. has placed two of its most seasoned engineers, TM Roh and Jun Young-hyun, at the top of the company in dual leadership, underscoring a clear shift toward technical gravitas over managerial generalists as the South Korean tech giant races to secure an edge in artificial intelligence and next-generation chips.
The company announced on Friday that it has appointed Roh, head of the Device eXperience (DX) division, as co-CEO, joining Jun, vice chairman and head of the Device Solutions (DS) division.
Roh, an engineer with three decades of mobile-device experience, had been acting chief of the DX division since March following the sudden death of former co-CEO and Vice Chair Han Jong-hee.
As head of the DX division and CEO, Roh will continue to oversee the Mobile eXperience (MX) business.
Jun, meanwhile, remains head of the memory business, the core of Samsung's semiconductor operations.
With Roh and Jun at the top, Samsung Electronics has reinstated its dual-CEO structure, which was revived last year in a bid to sharpen strategic decision-making across its two flagship businesses - the DX, which drives smartphones and consumer electronics, and the DS, which anchors its chip operations.
The latest changes formalize a two-man executive structure built around deep technical specialization.
MORE TECH HEAVYWEIGHTS STEP INTO SENIOR ROLES
As part of this year's shakeup, Samsung Electronics has also appointed Park Hong-kun, a Harvard professor and leading figure in nanoscience, quantum science and engineering, as president and head of the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT), filling the vacuum left by Jun.
Park, who will officially join the company next January, is expected to guide Samsung's long-horizon research in areas such as quantum computing and neuromorphic semiconductors.
Samsung also tapped Yoon Jang-hyun, formerly CEO of Samsung Venture Investment, as president and chief technology officer of the DX division, as well as head of Samsung Research.
Yoon previously oversaw internet-of-things (IoT), Samsung's operating system Tizen and software platform development within the MX business, and is expected to accelerate the integration of AI and robotics across Samsung's product ecosystem.
PROGRESS STARTS TO SHOW
The latest reshuffle underscores Samsung's urgency to regain its footing in the fast-growing AI chip segment, industry experts said.
Long the dominant force in memory, Samsung had stumbled in high-bandwidth memory (HBM), where its once-smaller crosstown rival SK Hynix Inc. has opened a sizable lead and is now the primary supplier of the latest HBM3E chips to Nvidia Corp., the world's most valuable AI chip company.
Samsung responded last year with sweeping organizational changes, including Jun's return to the semiconductor division in an unusual mid-year reshuffle.
It also strengthened the DX side of the business, promoting Choi Won-joon to COO in March and hiring Mauro Porcini, former chief design officer at 3M and PepsiCo, as chief design officer, the first foreign design chief in the company's history.
As the leader of the MX business, Roh has already made his mark with the successful launch of Samsung's AI-powered Galaxy smartphones last year, a product line credited with reviving global sales momentum for Samsung smartphones.
He is expected to extend AI features across TVs and home appliances to reinforce Samsung's position as an AI-driven device maker.
Under Jun's leadership, Samsung's memory business has rapidly regained ground.
The company has secured new supply deals for high-bandwidth memory with major AI chip producers, including Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD), marking a tentative recovery in a segment that will be central to future AI infrastructure.
In July, Samsung also clinched a landmark contract chipmaking deal worth $16.5 billion from Tesla Inc., raising hopes of a turnaround for its underperforming foundry business, which has struggled with persistent losses in recent quarters.
A month later, it won a deal to produce next-generation chips for Apple Inc. at its semiconductor manufacturing facilities in the US.
A PIVOTAL MOMENT
The Korean chip giant faces stiff competition not only from SK Hynix and Micron Technology Inc. in memory but also from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. in advanced logic chips.
It is also navigating policy uncertainty from US tariffs and regulatory shifts, as well as broader geopolitical risks.
Against this backdrop, Samsung's decision to elevate technologists to the most senior roles signals a deliberate bet that deep scientific and engineering expertise will determine who wins the next era of AI hardware, analysts said.