Samsung makes abrupt shift, names Lee Won-jin head of Visual Display business

This article is by Kim Kyung-mi and read by an artificial voice. Samsung Electronics abruptly replaced the head of its TV business, tapping marketing veteran Lee Won-jin to lead its Visual Display business in a move that points to pressure to revive one of the core operations in its Device eXperience division on Monday. The reshuffle came about six months after Samsung's last regular executive appointments and followed weak profitability in its TV and home appliance businesses. The Visual Display business is responsible for the firm's TV, monitor and audio products. Born in 1976, Lee earned both a bachelor's and a master's degree in electrical engineering from Purdue University in the United States and joined LG Electronics in 1991. Lee later held posts including consultant at Accenture Korea, president of Adobe Systems Korea and CEO and president of Google Korea before being recruited by Samsung Electronics in 2014 as head of the Service Business Team under the Visual Display business. At the end of 2023, Lee stepped away from frontline business duties after serving as president and head of the Service Biz Team under Samsung Electronics' Mobile eXperience (MX) business, but drew attention by returning to the front lines of management a year later. The appointment came about six months after Samsung Electronics carried out its regular presidential-level executive reshuffle in November last year, and was driven by weak performance in the Digital eXperience Division. Samsung Electronics' Digital eXpereince Division posted 1.9 trillion won ($1.29 billion) in operating profit last year, down to about one-tenth of the 17.3 trillion won recorded four years earlier in 2021. Yong Seok-woo, who had served as the head of the Visual Display division since late 2023, will move to an advisory role to the head of the DX Division. The slump in the Digital Appliances business and the TV business under the Visual Display division, both of which fell into the red in the fourth quarter of last year, proved decisive. Combined, the Digital Appliances and Visual Display divisions posted an annual operating loss of 200 billion won last year. Samsung described Lee as a specialist in content, services and marketing and said he is expected to lead a business turnaround and identify new growth areas. "We hope [Lee] can further strengthen the competitiveness of its TV business by leading a business turnaround from a fresh perspective and discovering new future growth drivers based on his extensive record of business success and understanding of the market," Samsung Electronics said. This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.