(Image source from: Indiatvnews.com)
On Tuesday, Samsung Electronics, the leading technology company in South Korea, announced the passing of its co-CEO, Han Jong-hee, who died from cardiac arrest at the age of 63. Han was responsible for the consumer electronics and mobile division, while co-CEO Jun Young-hyun managed the chip segment for the largest firm in South Korea. According to a spokesperson, Han was receiving treatment at a hospital when he passed away, and no successor has been named yet. In the morning trading session, Samsung Electronics’ stock remained stable. The company has been facing challenges with lower earnings and declining share prices in recent quarters as it trails behind its competitors in the advanced memory chip market and contract chip manufacturing, both of which have seen heightened demand driven by AI initiatives. Additionally, Samsung has lost its leading position in the smartphone market to Apple.
Having joined Samsung Electronics nearly four decades ago, Han developed his career within the television sector. He ascended to the role of vice chairman and CEO in 2022 and was a member of the company’s board. Just last week, he presided over Samsung's shareholder meeting, where he and other executives faced tough questions from shareholders regarding the company's inability to capitalize on the AI surge, leading to it being one of the poorest performing tech stocks in the previous year. In the semiconductor field, Samsung is falling behind SK Hynix in the HBM chip segment crucial for Nvidia and others that supply AI graphic processing units. Han expressed regret, stating, "First and foremost, I sincerely apologize for the recent stock performance not meeting your expectations. Over the past year, our company failed to adequately respond to the rapidly evolving AI semiconductor market." He was meant to attend an event on Wednesday to unveil new home appliance products.
