Samsung's mobile business has been having a rough year—it's still one of the biggest and most profitable players in the Android ecosystem, but profits are down. That can be attributed at least in part to lower than expected sales of the company's flagship Galaxy S5. The Wall Street Journal reports that Samsung increased production by 20 percent relative to last year's Galaxy S4, but that it actually sold 40 percent less than it expected to. The S4 sold around 16 million phones in its first three months on the market, compared to just 12 million for the S5.
That's still a whole bunch of high-end phones, but Samsung is reportedly looking to shuffle its executive team in the hopes of reversing the sales slide. The company currently has an odd triple-CEO setup—B.K. Yoon is responsible for TVs and other home electronics and appliances, J.K. Shin is responsible for mobile, and Kwon Oh-Hyun is responsible for semiconductors and other components. The company is apparently considering giving the mobile business to Yoon, adding it to his current list of responsibilities.
In addition to the potential executive shakeups, Samsung plans to increase its focus and profitability by whittling down its sprawling lineup—the company reportedly plans to introduce 25 to 30 percent fewer phones in 2015 than it did in 2014. That's still a lot of different models given that Samsung has introduced 56 smartphones this year, but it would bring the number of new phones more in line with competitors like HTC or LG.
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