Samsung goes in for recast, plans to consolidate key units

SEOUL: Samsung Electronics said on Thursday that it was consolidating some of its key businesses a week after announcing a new executive line-up.

Samsung said it would merge its home theatre, DVD and Blu-ray player businesses with its global No 1 TV business as part of what it called a restructuring plan. It will also move its digital music player, laptop computer and set-top box businesses from its digital media business to the telecommunications network business. Set-top boxes bring internet movie downloads to TV sets.

���By bringing its computing and mobile technology together, the company hopes to create new markets and take the lead in the rapidly changing industry,��� Samsung said in the statement. Samsung last week announced an executive reshuffle, which included the naming of Lee Yoon-woo, its former external relations chief, as chief executive officer and vice chairman, replacing long-serving Yun Jong-yong.

The move was seen as speeding up the decision-making process at Samsung Electronics, the world's largest seller of computer memory chips, televisions and liquid crystal displays. The company ranks No. 2 in mobile phones, behind Finland's Nokia Corp.

Samsung also said Lee Jae-yong, the 39-year-old son of former chairman Lee Kun-hee, was taking on new duties to develop businesses in emerging markets, including China, India, Russia and the other countries of the former Soviet Union. Lee Kun-hee announced his resignation last month after being indicted on charges of allegedly evading income taxes. The indictment followed a high-profile probe by special prosecutors into the family-controlled Samsung Group conglomerate, of which Samsung Electronics is the flagship.

Lee Jae-yong, who stepped down last month from his duties as Samsung's chief customer officer while retaining the title of senior vice-president, will carry out his new duties from a base in China, said James Chung, a Samsung spokesman. ���He'll move to China as soon as possible,��� Chung said of Lee, a Chinese speaker who also goes by Jay Y. Lee. Chung declined to say where in China the younger Lee would be based.