Samsung Freezes Salaries Following Mobile Implosion And Titanic Profit Collapse
It's been a rough year for Samsung. Despite being the world's top seller of smartphones, its profits took a precipitous dip after being unexpectedly left with unsold Galaxy S5 handsets and facing increased competition, particularly in the low-end and mid-range markets. Samsung has tried numerous strategies to turn things around, the latest of which is a freeze in wages for employees in South Korea.
It's been six years since the last time Samsung did this on such a scale, and that was the result of the global financial crisis. However, it's not the first wage freeze in recent times -- the South Korean electronics company had already frozen wages for high level executives as it sought to cut costs.
Samsung is in the midst of a major restructuring effort. At the tail end of last year, Samsung shook things up by firing three high level employees -- Lee Don-joo, former chief of the mobile business unit's strategic marketing office; Kim Jae-kwon, former chief of the global operations office; and Lee Chul-hwan, former head of the mobile R&D office.
The company spared its CEO J.K. Shin based on his past success, as he was directly responsible for Samsung's rapid rise in the mobile market. Samsung's hope is that he can again turn things around, though it appears he's working on borrowed time.
Following months of hype and speculation, Samsung will unveil its Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge smartphones during an Unpacked event scheduled for March 1, 2015.
It's been six years since the last time Samsung did this on such a scale, and that was the result of the global financial crisis. However, it's not the first wage freeze in recent times -- the South Korean electronics company had already frozen wages for high level executives as it sought to cut costs.
Samsung is in the midst of a major restructuring effort. At the tail end of last year, Samsung shook things up by firing three high level employees -- Lee Don-joo, former chief of the mobile business unit's strategic marketing office; Kim Jae-kwon, former chief of the global operations office; and Lee Chul-hwan, former head of the mobile R&D office.
The company spared its CEO J.K. Shin based on his past success, as he was directly responsible for Samsung's rapid rise in the mobile market. Samsung's hope is that he can again turn things around, though it appears he's working on borrowed time.
Following months of hype and speculation, Samsung will unveil its Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge smartphones during an Unpacked event scheduled for March 1, 2015.
