April 25, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Electronics on March 2 launched a new team dedicated to product quality control after the Korean tech giant suffered more than 7 trillion won (US$6.13 billion) loss in operating profit last year following the global recall of the fire-prone Galaxy Note 7.

Samsung said Kim Jong-ho, president and former production chief at the shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries, has been named head of the team that is under direct control of its three co-CEOs. The 60-year-old veteran engineer entered Samsung Electronics in 1983, serving leadership positions on production and research and development mostly at the mobile business division.

“Kim is one of the best specialists in the manufacturing sector. He will be leading quality control and production innovation across all Samsung products, including smartphones and home appliances,” Samsung said in a statement.

Following the Note fallout, Samsung has pledged to toughen measures for better product quality control.

In January, the Korean tech giant concluded faulty batteries, produced by Samsung SDI and China’s ATL, have caused the bigger-screen phone’s fire and explosion accidents. But the company added it had no plans to seek compensation from the battery suppliers, saying the responsibility for the final quality control was on the company, the handset maker.

Samsung has sold more than 5 million Note phones globally, including inventories, before the phone was recalled in just two months since its August release. Almost 90 percent of them have been returned.

In the meantime, the company plans to unveil its new flagship smartphone Galaxy S8 in separate events in New York and London on March 29.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)