Samsung’s marketing boss could leave after poor sales
Samsung’s head of sales and marketing for mobile, D.J. Lee, is thought to be leaving the mobile phone giant after record marketing spend failed to arrest a major drop-off in mobile sales.
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Lee could be leaving his position due to low smartphone sales. It is not yet known if he will be replaced.
A spokesman for Samsung declined to comment.
Samsung’s latest quarterly report showed that mobile sales fell 60% to 23.52, trillion won in the three months to October, from 35 trillion won a year earlier.
This despite record marketing spend in recent years. Reuters reported Samsung spent $14bn on advertising and promotion in 2013, equivalent to 5.4% of annual revenue.
In the UK, Samsung recently launched a £10m marketing campaign to launch the Galaxy Alpha smartphone with a campaign featuring Lily Allen. It also launched a major push for its Galaxy S5 smartphone earlier this year.
The brand has struggled with Apple’s dominance in the premium side of the industry and a growth in competition from smaller brands such as Xiaomi and Meizu.
It has been suggested that there may be more mobile division job cuts, but it is yet to be confirmed.
