Samsung Galaxy S5 Design Head Shown The Exit
All Samsung's mobile division has done in recent years is build wildly popular handsets and tablets in the mobile space to the point where it now sells twice as many smartphones as rival Apple, but if you think those accomplishments come with job security, think again. Chang Dong-hoon is reportedly stepping down as head of Samsung's mobile design team amid criticism of the recently launched Galaxy S5.
According to Reuters and the spokesperson it chatted with, he'll be replaced by Lee Min-hyouk, vice president for mobile design. Other than that, Samsung isn't saying why Dong-hoon is out and Min-hyouk is in, leaving us to speculate on what's going on.
It could be that Samsung is starting to view the Galaxy S smartphone line as stale. Not a ton has changed in terms of the handset line's appearance within the past couple of generations, but then again, it's a design that's working. While we dinged the Galaxy S5 for having a slightly lower overall build quality versus its top competitors (Apple iPhone 5S, HTC One M8, etc), we still gave the device an Editor's Choice award, which we don't hand out lightly.
There's also the issue of continued litigation with Apple, which claims Samsung copied the look and feel of its iPhone. Apple's legal battles have been met with mixed success, but overall, Samsung's been ordered to pay more than $1 billion in combined damages for patent infringement in less than two years.
According to Reuters and the spokesperson it chatted with, he'll be replaced by Lee Min-hyouk, vice president for mobile design. Other than that, Samsung isn't saying why Dong-hoon is out and Min-hyouk is in, leaving us to speculate on what's going on.
It could be that Samsung is starting to view the Galaxy S smartphone line as stale. Not a ton has changed in terms of the handset line's appearance within the past couple of generations, but then again, it's a design that's working. While we dinged the Galaxy S5 for having a slightly lower overall build quality versus its top competitors (Apple iPhone 5S, HTC One M8, etc), we still gave the device an Editor's Choice award, which we don't hand out lightly.
There's also the issue of continued litigation with Apple, which claims Samsung copied the look and feel of its iPhone. Apple's legal battles have been met with mixed success, but overall, Samsung's been ordered to pay more than $1 billion in combined damages for patent infringement in less than two years.
