The Samsung conglomerate has many divisions under its umbrella. The mobile division, officially called Mobile eXperience, is perhaps the best known, as it makes widely popular devices under the Galaxy brand.
MX generates billions in profits for the conglomerate every year. As such, there's always interest in the division's leadership, as the person responsible for steering the ship plays a vital role in the advancement of Samsung's vision for the mobile industry. Many illustrious candidates have held the top job, including Dongjin Koh, better known as DJ Koh.
Who is DJ Koh?
Born in 1961, DJ Koh was the co-CEO overseeing Samsung's IT and mobile communications division until his resignation in 2022. Prior to this, he was appointed the head of the conglomerate's mobile division in December 2015. Koh was replaced as the head of MX by Tae-Moon Roh (TM Roh) in January 2020.
Koh's career at Samsung spans more than four decades. He joined the company back in 1984. Before being made the head of the mobile business, Koh led the Technology Strategy Team from 2007 to 2015.
He played a pivotal role in creating alliances with partner companies to commercialize innovative technologies. Koh did his bachelors in Industrial Engineering from the Sungkyunkwan University College of Engineering.
Why He Got the Job
Throughout his career at Samsung, Koh was instrumental in the development of the Galaxy S series of smartphones. He was also head of the development team that created the S Pen for the Galaxy Note, for which he helped forge a strategic partnership with Wacom. Koh is also credited with spearheading software initiatives during his time as the head of Samsung's R&D Institute in the UK.
His ability to accurately predict market demand enabled Samsung to recognize consumer trends early and capitalize on them through its products. His focus on enhancing software also yielded important developments such as Samsung Knox and Samsung Pay. Koh's vast experience in human resource management allowed him to improve operational excellence throughout the organization, thus making him very qualified to take over the job.
What We Liked
We liked that DJ Koh was a very dynamic leader. His excellent understanding of hardware and software allowed Samsung's Galaxy products to become much better over time. He boldly took responsibility during the Galaxy Note 7 fiasco and enacted concrete changes to ensure something like that never happened again.
His ability to understand market trends enabled Samsung to capture the first-mover advantage with foldable phones, when the original Galaxy Fold was unveiled back in 2019. The foldable segment is now a serious business line for segment, contributing tens of millions to its total smartphone shipments each year.
Koh's focus on improving Samsung's software ecosystem is equally deserving of praise. Under his leadership, we saw the development and improvement of various ecosystem-centered initiatives, including Bixby, SmartThings, Samsung Pay, and the Galaxy Store. Samsung's software update policy for its Galaxy devices also became more nimble.
Samsung fans regard his time at the helm highly, and often fondly reminisce about the days where Koh's incredible energy and belief in the success of Samsung would shine through.
Future of Samsung after Koh
With TM Roh taking over from DJ Koh, Samsung MX's leadership went into very capable hands. A lot of what he achieved during his tenure as head of the division led the foundation for TM Roh to take MX from strength to strength. Whenever the history of Samsung's mobile division is written, Koh would always be mentioned with high praise.