Chief of underperforming Samsung Electronics mobile unit keeps his job

Seoul

SAMSUNG Electronics defied speculation that it would drop the head of its underperforming mobile division, as the Samsung Group's heir apparent opted to keep the man whom his ailing father appointed while the patriarch's future is uncertain.

Staff at Samsung have been waiting nervously for the annual reshuffle after a weak smartphone performance and the worst earnings in three years, with many fearing for their jobs, but embattled co-chief executive JK Shin now knows that he will continue to head the electronics unit's mobile division despite sagging smartphone sales.