Samsung Electronics Co-CEO Han Jong-Hee Dies, Leaving New Appointee in Charge

 Han Jong-hee, co-chief executive officer of Samsung Electronics Co., speaks at the company's annual general meeting at the Suwon Convention Center in Suwon, South Korea, March 19, 2025. (Reuters)
Han Jong-hee, co-chief executive officer of Samsung Electronics Co., speaks at the company's annual general meeting at the Suwon Convention Center in Suwon, South Korea, March 19, 2025. (Reuters)
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Samsung Electronics Co-CEO Han Jong-Hee Dies, Leaving New Appointee in Charge

 Han Jong-hee, co-chief executive officer of Samsung Electronics Co., speaks at the company's annual general meeting at the Suwon Convention Center in Suwon, South Korea, March 19, 2025. (Reuters)
Han Jong-hee, co-chief executive officer of Samsung Electronics Co., speaks at the company's annual general meeting at the Suwon Convention Center in Suwon, South Korea, March 19, 2025. (Reuters)

Samsung Electronics said on Tuesday that co-CEO Han Jong-hee had died of a heart attack, leaving newly-appointed boss Jun Young-hyun solely in charge of the tech giant as it revamps its underperforming chip business and navigates trade uncertainties.

Han, 63, became chief executive officer of South Korea's biggest company in 2022 and was also in charge of its consumer electronics and mobile devices division.

Jun was appointed as Samsung's co-CEO just last week at its annual shareholders meeting following his promotion in 2024 to lead its semiconductor division, which has been lagging rivals like SK Hynix and TSMC in the global artificial intelligence chip market.

Samsung said in a stock exchange filing that Jun would be the sole CEO of the company after Han's death.

Samsung shares were down 0.5% in line with the broader South Korean market.

The world's biggest memory chipmaker has been suffering from weak earnings and a sagging share price in recent quarters after falling behind rivals in advanced memory chips and contract chip manufacturing, which have enjoyed strong demand from AI projects. Samsung has also ceded its smartphone market crown to Apple.

Han, who was also a board member, passed away at a hospital on Tuesday while being treated for cardiac arrest, a company spokesperson said. Samsung has not yet decided on a successor, the spokesperson added.

The company has traditionally had a co-CEO structure that divides oversight of its consumer and chips divisions.

Han joined Samsung nearly 40 years ago and built his career in its television business.

"Han was the key figure behind making Samsung’s TV business influential on a global scale," said an analyst who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the subject. "With his sudden passing... there could have some long-term impact on its business strategy, particularly in areas like marketing."

Han's absence could also potentially affect Samsung's efforts to improve the performance of its home appliance division at a time when it has to deal with uncertainties involving tariffs and escalating trade wars, the analyst said.

DIFFICULT YEAR

At the shareholder meeting Han chaired last week, he told investors that 2025 would be a difficult year and Samsung would flexibly respond to US President Donald Trump's tariffs with its global supply chain and manufacturing footprints.

He and other executives were grilled by shareholders at the meeting after the company's failure to ride an AI boom made it one of the worst-performing tech stocks last year.

In semiconductors, Samsung lags behind SK Hynix in so-called high bandwidth memory (HBM) chips that Nvidia and others rely on for AI graphic processing units.

"First and foremost, I sincerely apologize for the recent stock performance not meeting your expectations. Over the past year, our company failed to adequately respond to the rapidly evolving AI semiconductor market," Han said.

He was scheduled to attend Samsung's launch event for new home appliances on Wednesday.

Sources have said Samsung is also seeking to expand its presence in the automotive electronics market to drive new growth.

Samsung chairman Jay Y. Lee, who is in China this week to attend the China Development Forum, visited Xiaomi's car factory in Beijing and BYD's headquarters in Shenzhen, according to photos posted on Chinese social media app and local media reports.

Samsung declined to comment on Lee's trip to China.

Lee has been dogged by lawsuits and scandals for the past decade, after his father Lee Kun-hee had a heart attack in 2014. In February, he was cleared of charges in a case related to his succession of the family-owned conglomerate, but prosecutors appealed to the court decision.



Intel Shares Fall as Dour Forecasts Overshadow CEO’s Turnaround Promises

The Intel logo is seen near computer motherboard in this illustration taken January 8, 2024. (Reuters)
The Intel logo is seen near computer motherboard in this illustration taken January 8, 2024. (Reuters)
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Intel Shares Fall as Dour Forecasts Overshadow CEO’s Turnaround Promises

The Intel logo is seen near computer motherboard in this illustration taken January 8, 2024. (Reuters)
The Intel logo is seen near computer motherboard in this illustration taken January 8, 2024. (Reuters)

Intel's shares fell more than 8% on Friday as the company's weak revenue and profit forecasts overshadowed new CEO Lip-Bu Tan's strategy to revitalize the embattled chipmaker.

Years of bad decisions have left the struggling American chipmaking icon trailing in the lucrative artificial intelligence industry, while a raging Sino-US trade war casts doubt on near-term demand for its PC processors.

Tan on Thursday gave glimpses of his plans to reanimate Intel's culture of innovation by focusing on core engineering, stripping away unnecessary administrative work and cutting workforce.

"Intel is so huge that shifting its course is like turning a battleship – it cannot be done on a dime," Evercore ISI analysts said.

Tan did not provide much detail on how he will restore Intel's leadership position in manufacturing, nor on his plans to attract more external customers to the company's foundry, J.P.Morgan analysts said.

Tan remains focused on the contract manufacturing business and has recently met rival TSMC'S CEO to discuss how the two companies could collaborate.

Executives said first-quarter sales were boosted by customers stockpiling chips as growing tariff tensions between the US and China have made buyers wary of future purchases.

Intel could also stand to benefit if China introduces certain exemptions on US imports given the company's large presence in the Asian country, Ben Barringer, global technology analyst at Quilter Cheviot, said.

AI STRATEGY IN QUESTION

Tan's comments about sharpening Intel's existing products to best suit emerging AI trends have sparked questions on how the company plans to get ahead in the booming artificial intelligence sector and challenge market leader Nvidia.

"Intel needs to streamline fast – they have a lot of investments to make to catch up in AI," Stifel analyst Ruben Roy said.

Historically, Intel has relied on buying startups to further its AI ambitions. Other than Mobileye which Intel spun out a few years ago, the other deals didn't help the company gain much traction.

"Intel should have always had its own internal solution, but it missed the boat and tried to acquire its way into AI," Anshel Sag, principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, said.

One of Intel's biggest missteps was failing to capitalize on the booming demand for AI chips, allowing Nvidia to dominate the market.

Intel now faces an uphill battle in challenging AI heavyweights as it lacks the same level of GPU intellectual property, which is essential for AI workloads, Barringer added.

The company's stock has gained 7.2% so far this year, outperforming Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices, which have fallen nearly 20% each.

Intel, however, trades at a higher 12-month forward price-to-earnings ratio of 31.37 versus 22.70 for Nvidia and 19.24 for AMD.