 "Top-level rejig at Samsung to sharpen digital focus")
Samsung India, the country's largest consumer electronics company, is going through a major restructuring to increase focus on digital marketing and sales, as a part of its strategy to create a dedicated online team for the first time in its history.
At least five senior company executives will be reassigned portfolios starting January 1, 2016. The moves are expected to bring in major changes at the operation level for Samsung in the coming year.
The consumer goods sector is grappling with a slowdown and experts have been pointing to the need for companies to increase their presence on digital platforms.
According to sources familiar with the developments, Asim Warsi, vice-president for mobile and information technology, will become head of Samsung's online division and will be assigned the responsibility of marketing and sales of all products, including consumer electronics. Warsi, working at Samsung for nearly 10 years, takes over the crucial task of strengthening and establishing relationships with online sales partners, product planning and market sensing.
Manu Sharma, present director of the mobile division, has been promoted to replace Warsi.
"In response to the growth of online channel sales, the company is establishing online operations teams in South Korea and Southwest Asia. It will also create dedicated online organisations within key business units," Samsung said in a statement in South Korea earlier this month.
"An online focus has boosted our smartphone market share to 43 per cent in October from 37 per cent at the end of March. While we have been traditionally strong in offline channels, a mix of online and offline models will boost sales in 2016," a company executive said on condition of anonymity.
The company has launched a new online-only mobile series 'On' with two smartphones On5 and On7. It has also introduced Z3, - a smartphone running on the Tizen operating system, to be sold through Snapdeal.
"Samsung India Electronics has made significant contribution to the Indian economy by setting up two state-of-the-art manufacturing units and three R&D laboratories in India. As we embark on the next 20 years in India, we continue to look for new avenues of growth. The online market is one of them. At Samsung, we also believe in nurturing new leaders by giving them all-round experience across the business and by offering them new opportunities to demonstrate their talent", a Samsung Southwest Asia spokesperson told Business Standard.
Rajeev Bhutani, who has been associated with the consumer electronics industry for over two decades, will be taking over as the head of the consumer electronics division of Samsung India. Bhutani's new role will be challenging because in 2015 various factors like unseasonal rain, low growth in minimum support prices, and lack of disposable income among rural households kept sales growth of consumer electronics items subdued.
Bhutani, who now heads the electronics major's business strategy division in India, will be replaced by Atul Jain. Jain is currently a senior vice-president at Samsung's headquarters in Seoul, South Korea. He joined Samsung in 2010 after working at Coca-Cola, Godfrey Phillips and Bharti Airtel. Jain will be reporting directly to the company's India president Hyun Chil Hong and will be responsible for the company's business strategy and planning.
The South Korean consumer goods company that launched its enterprise division in 2013 in India is merging the division with its consumer electronics division. Anuj Jain, an IIM Calcutta alumni who used to head the business division will be absorbed in Samsung India's corporate relations team as part of the reorganisation.
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