Between the Lines: Samsung’s Reorganization, Big News or Not?

The big story breaking the end of last week was the reorganization at Samsung Electronics America. Or at least it seemed like a big story based on the number of Tweets and blogs on the topic.

In case you missed it, and I’m not sure how you could have done that, effective January 1, 2015, there will now be a single U.S. organization to drive growth in the consumer electronics, mobile, and enterprise markets. According to a Samsung press release, “The integration of the two current organizations as a single Samsung Electronics America will give customers and partners the advantage of a single point of contact.”

Gregory Lee will continue as President and CEO of Samsung Electronics North America while Tim Baxter has been named President and COO of the new, integrated Samsung Electronics America. Odd man out is Tod Pike, SVP of Samsung’s Enterprise Business Division, who will leave the company sometime in January.

The press release also noted that the new organization will be positioned to focus on aggressive growth in new strategic initiatives. “By creating one business organization that will bring together all of the company’s branded consumer and enterprise business operations, Samsung will also be able to better serve its U.S. customers through strengthened business operations and collaboration across market segments.  A single business organization will also provide expanded career development and mobility programs for Samsung’s growing workforce.”

Without a doubt many of us in the industry acknowledge Samsung as an up and comer that has been positioning itself to be a significant player in the document imaging space. It’s a company that many of us in the press and analyst community are watching more closely. But still, this is nothing more than a reorganization, something that happens in every business and every industry every single day. As Keith Kmetz of IDC told me, “Companies reorganize all the time to better suit market conditions and here’s another one. I expect that’s what Samsung is doing. They feel they can consolidate two groups and execute better.”

What else can you say about it at this point?

Well, one might question the departure of Pike, who has not only credibility in the channel, but a vast array of knowledge based on his years in the industry. Will that have any impact on Samsung going forward?

“Whether or not Tod Pike’s departure has anything to do with the performance of Samsung’s nascent MFP dealer business, it’s safe to say that yet another management change in the company’s hardcopy group is disruptive and unlikely to hasten Samsung’s progress toward achieving its lofty goals in this business,” observes Brian Bissett, editor & publisher of The MFP Report.

“As far as Tod leaving, he’s a recognized leader in the printing and imaging market and I expect we’ll see him again somewhere else in the very near future,” predicts Kmetz.

It will be interesting to see who will become the new face of Samsung for the BTA channel. Some may say Pike will be hard to replace, but we’ve all heard that line before and the reality is like it or not we’re all replaceable.

So reorg or not, Pike in or out, anyway you look at it, Samsung remains a viable player in the document imaging industry and one that we’ll all be watching in 2015 long after the hysteria over this reorg has become an industry footnote.

Thanks for reading.