Samsung Electronics, in a rare move, on Thursday said it has replaced Sohn Dae-il, head of the company’s North American mobile phone operations, signaling that Sohn had somehow fallen out with the company.

“It’s true Sohn has been there for quite a bit, but he may have done something wrong to irk the Samsung top brass because it’s rare to carry out personnel moves in the middle of the year,” industry sources said.

Samsung usually conducts personnel reshuffling at the very end of the year.

The next job for Sohn, whose official position is chief of Samsung Telecommunications America Corp., is to assist Shin Jong-kyun, the head of Samsung’s mobile unit and the mastermind behind the Galaxy smartphones.

Sohn has been with the U.S. team for seven years, during which Samsung failed to nab the top spot in the U.S. market ― the only region where the world’s largest smartphone maker is not No. 1.

Some critics said it was due to Sohn’s telecommunications-centric background, which clashed with the TV-based background of Choi Gee-sung, Samsung’s vice chairman of strategic planning.

However, others argued otherwise, as Shin’s expertise is also focused on telecommunications.

Sohn was replaced by Lee Jong-seok, vice president of Samsung’s Southeast Asian operations.

By Kim Ji-hyu, Kim Young-one
(jemmie@heraldcorp.com) (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)