
After critics and consumers alike voice displeasure with the industrial design choices made in its latest flagship smartphone, Samsung recently replaced mobile design leader Chang Dong-hoon with deputy Lee Min-hyouk. Chang will be giving up his mobile design responsibilities to focus on a broader design language for each of the units under Samsung’s corporate umbrella according to Reuters. Samsung told Reuters the following in a statement:
The realignment will enable Chang to focus more on his role as head of the Design Strategy Team, the company's corporate design center which is responsible for long-term design strategy across all of Samsung's businesses, including Mobile Communications.
Lee, formerly an automotive designer, is widely credited with the Galaxy line’s initial design, which was well received upon the handsets’ debut. It was those same designs, that eventually led Apple to sue Samsung. Lee said the following in 2012 when Samsung and Apple were entering a legal battle in court:
As a designer, there's an issue of dignity. (The Galaxy) is original from the beginning, and I'm the one who made it. It's a totally different product with a different design language and different technology infused.
Courts by and large haven’t agreed with Lee’s take and Apple’s legal challenges have been wildly successful. Apple has secured sales bans of Samsung products in a number of jurisdictions and been awarded more than $900 million in US-based lawsuits.
Source: Reuters
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