Samsung Electronics revamps home appliance division with R&D upgrades

[Image source: Samsung Electronics]

Samsung Electronics Co. is revamping its home appliance business with upgrades in research and development team.

The Korean consumer electronics giant recently divided its home appliance R&D division into five separate teams of refrigerator, cooking device, dishwasher, clothing care and vacuum cleaner, according to industry sources Tuesday. The software development team is also divided into five new units accordingly.

The company earlier this month also brought six senior executives from TV and smartphone business units to facilitate better collaboration with the home appliance business in R&D projects. Last year, it launched an inter-company transfer program to strengthen the workforce at the home appliance division.

In addition, Samsung Research, the R&D hub of Samsung Electronics, created new a team for studying next-generation technology for home appliance.

Industry watchers find the latest organizational reform an effort by the tech giant’s efforts to turn around the thinning income in home appliance business as global demand slows. The company also recently had to issue a recall of washing machines due to defective glass doors.