Initiating a major executive shake-up at the CEO rank, Samsung presidents Yoon Boo-keun and J.K. Shin have been appointed co-CEOs of Samsung Electronics. Samsung now has three chief executives as the two joins vice-chairman Oh-Hyun Kwon in charge of Samsung's component business and CEO since last summer.

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The move is seen as an attempt to allow each of Samsung's major divisions to have a leader at a functionally equal level in the corporate hierarchy. President Yoon will continue heading the consumer electronics division, including Samsung's TV line and president Shin will continue to be in charge of Samsung's IT & Mobile Communications Division, including Samsung's just-updated Galaxy line of phones. Vice Chairman Kwon is in charge of Samsung's component business, Samsung Semiconductor, which produces computer memory and the Samsung Exynos line of mobile processors, among other things.

"The new leadership structure will serve to clarify and enhance independent management of the two set divisions, as well as the independent management of the set and component businesses," Samsung said in a press release.

The company had announced consolidated operating profit of approximately $8.27 billion for the fourth quarter of 2012 on roughly $52.45 billion in revenue. The profits mark a 10 percent increase over the previous quarter and a remarkable 89.3 percent increase over the same time last year.

Samsung's mobile business played the integral role in its significant financial performance. Samsung Mobile Communications saw a 4 percent growth over the previous quarter which the company attributes to the robust sales of the Galaxy S3 and the Galaxy Note 2.

 "The company's semiconductor division also posted impressive numbers, with Samsung's logic chip unit alone posting a 39 percent increase in operating profit from the previous quarter - taking it to 1.42 trillion won ($1.33 billion). While some have considered televisions to be a sector of consumer electronics that is facing trouble, Samsung bucked the trend here as well. Its Consumer Electronics Division, which handles displays and TVs, posted an increase in operating profit of 87 percent over the previous quarter," The Verge reports.

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