Samsung Hires New Design Chief, He Used to Be Jony Ive’s Sidekick

Samsung seems to be having a lot of big plans for 2015. Yesterday, news that the Korean tech giant might be interested in purchasing failing Canadian company BlackBerry spread around the web like wild fire, although BlackBerry denied this is what's happening behind the curtain.

Now, a report coming from KoreaHerald tells us that Samsung has a new chief of design onboard. His name is Lee Don-tae and it’s with him that the Korean conglomerate places all of its hopes.

Samsung has been struggling to push continuous growth while its mobile business is concerned, but faith has not been kind to it.

Back in November 2014, the company itself confirmed that it would cut the number of smartphone models to be sold in 2015 with 25% to 30%.

Samsung's countless strategies don't seem to be all that successful

Despite having a myriad of models available on the market, Samsung’s then financial results saw a massive 74% drop in mobile profiles in the third quarter due to declining Galaxy sales.

So with Lee Don-tae on board, the company hopes to see new horizons and opportunities open for its smartphone business.

Mister Lee is 47-year old and will have his office at Samsung’s Design Management Center. The Korean behemoth plans to use Lee’s talents not only to design products but also to improve the company’s overall design.

Lee used to work with Apple's Jony Ive

Prior to landing a job at Samsung, Mister Lee was the co-president of global design consulting firm Tangerine. If it rings any bell, it’s because Apple’s design Chief Jony Ive is the company's founder.

Lee Don-tae has a Master’s Degree from the Royal College of Art in London, and in case you might be wondering, one of his greatest achievements so far is the redesign of British Airway’s business-class cabin.

Mister Lee introduced a “z-shaped design” in the whole scheme of things, thus allowing the airline to add 20% extra seats and boosting profit for the company with a sensible $738 / €634 million.

We’re pretty curious what he will be able to do at Samsung. What do you think?