Dominique Oh, the head of Apple Korea, stepped down last week, a move staged against his will.

Oh's ouster came as a surprise as the Cupertino-based IT behemoth is currently looking forward to releasing its latest iPhone 5 here in early November.

It has also been less than two years since Oh was seated to spearhead the Korean unit following his predecessor Andrew Sedgwick, who headed Apple Korea for over a decade.

Oh, a former LG Electronics executive, was appointed in May of last year.

The lackluster sales of Apple's iPhone 4S is most likely to have impacted the decision to get rid of Oh, said industry sources.

"We were notified that the profit from Korea's iPhone 4S sales was the lowest among its offices in the Asia-Pacific region," said another industry executive who wished to remain anonymous. "On the other hand, Japan recorded the highest profit in proportion to its population and number of smartphone users."

Oh is a telecom veteran who has served diverse posts at LG, including European operation chief and vice president of global product planning and smartphones.

Regarding his appointment, industry watchers had said Apple was seeking to strengthen its foothold in Korea, which is the home turf of its toughest rivals, such as Samsung and LG.

By: DocMemory
Copyright © 2023 CST, Inc. All Rights Reserved