Lee Kun-Hee, the head of Samsung Electronics as well as the parent Samsung Group, has been bedridden since suffering a heart attack in 2014 with his 48-year-old son, J.Y. Samsung and other family-run conglomerates, or "chaebol," have played a major role in South Korea's stellar growth for past decades. "It's a tough and crucial time for Samsung, and its new leader has his work cut out," Wi said. Since Samsung started rolling out replacements last week, half a million users in the US have exchanged handsets. While the financial hit will likely be huge, a bigger worry for the firm is the effect on the Samsung name, said Linda Sui, analyst at market research firm Strategy Analytics.

Source: Bangkok Post September 25, 2016 06:45 UTC