Ridgefield Park, N.J. — The question of why John Herrington suddenly left the top U.S. spot at Sharp Electronics last week has been answered.
Samsung Electronics America announced that the former Sharp president, LG sales chief and Amana marketing VP will head its home appliance business as senior VP and general manager effective Nov. 17.
He succeeds Kevin Dexter, who gave focus to Samsung’s early fits-and-starts efforts in the U.S. majap market, and recently rode herd over a massive, multi-category line expansion.
Dexter will remain with the company, leading the development of a new, undisclosed business segment.
“Kevin Dexter has been an instrumental leader in our home appliance business,” noted Joe Stinziano, executive VP of the manufacturer’s consumer business division. “He advanced Samsung to be the fastest-growing home appliance brand in the U.S. market and launched important relationships with new partners.
“With his extensive knowledge and years of experience at Samsung, I am excited that Kevin will be moving into a new role which we believe has the potential to grow our business to significant levels in the near future,” Stinziano said.
Herrington, who will report to Stinziano, will oversee all majap sales and marketing in the U.S. He held a similar role for chief Korean rival LG Electronics after leaving Amana.
In his new post at Samsung, Herrington will look to build on the majap division’s double-digit sales growth of the last seven years, while furthering the goal of Samsung Electronics president/CEO B.K. Yoon of becoming the world’s largest appliance manufacturer by 2015.
Herrington led Sharp Electronics Marketing Company of America (SEMCA) as president for four years and was succeeded on an interim basis by Jim Sanduski.
