Samsung Mobile Taps Former Sprint Exec To Lead Product Development

Packingham will join Samsung as the new senior vice president of product innovation. He will be responsible for overseeing Samsung’s carrier product management, product planning and concept creation departments, and will report to Samsung’s president, Dale Sohn, the company said.

Packingham spent the past year as the CEO of Amerilink Telecom, a telecom startup courted by Chinese telecom behemoth, Huawei, in its failed bid to land an equipment contract with Sprint.

Previously Packingham spent over 11 years at Sprint, where he was the senior vice president of product and technology. Before leaving Sprint in August 2010, he headed up the launch of the HTC EVO 4G, the first commercially available 4G phone in the US.

Packingham replaces Omar Kahn, former chief technology officer at Samsung Mobile, who left the company for Citigroup Mobile last July.

“Samsung has enjoyed a strong relationship with Kevin for many years as a trusted colleague within the telecom industry and we’re excited to add Kevin’s experience and knowledge to our senior leadership team,” said Dale Sohn, president of Samsung Mobile. “Kevin’s extensive background in bringing innovative and game-changing products and services to the U.S. market will be a major factor in the future success of Samsung Mobile.”