The new division will be overseen by Kwon Oh-hyun, vice chairman and CEO of the device solutions (DS) division of Samsung Electronics. The DS division covers semiconductors, the system LSI division and LEDs. Speculation was rife that Jay Y. Lee, Samsung Electronics vice chairman and acting chairman, would make a strategic decision to re-enter the car business, even though its last attempt, a joint venture with Renault in the late 1990s, failed. The profitability of smartphones and TVs has decreased in recent years. The company finds it hard to resist facing off with other global giants like Google and Apple, who are already working on driverless vehicles and electric vehicles. Samsung Electronics also shrank the size of its back-offices. Its global marketing division will be downgraded to a global marketing center, and the global cooperation team under the management support division will be placed under the communications team.