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Samsung’s De Fina stepping down

De Fina said he is leaving the company amicably due to “personal reasons.” De Fina joined Samsung just over four years ago. At the time, the company wasn’t well known for its security products, he said, but has grown significantly, particularly in recent years. He estimated company growth to be on the order of 75 per cent in the last year alone. “I’m pleased to say I organized a really good team. The credit for building the business goes to that team,” he said. “I’m leaving the company in much better shape than when I found it and the team is spectacular.”

He wouldn’t speculate on who Samsung will tap to be his replacement, but said he would still like to be involved in the security industry, possibly in a consulting or advisory capacity. He added that the security business has changed significantly during his tenure at the company, noting the increasing role of IT and the growing participation of IT professionals in security management roles. De Fina also revealed that he  recently spent time with Silicon Valley giants like Yahoo and Google, absorbing their collected wisdom and getting their impressions on the state of the physical security industry.

De Fina had previously spent 26 years with Panasonic. Immediately prior to joining Samsung, he spent two years with Paul Reed Smith Guitars as its vice-president of global sales and marketing.