A sales assistant checks Samsung Electronics' Galaxy S5 smartphones at a shop in Seoul
IN PHOTO: A sales assistant checks Samsung Electronics' Galaxy S5 smartphones at a shop in Seoul July 29, 2014. South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co Ltd on Thursday reported a 24.6 percent fall in second-quarter operating profit, in line with guidance, due to disappointing returns from its smartphone business. Picture taken July 29, 2014. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

Salaries for top executives may not correlate entirely to their abilities but steep cuts indicate otherwise. Samsung's chief mobile official, J.K. Shin, saw a sharp decrease in salary following slumping sales. The sudden and steep decrease may indicate Samsung's situation more serious than before.

Corporate executives have achieved a new level of status and attention in this current time. More importantly, tech officials have taken center stage with the market's attention on these personalities as with their brands and products. According to the Wall Street Journal, Samsung's disappointing 3rd quarter earnings report may have triggered the salary cut. Regulatory findings suggest that the executive earned 689 million Korean won in the third quarter. This is around $630,000 compared to the 1.7 billion won or $1.5M he earned in the second quarter.

According to Android Authority, it is easy to see the sharp cut to be a reflection of the company's performance. It can also be considered as a sign of disappointment from Samsung on Shin's performance. Both the company and the executive have not provided details about the issue. There have been talks whether the cut was voluntary or part of the management's decision.

Some argue that it may not be an event worth triggering sympathy throughout the industry as Shin still ranks as one of the best-paid officials in tech. Shin remains on par with Apple's Tim Cook earning $4.25 million in salary and bonus last September 2013.

Shin's lower salary counts as ironic as he is best known for propelling Samsung's mobile division at the forefront of competition. The Korean tech giant competed strongly in a heavily saturated market through the years though some of that magic may have gone as new players come in. Samsung claimed seeing a 60% drop in its net profits compared to the same period as last year's according to the Wall Street Journal. Analysts believe that lack of innovation and too many releases continue to hurt Samsung. If it wants to turn things around, the company needs to come up with a better game changer to thwart off growing competition like Xiaomi.