Samsung India pays the price of costlier chips with a round of layoffs

Kolkata: Samsung India Electronics has begun chopping jobs in batches as gross sales and margins have come beneath stress in its mainstay smartphone business, after memory chip prices greater than doubled, a number of trade executives advised ET on the situation of anonymity. Thus far, 80-100 executives within the television sets and residential equipment companies have been requested to go, they mentioned.

The layoffs embody director-level officers and crew leads on the headquarters, together with department and space managers at working branches, mentioned the folks.

Additionally learn: Samsung in rejig mode to boost India play: Company to remove overlapping functions across TV & home appliances units

“As much as 25% of its sales and marketing workforce within the electronics enterprise — together with offroll staff employed via manpower companies — might be affected,” mentioned one of many executives cited earlier.

Smartphone crew protected for now


The absence of an area semiconductor enterprise, which has made Samsung certainly one of solely three Asian shares with a trillion-dollar market capitalisation, is seen to be hurting the India unit’s efficiency and manpower prospects. The smartphone crew is insulated from the job cuts, as of now, as it’s Samsung’s largest enterprise regionally, and a gross sales rebound there can dramatically enhance the general India monetary efficiency.
The home electronics gross sales crew has 550-600 executives, other than a bigger gross sales organisation for smartphones. An affected worker advised ET that Samsung has been issuing termination letters every day over the previous few days in small batches and asking staff to depart with out serving their discover intervals.The corporate is providing three months’ wage and a further month’s pay for yearly of service as severance. Samsung India didn’t reply to an e-mail looking for remark. Samsung’s issues have been compounded by the rupee’s practically 10% decline via FY26, though the forex remained largely regular via this fiscal 12 months after a Could trough. Its telephones and most digital merchandise have develop into costly, crimping gross sales progress. Gross sales and margin progress within the broader Indian digital trade is affected this 12 months. Smartphone volumes within the nation have declined 11-12% on-year, in keeping with trade estimates.

Cellphones make up three-fourths of Samsung’s native income. Moreover, the South Korean main has been unable to increase within the high-value air-conditioner enterprise in India, regardless of aggressive efforts this 12 months. That has additionally put stress on the buyer electronics enterprise, the place uncooked materials costs have spiked. Samsung is concurrently consolidating its department community to scale back prices, with a number of places of work being merged. For example, Ranchi and Patna, Delhi and Gurgaon, and Punjab and Chandigarh are being mixed, leading to some positions changing into redundant, the executives mentioned.

The corporate’s newest super-premium smartphones – Galaxy Fold and Flip collection –have acquired good response although the general marketplace for Rs 1 lakh and above smartphones is 4% by quantity. In line with newest information by market tracker Counterpoint Analysis, Samsung slipped to the third place — from quantity 2 — in April-June within the home smartphone market, with Vivo main and Oppo within the second spot in a neck and neck combat.

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The researcher mentioned the corporate has been operating aggressive promotions throughout key fashions. Samsung India’s whole income stood at Rs 1.1 lakh crore in FY25, rising 12% on-year, in keeping with the newest filings with the Registrar of Firms. Home appliances account for 11% of gross sales, being the second-largest class after telephones. Its FY25 internet revenue stood at Rs 11,287 crore, a progress of 38% from the earlier fiscal 12 months. Financials for FY26 will not be but out there. Globally, Samsung’s cell enterprise swung into an working loss within the June quarter, whereas its shopper electronics companies additionally remained beneath stress, at the same time as report demand for reminiscence chips drove a pointy enhance in semiconductor earnings.

“There’s manpower rationalisation within the house equipment and tv companies. The second spherical can occur after Diwali,” mentioned one of many executives cited earlier. “There will likely be no speedy job cuts within the cell phone enterprise as that is its bread and butter and the corporate expects a rebound in gross sales throughout Diwali. Nevertheless, it’d get evaluated later.” Samsung on Monday raised costs of some smartphone fashions by 5-10%, its third value enhance this month.

The All India Cell Retailers’ Affiliation has mentioned shopper footfall has fallen sharply by 40% because of repeated value will increase. Samsung India has additionally postponed a proposed merger of its house equipment and tv gross sales groups to the December quarter, a transfer anticipated to additional cut back prices and administration layers, as per trade executives. One government, nevertheless, mentioned the proposed merger has been deferred.

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